Methodist Hospital Celebrates Opening of the New Hyperbaric Oxygen Center and its Lifesaving Possibilities For Patients

-Photo by Terry Miller

Methodist Hospital physicians and hyperbaric oxygen center staff; Chris McGuire, vice president of programs and director of the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation attended a
VIP Reception and Open House for new H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation Hyperbaric Oxygen Center in Methodist Hospital Wound Healing Center in Arcadia Thursday evening.

Through a gift from the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation, Methodist Hospital has established a cutting-edge hyperbaric treatment center where patients with a wide range of serious medical conditions can receive lifesaving treatment.
The grant enabled the hospital to purchase and install a state-of-the-art hyperbaric (high-pressure oxygen) chamber in the hospital’s Wound Healing Center.
“We strongly support Methodist Hospital’s mission of compassionate care,” said Chris McGuire, vice president of programs and director of the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation. “It is our belief that this new center will provide the finest care for patients long into the future.”
In addition to benefiting the San Gabriel Valley’s growing population of diabetic patients suffering with chronic wounds, the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation Hyperbaric Oxygen Center will also enable clinicians to treat wounds resulting from immune deficiencies as well as patients suffering from decompression sickness, or the “bends,” as a result of diving accidents. Other serious conditions also will be treated using the new hyperbaric chamber.
“The Berger Foundation has been an ardent supporter of Methodist Hospital for a long time, and we’re very grateful for their generosity,” said Dan Ausman, Methodist Hospital president and CEO.
Continuing improvements to hyperbaric chamber technology will enable patients to sit upright or recline in comfort as they watch movies and listen to music while undergoing hyperbaric therapy, according to Janet Dugan, director of therapy services. Those with conditions such as ulcers, carbon monoxide poisoning, crush injuries, air or gas embolisms, bone infections that do not respond to antibiotics, and even flesh-eating bacteria also will benefit from this advanced technology.
“Our chamber is a large acrylic tube where the patient slides in on a long gurney,” Dugan said. “We pump in 100 percent oxygen under pressure, and the average patient remains inside for about 90 minutes.”
With relatively few hyperbaric centers operating in the San Gabriel Valley, Dugan believes the new chamber will support Methodist Hospital’s continued efforts to provide ‘The Next Generation of Care’ exceptional patient experience which has become not only the slogan but philosophy at Methodist Hospital.

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