New clinic for healing hard-to-heal wounds in the North

The clinic is under the management of Dr. Moshe Kulikovsky, an expert in the field, and one of the founders of the Israeli Society for Diabetic Foot and Wound Healing. The treatment will be provided by an integrated medical team that includes doctors from various fields, nurses specializing in wound healing, a nutritionist, a lymphatic physiotherapy service and the use of advanced technologies.

From the mapping conducted by the Ziv Medical Center, it emerged that one of the most necessary and lacking medical services in the region is a clinic for healing difficult-to-heal wounds. This is a clinic where patients come after initial treatment that has been exhausted, but did not result in healing the wound, and a professional response is required by a team from various fields within the hospital. In the future, part of the response will be provided by the pressure chamber that is expected to open towards the end of the year in Ziv. 

The new clinic will treat all types of wounds such as: Wounds in the lower limbs due to diabetes, pressure sores, wounds due to venous insufficiency, surgical incisions that have become contaminated and/or their edges have separated, wounds secondary to trauma, wounds due to autoimmune diseases and more. One of the main areas - but not only - is the treatment of the diabetic foot, which unfortunately is very common among the residents of the north. It is important to note that diabetes is a global epidemic. According to data from the Ministry of Health, the diabetes rate in Israel (9.7%) is higher than the average in European countries (6.3%). The rate of diabetes patients in the northern region is higher - over 14%, compared to a rate of about 11% in the center of the country.

Due to disturbances in blood flow to the lower limbs and nerve damage in the legs, a diabetic patient may develop a wound (ulcer) and subsequently an infection that can lead to the amputation of a limb. From the medical literature, we learn that approximately 25-30% of diabetics develop a foot wound during their lifetime that can deteriorate to necrosis and later also to amputation of a limb and disability and functional decline as a result. 

According to Ministry of Health data for 2019, the highest rate of amputations due to diabetes was in the north (20 per 100 thousand, the national average is 14.6, while in Tel Aviv it is 10.3). The new service will provide an exclusive answer on this issue to the residents of the Galilee, from the Golan Heights to Karmiel and even south of it, who until now had to travel far to treat difficult-to-heal wounds. 

Dr. Moshe Kulikovsky: "The treatment of hard-to-heal wounds requires adaptation to the patient, the underlying diseases and the scope and severity of the wound. The new clinic will make it possible to provide the service to each patient personally and professionally together with a multidisciplinary team."

Prof. Salman Zarka, Director of the Ziv Medical Center: "The Ziv Medical Center continues to develop and promote health services, as part of a vision of making additional excellent medical services accessible to the residents of the north here in Ziv, close to home."