LOGAN – There are nearly 1,400 hyperbaric facilities in the United States, including one at Intermountain Logan Regional Hospital.
Roughly 20 percent of them — including Logan Regional’s — have received a national four-year reaccreditation from the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS), ensuring the center meets the highest standards of care and patient safety.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is the use of nearly 100 percent oxygen administered in a pressurized chamber at levels greater than sea level pressure, which is twice the atmospheric pressure. Under such pressure, oxygen dissolves more rapidly into the blood to advance its absorption into damaged tissues to promote healing of wounds and tissue.
Dr. David Beckstrand, who heads Logan Regional’s hyperbaric and wound clinic, said preparation for the accreditation started three years ago.
Craig Yeager, 63, of Hyrum said hyperbaric oxygen therapy saved his life earlier this year. He was living with a severe heart condition and needed an aortic valve replaced. Doctors said they couldn’t do the procedure until he took care of his diabetic foot ulcers.
Two months later — after 60 treatments in Logan Regional’s hyperbaric facilities — he underwent a successful transcatheter aortic valve replacement.