Phelps Hospital’s Undersea & Hyperbaric Medicine Reaccreditated

Phelps Hospital, Northwell Health is pleased to announce its Undersea & Hyperbaric Medicine (UHM) Department has received “Accreditation with Distinction” from the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS). UHMS accreditation is the gold standard in hyperbaric facility accreditation and recognizes those that meet or exceed the highest levels of care and patient safety.

Participation in the UHMS accreditation program requires months of preparation. More than 650 probes into patient safety, facility standards, equipment maintenance, and team-member training are rigorously evaluated to ensure the highest quality is maintained within the specialty. “Accreditation with Distinction" is the highest ranking given by the UHMS.

“This recognition is a testament to the exceptional work our dedicated hyperbaric team performs daily,” said Owen J. O’Neill, MD, MPH, Founding Medical Director of Undersea & Hyperbaric Medicine at Phelps Hospital, Northwell Health. “The UHM team is a fine example of the outstanding patient safety, care, and environmental standards found at Phelps. We are proud members of the Northwell healthcare family and our community.”

Phelps’ UHM Department opened in December 2006 with the largest hyperbaric chamber in the Northeastern United States, one of only 30 in the nation like it. The chamber can accommodate up to 12 patients at a time and allows the hyperbaric team of physicians, nurses, and technologists to work alongside patients during treatment.

Since its inception 15 years ago, the UHM Department has safely and successfully performed more than 40,000 hyperbaric oxygen treatments. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves the use of medical oxygen administered in a pressure chamber at levels higher than atmospheric pressure. This pressure helps oxygen dissolve more rapidly into the blood, advancing its absorption into damaged tissues to promote healing of wounds, serious infections, pressure-related scuba diving injuries, arterial gas embolism, and other illnesses.

“We have had many notable success stories over the years, from saving a family of nine poisoned with carbon monoxide – the youngest being just nine days old – to helping restore hearing in a 15-year-old inflicted with sudden sensorineural hearing loss,” said O’Neill. “Our department provides support to the Wound Healing Institute using adjuvant hyperbaric oxygen to heal chronic wounds and save ischemic limbs in the diabetic population. Hyperbaric oxygen is also helpful in preserving failing flaps and skin grafts in our breast cancer survivors, curing tissue damage occasionally suffered by cancer radiation patients, and much more.”

The UHM team at Phelps actively participates in research, including a number of protocols currently listed in ClinicalTrials.gov. Their work has been featured in peer-reviewed medical literature and diving medicine textbooks. The team also published an original textbook, “Policy & Procedural Guidelines for Hyperbaric Facilities,” and is writing the second edition for Best Publishing.

Phelps Hospital, Northwell Health is at 701 North Broadway in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. and can be reached by calling (914) 366-3000 or visiting www.phelps.northwell.edu. Follow @PhelpsHospitalNorthwell on Facebook, @Phelps-Hospital-Northwell on LinkedIn and @PhelpsHospital on Twitter and Instagram for the latest news and updates.

About Phelps Hospital

Phelps Hospital, part of Northwell Health, is a full-service 238-bed acute care community hospital in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. With more than 1,700 employees and 1,100 medical staff members representing 60 medical specialties, Phelps offers one of the broadest ranges of community hospital services in Westchester County. Caring for the community is at the heart of what Phelps does. Patients benefit from distinguished physicians, many of whom are pioneers in their field, offering the most advanced procedures using the latest technology. Phelps is one of approximately 500 hospitals nationwide to achieve Magnet Recognition® status from the American Nurses Credentialing Center for its commitment to nursing excellence and compassionate patient care. The hospital is supported by Northwell Health Physician Partners, a primary and specialty care medical group, with practices located on the hospital campus and in the surrounding communities. For more information, visit www.phelps.northwell.edu.

About Northwell Health

Northwell Health is New York State’s largest health care provider and private employer, with 23 hospitals, 830 outpatient facilities and more than 16,600 affiliated physicians. We care for over two million people annually in the New York metro area and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Our 76,000 employees – 18,900 nurses and 4,800 employed doctors, including members of Northwell Health Physician Partners – are working to change health care for the better. We’re making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. We're training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu and follow us @NorthwellHealth on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.