Merced clinic heals wounds of diabetics, cancer patients

Ed Green didn't expect to be alive today.

Green was told by doctors in Sacramento that he had nine months to live after he was diagnosed with Stage 4 oral and esophageal cancer in 2008. He was told there wasn't much they could do to save his life.

"I was basically told, 'Go home and die,' " the 61-year-old Merced resident recalled.

But his cancer went away after receiving radiation therapy at Mercy Cancer Center in Merced by Dr. Raymond Tan.

That wasn't the end of it, though. Green's life was still in jeopardy.

He had severe radiation injuries on the left side of his neck, mouth and throat, and they weren't healing.

Today, Green is among 1,500 patients who have seen their lives changed after going through the doors of Mercy Medical Center's Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine Center. The center, which opened in 2006, recently received a national award.

The award was based on patient healing rates, patient satisfaction and clinical quality outcomes, among other standards, said Jodi Locke, area vice president for Diversified Clinical Services, which presented the award. Diversified collaborates with 333 centers, including the one in Merced.

Of those centers, 41 received the award this year, Locke said.

Alicia Bohlke, director of the Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Center, said the center treats chronic wounds caused by various conditions, such as diabetes, blood circulatory problems and burns from radiation therapy. The center has healed 8,000 wounds since it opened.

A large number of their patients are diabetic. "We may be the last opportunity before they consider an amputation," she said.

The closest similar centers are in Stockton and Fresno. Bohlke said having such service available locally is crucial, especially given the number of diabetic patients in the area.

The center was seeing 10 to 15 patients a day when it first opened, Bohlke said. It now sees between 20 and 25 patients daily. "We've grown steadily," she said. "We are still seeing the same kind of patients, but the diabetic population is growing."

People with wounds that haven't healed within four weeks are candidates to be patients at the center. Bohlke said the center's goal is to have a patient's wound heal in 14 weeks. "Ninety-five percent of the people who walk through our doors heal in 14 weeks," she said, adding that the high success rate was also considered in giving Mercy the award.

The center employs 11 workers, including Bohlke. She said she's proud the center received the award, and the staff played a major role. "They've worked really hard to make sure patients are very well taken care of," she said.

The center provides the highest level of advance wound care in Merced, said Dr. Afnan A. Qadeer, medical director at the center. "The clinic was made with the idea to prevent amputations -- and patients are happy," she said.

The center also treats first- and second-degree burns, Qadeer said.

The clinic earned the award for work well done, Green said. "They deserve the award because they go the extra step," he said. "They finished the job that Dr. Tan had started."

He credits Bob McLaughlin, spokesman at Mercy Medical Center, Mercy Cancer Center and the Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine Center for saving his life.

Reporter Yesenia Amaro can be reached at

(209) 388-6507 or

yamaro@mercedsun-star.com.