(Photo courtesy of Angeles Wound Care Institute)
This past weekend marked the inaugural flight for a new partnership between the Angeles Wound Care Institute (AWCI), a division of Bend Plastic Surgery, and Angel Flight West, a 501c3 nonprofit that provides free medical transport to people in need. A volunteer pilot with Angel Flight West flew Dr. Adam Angeles, owner and founder of AWCI, out to John Day on Saturday, June 15, to provide advanced wound care to rural patients in their homes.
Advanced wound care is a set of specialized treatments for complex and chronic wounds that result from common medical issues including radiation, ostomy, ulcers, and more. This highly specialized and necessary care, typically requiring frequent visits, is not readily available in small, rural towns throughout Oregon. But patients in these communities needing emergency and/or advanced wound care, often aging or already experiencing medical hardship, may have limited physical or financial capabilities to travel long distances.
“Wound healing is an amazing series of complex events, which we all have experienced in one way or another. In some patients, however, it goes awry and leads to chronic wounds, which can negatively impact people’s lives,” said Dr. Angeles. “At the Angeles Wound Care Institute, we are able to treat patients that are unable to travel and come see us in person. This opens up a vast opportunity for patients to get care where they need it most — in the rural areas of Oregon.”
Volunteer pilot, Anthony Wiltse, met the AWCI team at Redmond SkyService on Saturday morning to load the plane and get ready for a flight to the Grant County Regional Airport in John Day, Oregon. From there, Dr. Angeles and his medical assistant drove to the patient’s home to administer advanced wound care.
When asked why he became a volunteer pilot with Angel Flight West, Wiltse replied, “I worked hard all my life and want to give back to the community by helping patients and doctors.”
Dr. Adam Angeles is a board-certified plastic surgeon with over 25 years of wound care training, research, and practice. He is the founder and medical director of Bend Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery and the Angeles Wound Care Institute. Since starting his practice in 2005 in Bend, Oregon, he and his team have offered a full complement of modern, state-of-the-art surgical, and non-surgical procedures to patients in the Pacific Northwest, including those in rural areas like John Day, Burns, Lakeview, and more.
