Saint Mary’s Hospital Wound Healing Center patient, Craig Hill, has always hated going to the doctors’ office or hospitals. According to his sister, Kristi, Craig hadn’t been to a doctor’s office in 20 years. Even when he had a stroke, Kristi said, he would not go see a doctor. Until now that is. Under his sister’s insistence, Craig began treatment at the Wound Healing Center in July.
Wound Healing Center patient, Craig, poses with his two nurse angels Patty and Gretchen.
“I wanted no part of this, but on the first day I met Patty and Gretchen,” Craig recalls with a grin. “You don’t meet many really good people. But I gotta tell you that this whole place, from the valet guy to my angels here, this whole place is wonderful.”
Kristi recently took photos of her brother with his “angels,” Patty Diaferio, RN and Gretchen Ludecke, RN. She used those photos to create a t-shirt for him, celebrating and honoring his care team and the quality of care he’s received at the Wound Healing Center. She said she’s so happy that this has all worked out and that her brother is getting the care he needs.
As a diabetic with an ankle ulcer, Craig visits the Wound Healing Center at Saint Mary’s once a week for treatment. Most Wound Healing Center patients maintain weekly appointments for several months, so they become very familiar and close with the staff. Patients become like members of the family. “We’re changing people’s lives,” said Lisa Retallick, RN, Clinical Program Coordinator. “We know this because we hear it from them every day.”
Craig said that every Wednesday is his day out, “I wouldn’t go to the hospital, now I look forward to it!”