Circle the City provides medical care to Phoenix’s homeless population. About a month ago, they opened a wound clinic at two of their facilities to meet a critical need.
Dr. William Ellert is the chief medical officer at Circle the City. He says wound care is one of their biggest needs.
Ill-fitting shoes, lack of socks, burns from hot concrete during the summer, or living with chronic conditions like diabetes can lead to wounds.
"And these frequently progress to the point of severe ulcers and can even get down to the bone and cause an infection in the bone," Ellert said.
That can result in an amputation.
"We saw a gentleman that his wounds on his feet had gotten so bad that he had to be referred to the hospital and ended up with an amputation. So intervening early is so important, and that's one of the reasons why we considered this an important aspect of the care that we give our patients," Ellert said.
Wounds, which can take months to heal, affect all ages of this population, he says.
"But the other thing is that the elderly, who actually are becoming an increasing number of the patients that we serve, are certainly more strongly affected by it," Ellert said.
Ellert says they've seen roughly 100 patients in the past month and will be expanding their hours.
