WA Workers Who Lose Limbs Will Receive State-Of-The-Art Care at New Center of Excellence for Amputations Thanks to Partnership Between Medical Center and L&I

Today’s post was shared by WC CompNewsNetwork and comes from www.workerscompensation.com. This is, potentially, great news if it can avoid the stall and delay tactics sometimes encountered in an injury claim, particularly those where separate insurance companies are involved. – kc

Tumwater, WA (WorkersCompensation.com) – Amputations are among the worst on-the-job injuries. Each year, about 25 workers in Washington suffer from amputations so serious — lost arms, hands, legs or feet — that they require ongoing specialized care. The medical care and assistance these injured workers receive are key to their physical and mental recovery.

The Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) and Harborview Medical Center today announced a new agreement to provide focused help for the most traumatic on-the-job amputations. The two organizations have worked together to create a new Center of Excellence for medical care for amputees.

Harborview, part of UW Medicine, is already nationally recognized for its work with amputees. Thanks to the agreement, workers with amputations can now have their ongoing medical care managed by UW Medicine physicians and staff at the new Center of Excellence.

Traumatic amputations increase the complexity of patients’ medical needs. These cases often involve multiple types of health care providers working together.

"We want these catastrophically injured workers to know that we’re going to be there for them," said Joel Sacks, director of L&I. "By improving the coordination of care, workers with amputations can concentrate on recovery and not feel overwhelmed with details."

Workers will leave the hospital with a discharge plan that carefully coordinates follow-up appointments with specialists. Then the…

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