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Burn Center

Burn Center at at Westchester Medical Center

About the Burn Center at Westchester Medical Center

As the only Burn Center between New York City and the Canadian border in Eastern New York, Westchester Medical Center offers hope for survival and a productive life to hundreds of burn victims each year.

The Burn Center maintains a team of highly trained and dedicated burn surgeons and specialists who provide a full range of services from intensive care to rehabilitation, with special attention to the individual's physical, emotional and social needs. The burn center is self-contained to minimize the risk of infection to the most susceptible of patients. The facility has private rooms, a sophisticated operating room and treatment areas. Family rooms, day rooms and a kitchen make patients and families as comfortable as possible.

Watch 

Dr. Francis Winski, Attending Physician, Burn Surgery at Westchester Medical Center, provides kitchen safety tips in honor of National Burn Awareness Week


A Multidisciplinary Approach to Burn Surgery

The Burn Team consists of doctors, nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists and other support services who will work together to provide the best possible care.

Francis Winski, MD is a plastic surgeon who specializes in caring for burn victims by performing any necessary grafting or reconstructive surgery your family member will require.

Advances in Burn Medicine

The Burn Surgery Department at Westchester Medical Center uses several innovative skin grafting technologies for treating burns, including RECELL® and ACell®.

  • RECELL is a “spray-on” skin system used in the treatment of acute thermal burn wounds in patients ages 18 and up. RECELL’s autologous epidermal regeneration promotes healing across the total wound surface. By administering fast treatment at a cellular level, the recovery process starts immediately. Studies have shown RECELL is associated with a reduced length of stay and better donor site outcomes. Learn more.
  • ACell’s Cytal® Burn Matrix devices use an intact epithelial basement membrane to aid the body in remodeling site-appropriate tissue. This medical technology is frequently used to provide a scaffold for tissue remodeling in the management of second-degree burns. Learn more.
  • MatriDerm® is a type of extracellular matrix with a unique collagen-elastin template that promotes healing. Patients' burn wounds may heal by surgical application of this alone; however, it also acts as a bridge to skin grafting, if needed.

Comprehensive Care from Burn Victim Surgery to Recovery

All the Burn Center nurses are Critical Care RNs specially trained to provide care for burn victims. These nurses attend to your family member's needs and treatments such as dressing changes and medications.

Occupational and physical therapists work together to design an exercise program necessary for recovery. As a family member, you may be asked to participate in this program. The program will consist of range-of-motion exercises and self-care activities. If skin grafting has been done, a splint or cast will be applied by the therapist to immobilize the area for a couple of days until healing takes place.

Psychosocial support is coordinated through the efforts of our social worker and pastor. They will meet with you and your family to discuss your feelings related to hospitalization and burn injury. If you have problems with lodging and/or transportation, our social worker is available to work with you on solutions.

It is very important to meet with our social worker early on to discuss insurance, Medicare and Medicaid issues so that appropriate services will be available to your family member upon discharge.

Our dietitian determines your family member's nutritional and calorie needs. In order to heal wounds, burn patients require 1.5 to 2 times the amount of calories they normally need. Every effort is made to ensure that our patients meet their calorie needs. Our dietitian will discuss food preferences and help plan menus accordingly.


The Phoenix SOAR Program

The Burn Center at Westchester Medical Center is proudly affiliated with Phoenix SOAR (Survivors Offering Assistance in Recovery), an extension of the Phoenix Society, an online network for burn survivors. The Phoenix SOAR program connects burn patients and/or their family members with burn survivors (Peer Supporters) with the goal of sharing experiences and providing support through the emotional recovery journey.

How It Works

Our Burn Center’s Phoenix SOAR Coordinators match patients and family members with a Peer Supporter, who will assist them in coping with and adapting to a burn injury. Many patients find that it helps to talk to somebody who has been through a similar experience – someone who can relate in a different way than their nurse or doctor. 

All patients and their family members are eligible regardless of age. Peer Supporters must be at least 18 years old. 

Program participants are connected via FaceTime, Zoom, email, or in-person. Patients are also encouraged to explore the Phoenix Society website where there are additional networking opportunities and support services.

Phoenix SOAR group sessions are held weekly on an as needed basis. For more information please refer to the Phoenix SOAR informational handouts provided to you or your family member while you were an inpatient or during your outpatient clinic appointment.


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For additional information about burn medicine and burn plastic surgery available at Westchester Medical Center, please contact us. 

Burn Center

Phone: 914.493.8680

Westchester Medical Center


Macy Pavilion
100 Woods Road
Valhalla, NY 10595

Burn Outpatient Clinic

Phone: 914.909.6416 | 914.372.7196

Westchester Medical Center

Ambulatory Care Pavilion, 3rd Floor
100 Woods Road
Valhalla, NY 10595

In the case of an emergency, call 911. For non-emergent care of a burn injury, contact the Burn Outpatient Clinic at the phone number above.

Physicians

Turkowski, Joseph R., MD
Joseph Turkowski, MD
Medical Director of the Burn Service
  • Burn Surgery
  • General Surgery
Lodescar, Rachelle J., MD
Rachelle Lodescar, MD
Attending Physician, Burn Surgery
  • General Surgery
Winski Jr., Francis V., MD
Francis Winski, MD
Attending Physician, Burn and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
  • Plastic Surgery