Gruppo San Donato Launches Wound Care Network: A New Care Model for Chronic Wound Treatment

This new network will not only improve access to specialized care but also help reduce the public health burden of chronic wounds, promoting a more sustainable and efficient healthcare system.

The network will be structured around two HUB hospitals, Istituti Clinici Zucchi in Monza and IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, which will provide advanced support for the most complex cases. The other hospitals in the Group will function as Spoke Centers, ensuring widespread and timely care across the territory.

A strategic component of this model will be a health meeting platform for physicians, an advanced system designed to connect the hospitals in the network, providing real-time clinical support and facilitating collaboration among specialists for optimal patient management.

The official presentation of the Wound Care Network and the Central Governance Group was held on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, at Istituti Clinici Zucchi in Monza, with representatives from the healthcare and clinical management teams of the Group’s hospitals in attendance.

Wound Care, or Vulnology, is a medical discipline focused on the treatment, management, and healing of acute and chronic wounds, often associated with trauma, surgical procedures, pressure ulcers, and chronic conditions such as diabetes.

According to estimates, over 2 million people in Italy suffer from these conditions, with an annual economic impact of approximately €1.5 billion. Lower limb ulcers have a prevalence of 1% in the general population, increasing to 3.6% among individuals over the age of 65.

Pressure ulcers, on the other hand, affect around 8% of hospitalized patients and between 15% and 25% of those in long-term care facilities. The most affected age group is those over 80, and according to ISTAT projections, by 2030 this population will reach 8 million, with approximately 3.5 million expected to be non-self-sufficient.

These data highlight the urgent need for effective strategies in the prevention and treatment of chronic wounds, with the aim of reducing avoidable hospitalizations and improving patients’ quality of life.

The GSD Wound Care Web was created with the goal of establishing a Unified Wound Care Network to ensure continuity of care, and to standardize and improve wound management across all healthcare facilities within Gruppo San Donato. The main objectives of the GSD Wound Care Web are:

• To develop shared expertise in wound care across all Group hospitals, creating a common language and standardized practices through a multidisciplinary approach involving physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, and other specialists;
• To improve the quality of treatments and services, ensuring adequate training for healthcare professionals and optimizing resources to achieve better and more timely clinical outcomes;
• To facilitate collaboration among hospitals for integrated and continuous wound care management, enabling a comprehensive patient-centered approach;
• To promote innovation and research, continuously integrating new technologies and therapeutic practices to ensure the most effective wound care methods;
• To guarantee equitable and accessible access to advanced treatments across all facilities in the network, including the use of advanced dressings (such as hydrocolloids, foams, zinc oxide bandages, and medicated gauze) and technological equipment like VAC therapy®, phototherapy, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

The GSD Wound Care Network will be composed of 2 HUB Centers and 13 SPOKE Centers, organized to ensure widespread and effective service delivery:

• The HUB Centers will be IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele and Istituti Clinici Zucchi, responsible for centralizing specialist training, providing technical support, and managing advanced wound care cases;
• The SPOKE Centers will ensure continuity of care, reduce waiting times, and take charge of patient management across the following facilities: Policlinico San Pietro, Policlinico San Marco, Istituto Clinico S. Anna, Istituto Clinico Città Di Brescia, Istituto Clinico San Rocco, Istituto Clinico Villa Aprica, IRCCS Ospedale Galeazzi Sant’Ambrogio, Istituto Clinico San Siro, IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, Istituto di Cura Città Di Pavia, Istituto Clinico Beato Matteo, Villa Chiara, and Villa Erbosa.

The organizational management of the Network will be entrusted to a Central Governance Group composed of specialist physicians and highly qualified healthcare professionals, structured into two divisions: one technical and one managerial.

To support the Central Governance Group, two dedicated working groups will be established, focusing on training and monitoring. Specifically, their responsibilities will include:

• Ensuring high standards of care through theoretical and practical training courses for healthcare professionals;
• Establishing a monitoring system based on process and outcome indicators to assess the effectiveness of treatments and continuously optimize clinical performance over time.

The Wound Care Network of Gruppo San Donato will follow a structured model based on four access channels:

• General Practitioner (GP);
• External Specialist;
• Emergency Department;
• Referrals from hospital units or departments within a HUB or SPOKE center.

After an initial assessment, the patient will be taken into care and, depending on the complexity of the clinical condition, will either be managed by the hospital where they first sought care, or—if the case is particularly complex and teleconsultation between the Spoke hospital and the HUB is not sufficient—they will be directly referred to the HUB hospital.

A key role will be played by the health meeting platform, a fast and essential tool that will allow professionals from Spoke Centers to consult in real time with specialists from the HUB Centers. This system will ensure immediate support in clinical decision-making, optimizing care pathways and reducing waiting times for patients.