LEXINGTON, Ky. – Appalachian Regional Healthcare recently named Chadwick Knight, MD, as the Systems Service Line Medical Director of Wound Care.

In his new position, Dr. Knight, who also serves as a general surgeon at Tug Valley ARH Regional Medical Center, will oversee and optimize the clinical quality, patient experience, growth, cost effectiveness and financial performance of the wound care service line.

Four ARH hospitals – two in partnership with RestorixHealth and two with Healogics – boast wound care centers. A wound care center at a fifth hospital is expected to open at the end of February and the addition of a sixth is in the planning phase.

ARH Vice President of Ancillary Services Carrie Rudzik said she looks forward to working with Dr. Knight in his new position.

“I am excited for Dr. Knight’s selection,” she said. “In conjunction with our wound care partners, his leadership will be instrumental in our continued efforts to provide this much-needed service to our eastern Kentucky and southern West Virginia communities.”

Dr. Knight received his medical degree from the University of Kentucky and completed his residency at Marshall University.

Before joining the staff at Tug Valley ARH Regional Medical Center, he first worked at Hazard ARH and then served as chief of surgery at the Hershel “Woody” Williams VA Medical Center in West Virginia.

Dr. Knight’s interest in wound care was first piqued while at the VA. He explains improvements he saw as a result of standardizing care in the clinic.

“There are certain areas in medicine that are hard to standardize, but in wound care if you can standardize the treatment and establish a continuity with your patient, that’s how you best heal a wound,” he said. “So, when we standardized the wound care (at the VA), we saw drastic improvements.”

He said he is excited to take what he learned from that experience and help grow wound care across the ARH system.

“Wounds are daunting and can be hard to heal,” he said. “But this is a service that’s needed here in our communities and I’m happy to help as much as I can.

“I look forward to future collaborations with our providers, system leaders and local CCEOs as we strive to improve and expand patient care in our region.”

Dr. Knight and his wife Amy have 8 children and 8 grandchildren. The Hazard, Ky., native resides on a farm just outside of Huntington.

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Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH), is a not-for-profit health system operating 14 hospitals in Barbourville, Hazard, Harlan, Hyden, Martin, McDowell, Middlesboro, Paintsville, Prestonsburg, West Liberty, Whitesburg, and South Williamson in Kentucky and Beckley and Hinton in West Virginia, as well as multi-specialty physician practices, home health agencies, home medical equipment stores and retail pharmacies and medical spas. ARH employs approximately 6,700 people with an annual payroll and benefits of $474 million generated into our local economies. ARH also has a network of more than 1,300 providers on staff across its multi-state system. ARH is the largest provider of care and the single largest employer in southeastern Kentucky, and the third-largest private employer in southern West Virginia.