Press release from Jefferson Health
September is Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) Awareness Month, and physicians at the two Jefferson Health Wound Care Centers are taking part in the “Save a Leg, Save a Life” (SALSAL) Foundation’s #DocsInSocks Challenge.
The event is aimed at helping educate the southern New Jersey community about PAD. These wound care providers have pledged to closely partner with other clinicians to help ensure high-risk patients are properly diagnosed and treated before amputation becomes necessary. Through this new collaborative approach, physicians will work together with a shared goal to assess disease progression and refer those with suspected PAD for treatment.
“PAD is largely under-recognized, and amputation rates associated with this disease remain unnecessarily high,” said Dr. Lisa Derr, Medical Director of the Cherry Hill Wound Care Center. “That’s why we at are proud to support the White Sock Campaign and join other clinicians on the front lines of care to advocate for accurate diagnosis and timely treatment of patients suffering from the side effects of PAD.”
Derr said Jefferson Health’s New Jersey wound care team will also encourage community members to “be proactive in their own leg health by knowing the risk factors, classic warning signs and to ask their doctor to check their feet for signs of PAD.”
#DocsInSocks Social Media Challenge
Throughout September, as part of the campaign, physicians at the two Jefferson Health Centers for Advanced Wound Care & Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy will also spread the message of early PAD detection with one simple and visible tool: a white sock. The garment will be worn as a symbol of PAD and to create solidarity with patients who suffered from late-stage PAD and required an amputation due to delayed treatment.
