When an accident this March tore the skin off part of Maxine Tourtillotte’s left leg, the worst of it for the 92-year-old Boothbay Harbor woman was not being able to make her daily trips to the Boothbay Region YMCA.

Tourtillotte joined the “Y” when it first opened in 1955, and 60 years later, it remains at the center of her quality of life. Morning swims help her stay active. The coffee klatch that meets after those swims helps Tourtillotte stay in touch with old friends.

Losing that routine was devastating, but at the LincolnHealth Wound Care Center, Tourtillotte met providers like Susan Papineau, RN, and Dr. Mark Mainella, who listened and wanted her to be able to get back in the pool almost as much as she did.

To replace the missing skin, Dr. Mainella performed a skin graft procedure on the injured area using a bioengineered product that helps the body regrow its own skin.

He told her the process would take six weeks, and Tourtillotte learned she could trust the expertise of Dr. Mainella, Sue Papineau, and the rest of the providers at the Wound Care Center.

“They were very, very professional. They knew just what they were doing,” said Tourtillotte. “He wanted to get me back in that pool just as fast as he could, because he knew it was important to me and that made me feel good because he understood me.”

A partnership between LincolnHealth and Healogics, a national leader in wound care and research, the LincolnHealth Wound Care Center in Boothbay Harbor features highly trained local providers using the latest technology to ensure every wound heals as quickly as possible.

Healogics maintains the largest database of wound treatments in the world, which allows providers to create a specialized plan for each patient based on proven techniques that have worked for similar wounds.

In Tourtillotte’s case, the use of a skin substitute helped her heal faster with less risk of infection than traditional therapies, so she could get back in the pool and back to her friends more quickly.

As important as the technology was to the healing process, it was just as important to Tourtillotte to have providers who listened to her and took the time to understand her.

“From the day I walked in, from the receptionist right down through to Dr (Mark) Mainella, they couldn’t have been any more compassionate,” said Tourtillotte. “I recommend it highly.”