Joseph M. Still Burn Center

The Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital of Augusta is the largest burn center in the U.S. and third largest in the world. We treat patients from all over the country who travel for access to our world-class burn care. For more than 30 years, our doctors in Augusta, Georgia, have continually delivered the highest standard of care to patients in our burn center.

With our 90-bed unit and admission of more than 3,000 patients annually, the Joseph M. Still Burn Center is nationally recognized as a leader in burn research and treatment. We are the region’s leading experts in burn and wound care with more than three decades of experience healing difficult wounds, skin disorders and burns.

To learn more about our burn treatment center, please call us at 1 (855) 863-9595.

Burn treatments we offer

Patients recovering from severe burns require a highly complex care environment. Our diverse team of burn care specialists is one of the most experienced in the Southeast and offers a variety of treatments when caring for severe wounds and burns, including:

• Hydrotherapy
• Hyperbaric medicine
• Skin healing products and techniques
• Surgery

Our burn treatment team

The burn and wound experts at our treatment center work together to create the most comprehensive, efficient care plan for every patient. Our team is made up of medical professionals from a wide range of specialties, so we can easily provide multidisciplinary care when needed. Our patient care teams include:

• Burn technicians
• Case managers
• Certified wound specialists
• Dietitians
• Licensed practical nurses
• Nurse practitioners
• Occupational therapists
• Pharmacists
• Physical therapists
• Physician assistants
• Radiologists
• Registered nurses
• Respiratory therapists
• Social workers
• Surgeons

Pediatric burn care

Treating pediatric patients in need of burn care requires exceptional skill and experience to ensure the best possible outcomes. Kids require special nutrition plans, sometimes up to double the calories a child would typically consume in a day, and close monitoring throughout the wound healing process.

Burn scars can seriously inhibit normal movement, which is why extra attention is needed when treating burn scars in children whose bodies are still growing. Our burn center team includes pediatric therapists and surgeons who work closely to treat the skin’s regrowth.

Preventing pediatric burns

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 300 pediatric patients seek burn treatment every day. The majority of these burns are scalds from hot liquids and contact burns from stovetops, open oven doors and hot irons.

Other burn injuries may result from residential fires, which typically start in the kitchen due to grease, towels placed too close to burners or unattended pots on the stove. Some residential fires are related to smoking, such as smoking in bed or by smoldering ashes. In some cases, children start fires as a result of being unattended around matches or lit candles.

To help reduce your child's burn risk, the CDC suggests following these tips:

• Have an escape plan for your family to exit the home in the case of a fire.
• Install a smoke alarm near all rooms your family sleeps in and on every floor. Test the smoke alarms' functionality once a month.
• Lower your water heater temperature to below 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Young children may not be able to get away from hot water, and lowering the temperature prevents it from getting too hot.
• Use safe cooking practices to reduce the amount of time children are left unattended.

Burn Foundation of America

Founded by Dr. Joseph M. Still, the Burn Foundation of America (formerly known as Southeastern Firefighters Burn Foundation Inc.) helps patients and families being treated at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital. The foundation provides many free services for burn patients and their families, including:

• Anti-scarring garments
• Daily meals
• Lodging at the Jeffrey Vaden Chavis House on our hospital campus
• Medications
• Transportation

The Jeffrey Vaden Chavis House

Patients in the burn center may remain in the hospital for as little as one week or as long as 10 weeks. Finding an affordable place to stay during that time is difficult for many families, since most of our burn patients are not from Augusta. The Burn Foundation of America manages a residence on the campus of Doctors Hospital where families of burn patients can stay close to their loved ones for free. The residence is named after Jeffrey Vaden Chavis, a South Carolina firefighter who died in the line of duty.

The Chavis House amenities include:

• Family room with TV
• Kitchen for warming up food
• One hot meal daily for burn victim families (provided by local churches)
• Sleeping accommodations for up to 50 people
• Washer and dryer

Community outreach initiatives

The Joseph M. Still Burn Center coordinates educational and community outreach programs. We offer professional training programs and promote fire prevention awareness to communities worldwide. Our programs include:

What can you do to prevent a burn?

How would you handle a burn injury if it happened in your own home? Our burn outreach education program answers this question and many others in a variety of presentations on burn prevention and burn care. The presentations can be tailored to meet the specific needs of particular groups. All presentations are free.

Fire safety with Burnie

Burnie, the puff-of-smoke mascot of the Joseph M. Still Burn Center, and his helper provide a fun and informative talk on fire safety for preschool and elementary school children. In this seminar, we cover potentially lifesaving skills, such as “stop, drop and roll” and fire escape planning. The presentation is available only within a 75-mile radius of Augusta, Georgia.

Juvenile firesetters program

In collaboration with the local fire department, we offer a program for juveniles at risk for firesetting activities or fire-related offenses.

Industrial burn program

This presentation is for adults working in hazardous occupations or areas where there is a potential risk for burn injury. Emphasis is put on burn prevention and early interventions to limit the extent and severity of injury.

Emergency burn care

This presentation focuses on the emergency treatment of burn trauma patients. It’s designed for all emergency burn care providers.

American Burn Life Support (ABLS) programs for providers

The American Burn Association offers emergency burn care certification courses to providers. Certification requirements include mastering skills to examine, evaluate, treat and triage patients with burn traumas and/or inhalation injuries. These courses are scheduled according to demand. A fee is charged per participant to cover the cost of the provided study materials.

To learn more about our educational opportunities, call us at 1 (855) 863-9595.

Getting to the burn center

If you are coming to our burn center for outpatient treatment you may go directly to the burn center. Patients can also easily navigate there way to the center through our hospital's main lobby.

To speak with someone about referrals or for more information about the Joseph M. Still Burn Center, call us at 1 (855) 863-9595. We also accept inquiries by mail.

Our mailing address is:

Doctors Hospital
Joseph M. Still Burn Center
3651 Wheeler Rd
Augusta, Georgia, 30909

Learn more about Joseph M. Still

Dr. Still dedicated his entire professional life to improving treatment for burn victims. He founded the Burn Foundation of America, formerly known as Southeastern Firefighters’ Burn Foundation Inc., a nonprofit organization devoted to helping burn patients and their families with non-medical necessities. The foundation operates the Jeffrey Vaden Chavis House, a long-time dream of Dr. Still’s, where families can stay while their loved ones are receiving care in the burn center.

Learn more about our founder

DISCLAIMER

Dr. Joseph M. Still (1938-2006), an Augusta, GA surgeon, was a pioneering physician in the area of burn care and treatment and was instrumental in the creation and development of what has become a 90-bed critical care unit at Doctors Hospital of Augusta (“Doctors Hospital”) that is ceremonially named in his honor, i.e. the “Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital of Augusta” (herein the “Hospital Burn Center”). The Hospital Burn Center is dedicated to the care and treatment of patients with burn and related injuries. The Hospital Burn Center is owned and operated as a medical unit or patient wing of Doctors Hospital by Doctors Hospital of Augusta, LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company. Doctors Hospital of Augusta only does business in the State of Georgia.

Similarly, a medical practice located in Augusta, GA adjacent to Doctors Hospital also bears Dr. Still’s name and is known as “Joseph M. Still Burn Centers, Inc.” The physicians that practice medicine through this medical practice also service the medical needs of patients treated at the Hospital Burn Center. The medical practice known as “Joseph M. Still Burn Centers, Inc.” is a Georgia for profit corporation having practice locations in not only Augusta, GA but also in Austell, GA (at Wellstar Cobb Hospital), N. Charleston, SC (at Trident Medical Center) and Brandon, MS (at Crossgates River Oaks Hospital). The physician’s clinical practice locations at these other hospitals, as well as any burn care and treatment provided by any of these other hospitals, is completely unrelated to Doctors Hospital. Doctors Hospital has no interest in these Austell, GA, Charleston, SC and Brandon, MS locations and the clinics, medical practices or burn care treatment that is provided therein. Doctors Hospital does not do business in either South Carolina or Mississippi.

Doctors Hospital of Augusta, LLC. and the Joseph M. Still Burn Centers, Inc. are unrelated legal entities. Doctors Hospital has no legal interest in the ownership and/or operation of the medical practice known as “Joseph M. Still Burn Centers, Inc.” Patients who are treated at the Hospital Burn Center in Augusta, GA will receive a bill for hospital services from Doctors Hospital of Augusta and, if treated by the physicians that practice through Joseph M. Still Burn Centers, Inc., a separate bill from Joseph M. Still Burn Centers, Inc., the physicians’ practice.