Burn care center in Los Angeles

the grossman burn center at west hills hospital & medical center

A burn injury can be an extremely scary and painful experience. At the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills Hospital and Medical Center, our team understands.

Our world-renowned team of highly skilled physicians, specially trained burn nurses and medical support staff are ready for simple to complex burns. Our mission is to restore lives through innovative burn care, functionally, cosmetically and emotionally in a nurturing compassionate and personal environment.

At the Grossman Burn Center, we are available 24/7 via our Burn Nurse Expert Line at (818) 676-4177 to help coordinate your burn care. Also, our Tele Nurse Triage team is available 24/7 to recommend the most appropriate level of care. Our helipad transport team stands ready to quickly and efficiently transport your loved one to West Hills Hospital.

If you or a loved one has experienced a severe burn injury, call 911 immediately.

Grossman Burn Center

Our Grossman Burn Center is a plastic surgery-based treatment center in Los Angeles. We specialize in acute burn wound care, out-patient burn care, reconstructive surgery, rehabilitation services, psychological counseling and burn survivor support.

We use many pioneering innovative procedures based on techniques developed by our founder, Dr. A. Richard Grossman. His techniques are now standard practice in treating many injuries.

Located on the 4th floor at West Hills Hospital, our Grossman Burn Center is further distinguished by our multidisciplinary team's compassionate, personalized and patient-centered approach. Our experience has shown this approach results in less patient discomfort, speedier recoveries with better functional and cosmetic outcomes.

Comprehensive burn care services

As a part of our wound care program, our burn care approach is comprehensive, treating injuries with state-of-the-art technology, advanced procedures and access to West Hills Hospital resources. Patients have access to:

  • 2 inpatient hyperbaric chambers
  • 25 medical surgical burn beds dedicated to intermediate care for patients with less severe burns and for those who have reached a specific stage in healing
  • Board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeons.
  • Burn ICU with eight beds equipped to handle the most severe injuries
  • Flat-screen televisions in patient's rooms
  • In-house specialists from multiple disciplines as needed including:
    • Dedicated UCLA pulmonary critical care intensivists
    • Ophthalmologists
    • Psychiatrists
    • Psychologists
    • Child life therapists
  • Round-the-clock evaluation by our emergency medicine and burn care nurse experts who create individualized treatment and rehabilitation plans for each patient.
  • Volume diffusive respirator ventilators

Services we offer

Our burn specialists coordinate care across West Hills Hospital's resources. Some of our services include:

  • In-patient hydrotherapy
  • In-patient hyperbaric oxygen therapy
  • In-patient surgery
  • Outpatient burn care services
  • Post-discharge programs
  • In-patient and out-patient psychological support
  • Tele Nurse Triage
  • Telemedicine

Patient outreach programs and resources

Our center provides several programs and resources to help patients manage their burn condition during the acute and post-discharge phase of their recovery. Since burn injuries are traumatic, our patients often require on-going care and psychological support. Support includes:

Burn survivor support

Burn survivors benefit from hearing about the experiences of fellow survivors through a range of services including:

  • Family camps
  • Holiday reunions
  • Burn survivor support groups for adults and children. Support groups provide a meeting place for burn survivors, families and loved ones.

School re-entry and peer support program

  • Re-entry program for children. We utilize the Journey Back format, a program of the Phoenix Society, a burn survivor support group. Our use of the specially designed format helps burn-injured children reintegrate back into their classrooms.
  • SOAR peer support. Our center offers peer support and advocacy programs for burn survivors and family members utilizing SOAR (Survivors Offering Assistance in Recovery), a program of the Phoenix Society.

Prevention and education programs

As experts, our burn center educators conduct valuable programs in the communities we serve. The key to burn prevention is to stop the situation before it happens. So, we offer the following:

  • Careful That's Hot!: a partnership between the Grossman Burn Center and the Children's Burn Foundation that teaches parents the issues of child burn injuries while providing resources for prevention.
  • Burn Prevention for Seniors: a partnership with the Grossman Burn Foundation that reaches out to older adults and senior care professionals and teaches prevention for common burn injuries.
  • Burn Safety in the Work-Place: a presentation for employees who are at risk for burn injuries. Please call (818) 307-2772 to schedule a presentation or for more information.
  • Neighborhood health events and safety fairs: free prevention information for the public.
  • Emergency Burn Care: lecture taught by our nurse educators, provides a practical overview of complex treatments required for adults and children sustaining burn injuries as well as a review of the principals of initial management, per the American Burn Association guidelines.
  • The Advanced Burn Life Support Provider Course: an eight-hour course for healthcare professionals offered twice a year at West Hills Hospital, taught and hosted by our Grossman Burn Center staff. The course provides:
    • Guidelines in assessing and managing a burn patient during the first 24 hours of post-injury.
    • Lectures and a review of case studies in group discussions.
    • An opportunity to work with a simulated burn patient to reinforce assessment, stabilization, and the ABA transfer criteria to a Burn Center.
    • A final test consisting of a written exam and a practical assessment.

For more information about our courses, speak with one of our staff members at (818) 307-2772.

Care and education for workplace burn injuries

Our burn center provides care for most workplace injuries. We are ready for burns to the face, hands, feet, or major joints. For third-degree, chemical or electrical burns, we recommend patients go directly to an emergency room. West Hills Hospital patients come from a variety of industries including utilities, electrical contracting, food and beverage and maintenance.

With our 40+ years in burn care innovation, our priority is to offer educational opportunities to worker's compensation and risk management professionals. Our topics include burn injury, treatment and recovery. Our workplace support programs include:

Our workplace coordinator maximizes positive outcomes

Our workplace coordinator facilitates communication with our clinical staff. The coordinator makes sure information is shared in a timely and effective manner. We want to help your workers return to as normal a routine as possible.

Burn education because burns affect all, not just the injured

When an employee is burned on the job, everyone is affected. At our facility, we minimize the risk of lost productivity, permanent disability and costly legal complications by seeing that burn injuries receive prompt attention.

If you are interested in hosting a Burn Safety presentation at your place of employment, would like a copy of our "Burn Safety in Your Workplace" flyer or a copy of our "Restaurant Burn Awareness" poster, call us at (818) 676-4177.

Burn center visitor guidelines

To provide our patients with adequate rest and treatment time, our visiting hours are 10:00am — 8:00pm. Our burn ICU follows the same visiting hours with adjustments made for each patient's needs.

  • An exception may be made during the day of surgery when a family member will be permitted to be present at the bedside prior to surgery.
  • With all patients, it is necessary to limit visitors to a maximum of two at one time.
  • Please do not bring or send dried or live flowers, plants or fruit due to infection risk.
  • Visitors may be asked to leave the burn center during procedures when their presence may impede a safe and therapeutic environment.
  • Visitors are encouraged to return home each night to get needed rest.

Visiting the burn intensive care unit

Visiting on the Burn Acute (ICU) floor follows the same visiting hours with adjustments made for patient condition.

  • Visitors may be limited to the immediate family.
  • No visitors are allowed in burn critical care 6:00pm — 7:00pm and 6:00am — 7:00am.

Child visitors

The minimum visiting age in the burn center is 12 years old and older. Patients with visiting children under 12 years old may visit in the family waiting room outside the primary burn center doors. Children under 18 years old should be accompanied by an adult.

Help with burn-related questions

These videos share information on treating severe burns at home. They also provide helpful guidelines on how to know when a burn turns critical and when to go to the hospital. Finally, they share what risk factors increase burn infections.

Attention Workers Compensation Case Managers: Please use this fillable Worker Compensation Authorization Form to authorize treatment.