Dr. Paul Ferraro, D.O.

“Diversity of care is our key to longevity”

– Paul Ferraro, D.O. CEO

His interest in wound care stemmed from a desire to follow his patients’ well-being all the way from surgery through long-term care. He began visiting nursing homes himself, but demand out-grew his availability, so he started bringing in Advance Practice Nurses.

All of the Advanced Practice Nurses at Surgical Wound Care Services. They are experienced and have extensive training and backgrounds in wound care. All Advanced Practice Nurses share a dedicated interest in seeing patients find genuine recovery. They make weekly visits to our nursing home partners to check up on patients and provide regular wound care maintenance. They have direct oversight from Dr. Ferraro, who is on-call whenever surgical services are required and who provides guidance should a patient need a change in direction in their wound care treatment. This level of staff experience and local oversight is unavailable from any of our competitors.

 

 

Current Positions:
  • Director of Wound Care, Select Specialty Hospital
  • Medical Director at Summa Barberton Hospital Wound Care Center
  • Medical Director of Wadsworth Wound Care Center
  • Director of Wound Care, Summa Rehab

 

Education:
  • Doctorate: University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine
  • Bachelor’s: Southwest Missouri State University
  • Internship and Residency: Western Reserve Hospital

 

Associations:
  • American College of Osteopathic Surgeons
  • American Osteopathic Association
  • American Medical Association

Meet Our Staff

Dr. Ray Leone

D.O.

A Youngstown native, Dr. Leone received his Bachelor’s degree from Youngstown State University. Dr. Leone graduated from Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1987. He is Board Certified in Family Medicine and has always been interested in wound care. He has worked almost exclusively as a wound care physician for many years and was the medical director at Cleveland Clinic’s wound center at Akron General Hospital. For the last five years, Dr. Leone has worked in the Summa St. Thomas wound care center overseeing his clinics and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. 

Dr. Leone loves to hang out with his four children. His interests include gardening, music, and martial arts. He considers himself a humanitarian and thinks everyone deserves a chance.

Althea Premraj

Certified Nurse Specialist
MSN, RN, FNP-C, APRN-CNP, OCA

Born in India, Althea was raised, educated, and has spent most of her life in India. She is married with two daughters. Althea’s daughters are both nurses and are married and have children. Althea served in the Indian Military Nursing Services for about 15 years and traveled all over India. She has been a nurse for over 35 years and has loved each moment of the profession. Coming to this country opened up many opportunities for her, not only for work but for education. Althea got interested in wounds while working and saw a window of opportunity for career growth. She went back to school, working full time, and graduated with a BSN from Indiana Wesleyan University to get into the Wound Ostomy Continence School, which required BSN. She completed WOCN certification and continued to obtain MSN and completion of APRN. Finally, after a long struggle juggling work, school, and being a grandmother, Althea graduated with MSN from Kent State University. She obtained her CNS (Clinical Nurse Specialist) certification. She joined SWCS with Dr. Ferraro in January 2016. Her specialty as an APRN is Adult-Gerontology, and her passion is wound ostomy care. Althea loves to see the wound heal and help patients in their time of need with ostomy care.

McKenzie Christie

Certified Nurse Practitioner
MSN, RN, APRN-CNP, FNP-C, OCA
McKenzie has been a Nurse Practitioner with SWCS since December 2016. She received her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Kent State University in 2012. Previously, she worked as a Registered Nurse at Cleveland Clinic Main Campus in the Heart Failure ICU and St. Thomas Summa Wound Care Center. McKenzie graduated from Malone University’s Master of Science program as a Family Nurse Practitioner in 2016. In 2019, McKenzie obtained her Ostomy Care Associate Certification. McKenzie currently rounds in long term care facilities and Select Speciality Hospital in the Youngstown area. Her favorite part of providing wound care is seeing her patients’ every week and forming a relationship with them. 
 
McKenzie currently rounds in long-term care facilities in the Youngstown area and Akron Summa City Hospital. When not at work, McKenzie enjoys spending time outside, gardening, and spending time with her husband and children.
 

Dorothy Myers

Certified Adult-Gero Nurse Practitioner
MN, MSN, RN, AGNP, OCA

SWCS hired Dorothy in June 2019. She graduated from Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing (CWRU) in January 2019 with a Master of Science in Nursing degree. Her academic career has consisted of a Master of Nursing from CWRU and a Bachelor of Science in Business degree from The Ohio State University. Her nursing career consists of over 18 years of experience, with 13 years spent at Summa Wound Care Center in the outpatient setting. She is a current member of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. In 2020 she was certified as an Ostomy Certified Associate.

Dorothy is passionate about caring for wounded patients and their families. She was a dedicated case manager and clinical manager during her tenure at Summa. She participated in several Heal Ohio conferences, where she presented information on types of wounds and wound care modalities. She believes in quality healthcare delivery and strives for positive patient outcomes and satisfaction. “The best part of caring for wounded patients is having the opportunity of getting to know them, developing a partnering relationship, and having the satisfaction of healing them so that they can go on living their lives to the fullest capacity-wound free.”

In her free time, Dorothy enjoys watching her son play high school football and marching in the band. She also enjoys visiting her daughter, siblings, and Dad, who live in Columbus Ohio.

Katie Whitacre

Certified Nurse Practitioner
MSN, RN, FNP-C, APRN-CNP, WCC, OMS, WTA, OCA

Katie was born in Akron, Ohio. She graduated from Mogadore High School in 2001 and began her nursing career as a state-tested Nursing Assistant. She started her wound care experience while attending her undergraduate education at the University of Akron. Katie completed her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing with a minor in Psychology at Walsh University in 2008. She then completed her MSN while working full-time as the regional wound and ostomy RN at Summa Wadsworth and Barberton Hospital for five years. Katie obtained her Wound Care Certification in 2012 and her Ostomy Management Specialist in 2013.

Katie has been married since 2010 and has a beautiful daughter, Isabella. Katie enjoys baking, gardening, and spending time with her family.

Chelsea Bremke

Certified Nurse Practitioner
MSN, RN, APRN-CNP, FNP-C, WCC, OCA

Chelsea was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and has had a passion for helping people since she was little. She graduated from the University of Akron with her bachelor’s degree in nursing in 2015 and started working in a local emergency department in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. While working in the emergency department, her love for wound care evolved as she assisted with acute and chronic wounds. Shortly after working as a registered nurse, Chelsea attended Kent State University and obtained her master’s degree in nursing in 2019 as a family nurse practitioner. In 2019, she started practicing as a family medicine provider who also provided wound care in local long-term care facilities and assisted living centers. Her passion for providing wound care to others continued to grow, and in 2020 she obtained her wound care certification (WCC) through the national alliance of wound care and ostomy (NAWCO). Chelsea loves being able to help patients with their wound care goals and strive for the best outcomes and possibilities.

In her free time, she enjoys gardening, taking care of her little farm, and spending time with her family and friends (especially her husband and children)

Katie Hicks

Certified Nurse Practitioner
MSN,RN, FNP-C, APRN-CNP

Originally from Bradenton, Florida, Katie and her family moved to Ohio six years ago. While in Florida, Katie received her Associate’s Degree in Nursing in 2005. Katie’s career started as a cardiac floor nurse. From there, she cared for acute and chronic wounds in nursing facilities, and for the past ten years, Katie’s focused on outpatient wound care as a Case Manager and Clinical Nurse Manager. Within the last five years, Katie received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Chamberlain University College of Nursing in 2019. Katie graduated from Walsh University’s Master of Science program as a Family Nurse Practitioner in 2021. Her favorite part of providing wound care is the relationships that are built, seeing smiling faces when patients heal, and the ability to help the patients get back to their quality of life. 

When not working, Katie enjoys spending time with her husband Shane, and their three beautiful daughters, Pacificah, Jenna, and Farrah, along with their three fur babies, Jessa, Emma, and Bella.

Nicole Boivin

RN, WCC, OCA
Nicole was born in Akron, Ohio. Graduated LPN school in 2008. Worked on a medical surgical floor for 5 years, taking care of many wound and ostomy patients. This is where discovered her love for wound care. In 2013 she completed her RN and started a job in long term care. In 2018 obtained her WCC and managed wound care for her long-term care facility. In September of 2020 she joined SWCS and obtained her Ostomy Care associate certification. She rounds daily at Akron City Hospital with the Nurse Practitioners taking care of wound and ostomy patients. 
 
In her free time, she loves hanging out with her husband and four children swimming, boating, and trying new water sports.

Molly Stanfield

RN, OCA, WCA

Molly was born and raised in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio and joined SWCS in August 2021. She attended LPN school and obtained her license in 1996, then returned to school for her RN, graduating in 2015 from Stark State College.  Working in an extended care facility, she managed wounds and performed wound rounds weekly, introducing her to SWCS long before being employed.  Prior to an extended employment at a local nursing home, she was employed at a local physician’s office and a local emergency department in Akron, Ohio. Molly obtained her ostomy and wound treatment associate certifications in 2022. She spends days rounding at Akron City Hospital, assisting Nurse Practitioners with wound and ostomy care. When not working, Molly enjoys spending time with family and friends