| Posted February 10, 2015 | By Melonee Hurt | Categorized under WMC Happenings |

Williamson Medical Center has been recognized as being in the top 10 percent of hospitals in the United States for spinal surgery and fusion for medical excellence in quality and complication rates. The 2015 Medical Excellence Award is from CareChex^®, a division of Comparion^®.

CareChex is a medical quality rating system designed to assist hospitals in improving the quality of inpatient care and promoting medical excellence to consumers, payers and employers.

Michael McNamara, M.D., WMC's chief of surgery, said this award is not an individual award, but the result of a team effort.

"This is all about our staff," McNamara said. "It's not so much about the surgeons as it is the team. They are the ones doing the heavy lifting. I talk a lot about the surgical experience and that is from the time you decide to have surgery until you are in the car going home. The whole experience is a positive thing for us at Williamson. We do that better than almost anybody. So when you win an award, if it talks about good outcomes and value, that is a team trophy. I want our team to have ownership and they do."

Dr. Thane Forthman, president and CEO of CareChex, said CareChex allows the public to make informed decisions regarding the quality of medical care.

"We are pleased to acknowledge Williamson Medical Center has achieved an exceptionally high level of performance for medical excellence in spinal surgery and spinal fusion," Forthman said. "Williamson Medical Center's performance is a benchmark other medical centers should seek to emulate."

John Klekamp, M.D., orthopaedic surgeon and former chief of surgery at WMC, said he sees this designation as patient satisfaction.

"If you put the patient first with everything you do, you can't go wrong," Klekamp said.  "We make sure everything we do will have a positive outcome for the patient. Even though spinal surgery is being recognized, this not only flows into our total joint program and the quality we provide in the OR, but it goes back to multiple other departments from food services to security. I get comments from patients all the time about how clean their room is and how caring physical therapy is. This isn't about one segment, it's a broad spectrum that goes way beyond what happens in the operating room."

McNamera said he feels the team at WMC is definitely doing it right.

"We are doing some good work and I am very proud of that," he said. "We have terrific people who have taken their roles to the next level."