St. Mary's recertified for hip and knee replacement

Jun. 18—St. Mary's Regional Medical Center announced on Friday morning it has earned recertification for advanced certification for total hip and total knee replacement from The Joint Commission.

According to a press release from St. Mary's, this certification is for Joint Commission-accredited hospitals, critical access hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers seeking to elevate the quality, consistency and safety of their services and patient care.

The Disease Specific Care Certification survey is required every two years to maintain The Joint Commission Advanced designation, the release said.

The Joint Commission surveyors evaluated the hospital during a two-day virtual review, looking at St. Mary's compliance with advanced disease-specific care standards and total hip and total knee replacement requirements, including orthopedic consultation and pre-operative, intraoperative and post-surgical orthopedic surgeon follow-up care, according to the release.

"I am grateful for the leadership provided by our orthopedic surgeons, Dr. Edgar Fike, Dr. Trent Hulse, Dr. David Keller and Dr. Tim Teske," St. Mary's CEO Krista Roberts said in a press release. "Their clinical expertise, and the care provided by our team of nurses, physical and occupational therapists, dietitians and other support staff, have resulted in a unique designation that only a few other hospitals in Oklahoma have achieved."

St. Mary's was the first medical facility to achieve this certification back in 2016, the release said. The hospital received its last recertification in 2018.

"Our continued focus remains on providing clinical evidence-based patient care for joint replacement patients with the goal of helping improve quality of life, improve mobility and help patients resume normal daily activities, Roberts said.

The Joint Commission was established in 2016 and is awarded for a two-year period. It was developed in response to a growing number of patients undergoing a total hip or total knee replacement surgery, as well as the increased focus on clinical evidence-based patient care as it relates to pain management, quality of life issues, functional limitation in mobility and the return to normal daily activities, according to a News & Eagle article from 2017.

Kelci McKendrick is police and court reporter for the Enid News & Eagle.

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