Earning the Center of Excellence title means LGMC is classified as a "Specialty Center” by the neuroscience survey firm NeuStrategy. LGMC reached Stage 3 status in the survey, which the firm describes as "a hospital within a hospital,” with staff and facilities dedicated only to neurology patients, with specialized programs and infrastructure in support. Only Stage 3 and Stage 4 facilities can brandish the Center of Excellence certification.

Brian Kirk, Vice President of Physician Practices at LGMC, explained that the hospital was able to improve its score by enhancing its technological capabilities, purchasing state-of-the-art equipment, better documenting plans and protocols, establishing new neuroscience units and programs, and recruiting and employing new neurologists.

LGMC’s Stage 3 achievement is an improvement from the previous survey that ranked LGMC as Stage 2. The results of the 2012 survey are expected later this year.

"Our doctors, medical staff and administration have really pushed hard to make this happen,” says LGMC President/CEO David L. Callecod, FACHE. "This development is due to the collaboration of several physicians who worked tirelessly. Earning this designation is an assurance that our outcomes are better and that our patients are receiving a higher level of care.”

This latest recognition bolsters other recent LGMC accolades as an Advanced Primary Stroke Center by The Joint Commission and American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, and as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence^® by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and Surgical Review Corporation.

"It is our vision to build a regional health care system that always delivers excellence in care and outcomes,” says Callecod. "It is rewarding to see our efforts pay off with actual results – making Lafayette General a great place for people to receive care, nurses to work and physicians to practice medicine. Our administration has worked diligently to raise our standards.”

LGMC notched a 20-pt. improvement over last year’s NeuStrategy score, and notched its widest margin above the national average in the administrative and leadership categories. The hospital saw its largest self-improvement in facilities and governance. "Our areas of improvement are something we can be proud of as a team in pursuing our mission to restore, maintain and improve health,” says Callecod.

The hospital scored above average in nearly every facet of the survey. LGMC also improved its own marks from last year in almost every category, which include administrative leadership, technological facilities and medical staff. The survey aims to recognize "dedicated administrative leadership, financial accountability and physician-led program governance”.