Advanced surgical services in rural communities, are rare.  Putnam General Hospital has set the bar and moved forward on relieving the local community of the need for general and orthopedic surgery.  Putnam General and hospital administrator, Darrell Oglesby, recently received the honor of being the first rural hospital in the United States to create local access to surgical care for the community with SurgeonCare.

In September of 2009, Putnam General partnered with SurgeonCare Physicians of Georgia to bring general and orthopedic surgery to the Putnam County and the surrounding lake areas.  When rural communities lack advanced surgical services, SurgeonCare acts as advocate in the placement of great surgeons into previously underserved areas.

“Since partnering with SurgeonCare we have received positive feedback from our patients on the ability to stay close to home when having surgery,” said Darrell Oglesby, hospital administrator.  “Not only can our patients stay here for their surgery, but also any pre-op or post-op appointments needed.  The hospital authority and staff work diligently to make sure to provide the best and most needed services to the community.  We will continue to stay on the forefront of medical services and technology for our community.”

Putnam General and SurgeonCare recently announced their continued partnership with Medical Center of Central Georgia (MCCG) in Macon, to provide navigational services to patients with emergencies or specialty surgical needs. The partnership has high goals for how to help and change the community and beyond.

“The collaboration with Putnam General and MCCG is just the first in many partnerships we hope to create in rural communities across the nation,” says Jim Weeks, SuregonCare president and chief executive officer.  “It was an honor to recognize Putnam as a landmark leader in providing advanced surgical services to the community.  We hope with the addition of the navigation program with MCCG and the superior staff at Putnam General, that we will be able to serve the citizens of Putnam and surrounding counties with the patient care and services they need.”

SurgeonCare Physicians of Georgia and Putnam General currently have general and orthopedic surgeons available. For more information on services offered or about SurgeonCare, please call (706) 485-1151.  For more information on Putnam General Hospital, call (706) 923-2028.