BURLINGTON, Vt. – Patients in our region are benefitting from class leading surgical care close to home as Healthgrades, a prominent online resource for consumers seeking information about doctors and hospitals, has named University of Vermont Medical Center among the top 10% in the U.S. for outpatient orthopedic surgery and recognized the academic medical center with its prestigious Outpatient Joint Replacement Excellence Award for 2024.

“This achievement highlights our deep commitment to our patients by providing the highest-level care and investing in the tools that help our talented team of caregivers best serve our patients across Vermont and northern New York,” says Claude Nichols, MD, the Network Department Chair of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation.

As an academic health system, UVM Health Network is committed to continuous improvement and implementing new technology that enables advances in care, evident with the adoption of contemporary technology such as robotics at UVM Medical Center, and more recently, at UVM Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin. At UVM Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh, N.Y., the orthopedic team uses personalized implants for total knee replacements. By implementing leading edge technology that supports our patients as well as our surgeons and staff, the health system continues to attract top talent to provide our patients with the expert care they deserve.

A critical step in enhancing access to award winning, high-quality care is the health system’s proposed new state-of-the-art outpatient surgical center in South Burlington, Vt. If approved, the new facility will help decrease wait times for surgeries, increase access to care and adapt to the changing needs of the community, and will allow our orthopedic team to bring the high-quality care recognized by Healthgrades to growing numbers of patients who need it.

“True to our academic mission, we are responsible for training the next generation of orthopedic specialists in our region, keeping the department at the forefront of orthopedic medicine. With top surgeons, anesthesiologists, equipment, and skills, we are providing unparalleled care to patients across our health care partners,” says Sunny Eappen, MD, MBA, president and CEO of UVM Health Network. “Whether patients live in Ticonderoga, N.Y., or Worcester, Vt., they can be assured they are receiving care from providers who are all part of our academic health system, which is home to nationally recognized outpatient orthopedic care.”

“University of Vermont Health Network exemplifies what it means to be a leader in outpatient orthopedics by delivering consistently superior outcomes across key outpatient procedures,” said Brad Bowman, MD, chief medical officer and head of Data Science at Healthgrades. “Patients having outpatient orthopedic surgery should feel confident in their decision to seek care from a facility with top marks in their procedure.”

To identify the top-performing hospitals for outpatient orthopedic surgery, Healthgrades analyzed patient outcomes at short-term acute care facilities nationwide that offer critical orthopedic procedures in an outpatient environment, including back and neck surgery, knee replacement, hip replacement and rotator cuff surgery.