Hilton Head Regional Healthcare is pleased to announce Coastal Carolina Hospital is an American Institute of Minimally Invasive Surgery (AIMIS) Gynecological Surgery Center of Excellence.

The Gynecological Center of Excellence designation serves as added assurance that Coastal Carolina Hospital not only passed and exceeded existing norms for minimally invasive surgery quality and delivery, but also has physicians on staff who have achieved the AIMIS designation as an accredited AIMIS physician as well.

“This designation is a significant representation of the incredible care provided in the operating room at Coastal Carolina Hospital,” said Dr. Claude Tolbert, OB/GYN and AIMIS-accredited physician.  “Having completed the physician accreditation, I can attest to the rigorous criteria that must be met in order to achieve this accolade. Minimally invasive surgeries have a lot to offer patients, including smaller incisions and faster recovery times.”

Approximately 600,000 hysterectomies are performed in the United States each year, making it the second most common procedure performed on American women. According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, an estimated two-thirds of these operations entail open surgeries rather than minimally invasive laparoscopic/robotic methods.

 “We continue to assess and institute the use of latest teaching methods that advance continued use and implementation of minimally invasive surgery,” said Dr. Steven McCarus, CEO of AIMIS. “Coastal Carolina Hospital has now joined only a handful of leading hospitals around the nation to achieve and enjoy the AIMIS accreditation.”