WellStar West Georgia Medical Center was recently named to IBM Watson Health’s annual national list of 100 Top hospitals, a huge honor.

It’s the third time in the last four years that our local hospital has made that list, which speaks to the entire team there, from nurses to doctors to administration. It’s obvious that WellStar WGMC was found to be serving this community in a high-quality manner.

For those wondering, the top 100 hospitals list is created based on a scoreboard of available clinical, operational and patient satisfaction metrics and data. Hospitals don’t apply for the recognition.

The hospitals that made the top 100 list have higher survival rates, fewer complications and infections, shorter lengths of stay, shorter ER wait times, lower inpatient expenses and higher patient satisfaction than non-winning peer group hospitals.

When the news broke on social media, the response was unfortunately negative. Like most hospitals, WellStar is often “graded” by the community on its emergency room, which obviously matters a great deal but is only a portion of the overall medical facility.  Many complained of long wait times, bad experiences or poor patient care. Some yelled fake news.

And to a certain extent, we get it. A hospital trip is a lot like having an experience with law enforcement — in most cases, it means either you or someone close to you is having a bad day. Human nature is also to only air out bad experiences, not to yell positive ones from the mountaintops. That’s the sad reality of 2019.

However, this is a tremendous honor by our local hospital, one that really shines a positive light on medical care in LaGrange, Troup County and the surrounding area. This is a time to celebrate the men and women who work at WellStar WGMC, who serve this community and spending countless (and often thankless) hours caring for the sick.

This review was from an outside agency, one that looked at hospitals across the country and picked WellStar West Georgia Medical Center as a top 100 facility.  The hospital should be extremely proud of that status, as should the community.