It was a busy fourth quarter of Piedmont’s Fiscal Year 2024 with a strengthened focus on quality, safety and service in awards, recognitions and a groundbreaking new treatment at Piedmont Columbus Regional.

Both Piedmont Columbus Midtown and Northside were the only hospitals in the Columbus-area to earn ‘A’ grades in patient safety and quality this spring from the Leapfrog Group.

“This was Piedmont Columbus Midtown’s first ever ‘A’ and Piedmont Columbus Northside’s twelfth straight ‘A’ grade dating back to fall 2018,” Chief Medical Officer Christopher Edwards, M.D., said. “These ‘A’ grades were no easy feat, and I’m blessed to work with such talented team members who are focused on living real change by providing safer, high-quality health care.”

Visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org to see Piedmont Columbus Regional and other hospitals’ full grade details.

Additionally, Piedmont Columbus Northside received a Comprehensive Bariatrics Center accreditation from the American College of Surgeons’ (ACS) Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program. As an accredited hospital, Northside also becomes an ACS Surgical Quality Partner— meaning a focus is kept on continuous quality program improvement.

“Our robotic-assisted surgery program is committed to quality care, which begins with experienced leadership like bariatric surgeon Kenneth Copperwheat, D.O., who recently completed his 500^th robotics surgery,” said Northside Chief Operating Officer Laura Drew.”

Visit Piedmont.org/pcBariatricsSeminar to take the first step on your weight-loss journey and watch a convenient online seminar about bariatric surgery.

As a destination for healthcare and leader in clinical excellence, Piedmont Columbus recently made headlines across the region. Ella Velez, a 15-year-old girl from west Georgia, is among the first pediatric patients in the world to receive the TZIELD infusion, the first prescription drug to interfere with the body’s autoimmune process and delay the onset of type 1 diabetes by two to seven years. She received infusions at Piedmont Columbus Midtown, which is one of the first medical facilities in the country with the capability to offer this treatment. The freestanding Bill and Olivia Amos Children’s Hospital will have the capability to offer this infusion as part of its routine medical services when it opens this October.

“Piedmont Columbus is the first medical facility in the nation to develop a collaborative strategy to screen patients who may be candidates for this treatment,” Endocrinologist Steven Leichter, M.D., explains. “Laboratory testing was rolled out July 1 to all Columbus-area primary care provider and pediatric offices.”

If you are interested in receiving this testing, talk with your primary care provider or contact Piedmont Physicians Endocrinology Columbus at 706-322-1700.

For more information on Piedmont Columbus Regional, visit Piedmont.org/Columbus.