Surgery has long been a center of excellence at Palmetto Health Baptist Columbia. By remaining on the leading edge of medical technology at all times, the hospital attracts only the most competent surgeons and nursing staff.

A wide variety of general and highly specialized surgery is performed in the areas of orthopedics, neurology, urology, gynecology and others. Nearly 60 percent of all surgeries are now performed on an outpatient basis, meaning the patient is operated on, recovers and leaves the hospital within several hours.

In the fiscal year 2000, we did more than 16,000 procedures in our operating room; nearly 25 percent of these were performed using minimally invasive (endoscopic) techniques.