By Roberto M. Robledo, The Salinas Californian

Salinas, CA – April 9, 2015 – Natividad … is quietly achieving major milestones in many areas of health care,” said McMillin. “This designation showcases our ability to compete on a national level with other facilities offering bariatric surgery in terms of excellent patient care, safety, and quality outcomes.”

Bariatric surgeries are among the most common elective surgeries in the U.S. There were 179,000 such surgeries performed in 2013, according to the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, and the average cost per surgery is more than $28,000, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Since 2006, the Blue Distinction Centers for Specialty Care program has helped patients find quality providers in the areas of bariatric surgery, cardiac care, complex and rare cancers, knee and hip replacements, spine surgery, and transplants. Online visit: www.bcbs.com/bluedistinction.