Team of Excellence

When a patient comes to the Microsurgical Center, he is under the care of professionally trained personnel with specialized credentials.

Our office manager is Tina, who has worked closely with Dr. Gatewood for sixteen years to develop a highly successful microsurgical program from the standpoint of operations and the quality of patient services. In June 2003, our facility achieved the Gold Seal of Approval for healthcare quality – Office Based Surgery accreditation from the Joint Commission of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

Tina is responsible for insuring adherence to JCAHO policies and procedures. She assists patients in all phases of administrative aspects from planning the date of surgery to overseeing the financial arrangements of the procedure.

Julie Gatewood is the Marketing Director and Patient Services Coodinator. She assists patients in all phases of administrative aspects from planning the date of surgery to preparing the patient for surgery.

After Dr. Gatewood completes his pre-operative consultation, the patient is introduced to his his surgical nurse, Tammie, and his nurse anesthetist.

Tammie, Dr. Gatewood’s surgical nurse, has spent 25 years in operating rooms assisting surgeons, in fact she spent 12 of those years at the Gulf Coast Surgery Center, where we do cases when we need to use general anesthesia. She assisted Dr. Gatewood there prior to her coming to work with him at the Microsurgical Center. Tammie is ACLS certified and had graduated from Morehead State University in Kentucky. She has spent a period of time in Critical Care while working in the Hemodialysis Unit and was a traveling nurse for 4 years.

The qualifications of a C.R.N.A. as: What is a C.R.N.A. (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist)?  A C.R.N.A. is a licensed registered nurse practitioner, who specializes in the practice of anesthesia. After a registered nurse has had three years employment experience in a critical area (E.R., O.R., I.C.U., etc.) they are eligible to apply to enter an anesthesia program (usually 20 to 24 months in duration) for study and concurrent residency in the specialty of anesthesia.

After successful completion of the course, they may take the national board examination. Passing “boards”, they are then Nationally Certified by the A.A.N.A. (American Association of Nurse Anesthetist) to practice anesthesia and designated by C.R.N.A. or C.R.N.A.P. as professional designation (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, Practitioner). We are required to renew our “certificate” every two years. In order to maintain this “certificate” we must show proof of our current R.N. License in the state in which we practice, and prove that we have complied with continuing education criteria (40 hours of approved education credits every 2 years) and constantly have been actively practicing anesthesia since the last renewal, having kept current with new techniques, medications, laws, and rules of practice.

As a rule, we are responsible for pre-op clearance, intra-op administration of anesthetic drugs, and agents, and post-op (immediate) care and well-being of the patient.”

These anesthetists are highly skilled in their field. They assure that the patient will be safe and the procedure will be a pleasant experience.

The Microsurgical Center is proud of their accreditation with JCAHO and is dedicated to the highest level of patient safety, comfort, and skill.

We hope to be of service to you

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