Verde Valley Medical Center is hosting two joint replacement seminars. The first will be held on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 2 p.m. at Verde Valley Medical Center, Conference Rooms B & C. The second will be held on Wednesday, March 11, at 4:30 p.m., at the Village of Oak Creek Association, 690 Bell Rock Blvd., Sedona.

VVMC’s Joint Replacement Program (JRP) has been awarded a 2008 Showcase in Excellence Award by the Arizona Quality Alliance. The AQA promotes total quality management, and recognizes organizations for performance excellence. VVMC is the only hospital in Arizona to receive this award.

The JRP has gained national recognition as a center of excellence for its high success rate. The program has been proven to decrease length of hospital stay, decrease complication rate, increase speed of rehabilitation, and improve range of motion. Patients involved in the program also have shown improvement in walking distance and decrease in pain in as little as six weeks after surgery.

The seminar will be presented by Jack Wylie, M.D., orthopedic surgeon; and Jon Cook, P.T., D.P.T., coordinator of the VVMC JRP and Sports Medicine programs. For the past two years, both Dr. Wylie and Cook have been guest speakers at the Annual Meeting of the Western Orthopaedic Association (WOA) where they presented results of their research into the high success rate of VVMC’s joint replacement program.

To reserve a seat at either seminar, please RSVP to 639-6551.