Waltham – April 16- Southcoast physician Rayford S. Kruger, M.D. has been honored by his peers of the Bristol South District Medical Society as the 2015 Community Clinician of the Year, an honor recognizing his professionalism and contributions as a physician.  He received the award April 13 at the district society’s annual meeting held at the Venus de Milo in Swansea.

Board-certified in surgery, Dr. Kruger is Medical Director of the Southcoast Center for Weight Loss of Southcoast Health System and has practiced general surgery at Tobey Hospital in Wareham since 1990. He has led the bariatric/weight loss surgery program for the last 10 years, and under his direction, the Southcoast Center for weight loss has helped nearly 5,000 patients treat their obesity through surgical weight loss.

A fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Dr.  Kruger earned his M.D. from Dartmouth Medical School and completed his residency training at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire.

For his efforts as a bariatric surgeon in assisting patients in weight loss, Dr. Kruger was also named 2014 Wareham Man of the Year by The Standard-Times in New Bedford.

The Community Clinician of the Year award was established in 1998 by the Massachusetts Medical Society to recognize a physician from each of the Society’s 20 district medical societies and recognizes member physicians for their significant contributions to their patients and the community. The Bristol South District has more than 300 physician members who practice in Bristol County.