Healthgrades, an online resource for information about physicians and hospitals, has given the Southcoast Hospital Group a five-star rating for bariatric surgery for the fifth straight year.

The rating puts Southcoast among the top 10 percent of the 467 hospitals that Healthgrades evaluated for bariatric surgery, earning it the Bariatric Surgery Excellence Award.

The award “is really about the best of the best," said Sonja Baro, quality products and media director for Healthgrades.

The results are based on information publicly available in 18 states. In Massachusetts, 21 hospitals were evaluated for bariatric surgery. Of those, only four received the Bariatric Surgery Excellence Award.

"The team is respected, and I think we're very pleased," said Dr. Rayford Kruger, bariatric surgeon and medical director for the Wareham-based Southcoast Center for Weight Loss.

Healthgrades looked at mortality rates and complication rates, among other factors, when determining its ratings.

The Southcoast program, launched in 2004, was a "very well planned, well-orchestrated program," said Kruger, noting that Southcoast looked at successful bariatric programs nationwide when creating the Center for Weight Loss.

"I think both patients and clinicians have known what Healthgrades has seen," Kruger said. "We recognized that if we were going to be successful in the community, we'd have to do it right."

For more about the Southcoast Center for Weight Loss, visit www.southcoast.org/weightloss. For more information about Healthgrades and to browse ratings, visit www.healthgrades.com.