Table 1. Facility characteristics in the pre-regionalization era by future Center of Excellence designation.

Characteristic	Non-CoE (N=11)	CoE (N=4)
Surgeons, n†	2	2.5
Thoracic surgeons, n†	1	2
Surgeon experience, cases/year†	4	4.75
Facility experience, cases/year†	5	6.75
MIE utilization, %‡	16	33
Complication rate, %‡	45	61
30-day mortality, %‡	3.9	3.2

^†, median; ^‡, overall. CoE, Center of Excellence; MIE, minimally-invasive esophagectomy.