I think the doctor's age and experience are the most important factors. When I had 3 discs very successfully repaired/fused almost 10 years ago, my operation was necessary but risky. It was done by Kevin Gibbons, in Buffalo, who not yet 40 years old, had already performed almost 1000 spinal operations. This is the same doctor who, with a colleague eight years later, performed the well publicized "miraculous" surgery on the Bills football player who is not only alive but walking.
You can google Dr Gibbons and pick a doctor this way, but my point is this: pick the doctor, not the hospital. As good as a place like the Mayo Clinic is reputed to be, the best places still have the relatively inexperienced or 'past prime' surgeons.
Maybe distance from home is a factor. If it isn't, I'd cross country to have Dr. Gibbons take my case. Bless you! Good luck! And remember, good doctors and their technology are now so good that most cervical spinal surgery is not risky anymore.
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