a surgical implant is provided which includes a body and a coating in contact with at least a portion of the body , the body including metallic magnesium , the coating including a hydrogel having an adhesion peptide contained therein . the adhesion peptide may be derived from an extracellular matrix protein and may be covalently bonded to the hydrogel . a method of making a surgical implant includes providing a magnesium based degradable implant body ; applying and adhering a functionalized reactive silane based adhesion promoting layer to the implant body ; providing a hydrogel monomeric solution having extracellular matrix adhesion peptides incorporated therein ; and contacting the hydrogel monomeric solution with the adhesion promoting layer such that the hydrogel polymerizes and bonds to the adhesion promoting layer and encapsulates at least a portion of the implant .