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| Contact: Christine Hill 612-873-5719 |
12/06/05 |
Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) and its physician group, Hennepin Faculty Associates, have been approved as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence by the American Society of Bariatric Surgery (ASBS) and Surgical Review Corporation (SRC). The ASBS Center of Excellence designation recognizes surgical programs with a demonstrated track record of favorable outcomes in bariatric surgery.
"Hennepin Bariatric Center is proud of this recognition," says HCMC's Chief of Bariatric Surgery Howard Lederer, MD. "The rigorous independent review process that goes along with this title confirms the clinical excellence and quality we have always offered, and I'm hopeful that the Centers of Excellence designation will help people fighting obesity get the highest level of care they deserve."
Hennepin Bariatric Center is a comprehensive obesity and weight loss program. Already named a HealthPartners Center of Excellence, HCMC's Obesity Program is recognized for meeting the individual care needs of people with severe obesity.
Obesity has become a significant national health issue, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that 65 percent of all U.S. adults are overweight or obese. Morbid obesity is closely correlated with a number of serious conditions that severely undermine the health of overweight patients, including heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.
The open and laparoscopic surgical approaches performed at HCMC include the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, Lap-Bandr, revisional and other weight loss surgery options. Patients who have bypass operations generally lose two-thirds of their excess weight within two years.
Faced with clinical evidence that the most experienced and best-run bariatric surgery programs have by far the lowest rates of complications, the ASBS Centers of Excellence program was created to recognize bariatric surgery centers that perform well and to help surgeons and hospital continue to improve the quality and safety of care provided.
"This designation confirms that experienced, comprehensive bariatric centers provide truly excellent obesity care. Hennepin Bariatric Center offers our patients the best of all worlds, top quality surgical and medical care for obesity, along with the finest customer service in the region."
HCMC is a public acute care, research, and teaching hospital repeatedly recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of America's Best Hospitals. HCMC offers a full spectrum of inpatient and outpatient services.
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