The Metabolic and Bariatric Center at St. Michaels’s Medical Center (SMMC) earned national accreditation from the Metabolic Bariatric Surgery Accreditation Quality Improvement Program.
The American College of Surgeons and American Society for Metabolic and the Bariatric Surgery recently combined their respective national bariatric surgery accreditation programs into a single unified program to achieve one national accreditation standard for bariatric surgery centers.
“St. Michael’s offers patients who struggle with obesity the most advanced medically supervised weight loss and surgical options, as well as the psychological and dietary support they need,” said Dr. Saniea F. Majid, medical director of the Metabolic and Bariatric Center at SMMC. “This accreditation gives us the opportunity to enhance the exceptional care and services we provide to our patients.”
Accredited bariatric surgery centers provide both the hospital resources necessary for optimal care of morbidly obese patients and the support and resources necessary to address the entire spectrum of care and needs of bariatric patients, both pre- and postoperatively.
“This designation demonstrates the level of commitment, safety, and quality care our multidisciplinary health care team provides to patients each and every day,” said David A. Ricci, president and CEO, SMMC. “Our team stays with patients throughout, and well after the weight loss process— it’s an unbreakable bond that can only grow stronger as our program continues to expand.”
In the U.S., more than 15 million people suffer from severe obesity, and the numbers continue to increase. Obesity increases the risks of morbidity and mortality because of the diseases and conditions that are commonly associated with it, such as type II diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease, among other health risks. At the present time, weight-loss operations provide the only effective lasting relief from severe obesity. Therefore, the MBSAQIP believes it is of utmost importance to extend its quality initiatives to accrediting bariatric surgery centers so that it can assist the public in identifying those facilities that provide optimal surgical care for patients who undergo this surgical procedure.
To learn more about The Metabolic and Bariatric Center at SMMC, visit SMMCWeightLoss. org, or call 973.877.5498.
