OptumHealth has named Bon Secours St. Francis Eastside a bariatric surgery Center of Excellence® (COE). This follows the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) accreditation that the hospital maintains from the American College of Surgeons and the American Society for Metabolic and the Bariatric Surgery.
Hospitals that earn the Optum Health’s bariatric surgery Center of Excellence designation perform more successful bariatric procedures than many other facilities nearby and patients undergoing the procedures experience fewer complications.
COEs also have:
- 15% lower mortality rate compared to non-COE providers
- 16% lower inpatient hospital readmission rate
- 12% lower reoperation rate for bariatric procedures
- $4,239 lower average cost per surgical episode
“Obesity greatly impacts a person’s quality of life, affecting not just their health, but also household budgets and even relationships. That’s why our weight loss services team has worked so hard to make effective weight management solutions available in Greenville,” said Katie Nowakowski, Surgical Weight Loss Program Manager at Bon Secours.
Studies show obesity affects more than one third of Americans, and it the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Nearly 40 percent of working-age Americans, ages 40 to 59, classify as obese and conditions associated with obesity, such as diabetes, add to the physical and financial toll of obesity. Bariatric surgery has proven to be an effective tool in reducing the long-term personal, clinical and economic costs of obesity.
Bariatric surgeons David Anderson, MD and Jessica Gonzalez Hernandez, MD, bariatric surgeon nurse practitioner Stephanie Van Camp, and dietitian Natalie Harris make up Bon Secours St. Francis Eastside’s Surgical Weight Loss program.