My bariatric program is closing

So I went for my first fill last week (which is another story for another post) and saw the other lap band surgeon. (My surgeon left the end of December - I had my surgery on December 1.) He asked me if I knew what was going on with the bariatric program at Arnot (Elmira, NY) and I advised him that I didn't. He said that the hospital was shutting down the program. I was completely dumbfounded. So I asked him if he would tell me why the hospital had made this decision. He asked if I wanted the official hospital reason or his reason. I asked for his and was told that he felt it was due to poor management and that the hospital wasn't realizing enough revenue. So I searched on the Internet for the official reason and found the article copied below.
I now have to find another program and his office will see about getting me transferred to it by the middle of July. The problem is that I live in the middle of nowhere and will now have an even longer drive (3 plus hrs) for care.  AAAUGGHH!!!!



Arnot Ogden Medical Center is discontinuing its bariatric surgery program, because of physician turnover the 8-year-old program has experienced over the last two years.

Bariatric surgery, also called weight-loss surgery, includes a variety of procedures performed on people who are obese. Weight loss is gained by reducing the size of the stomach with an implanted medical device, by removing a portion of the stomach or by rerouting the small intestine to a small stomach pouch.

In the United States, the number of bariatric surgeries increased by 804 percent, from 13,386 procedures to 121,005, from 1998 to 2004. At Arnot Ogden, about 2,400 bariatric surgeries have been performed since the program's inception in 2003, hospital spokesperson Carolyn Handrick said. The procedures include Roux en y, where a small stomach pouch is created with a stapler device to which the small intestine is then reattached, and lap bands, which shrink the stomach's size through the use of a silicon band attached to the upper portion of the stomach. Laparoscopic bariatric surgery, a less-invasive procedure, however, has grown to be the more common procedure over the years, she said.

"Recently, we completed a careful analysis of the Bariatric Surgery Program at Arnot Health. The program has experienced significant physician turnover in the past two years. Most recently, Dr. Anishur Rahman announced his resignation from the program, effective December 31, 2010," Handrick said in a statement. "After careful analysis of this history, our prospects for recruiting bariatric laparoscopic surgeons, and the financial stability of the overall program, we made the difficult decision to discontinue providing bariatric surgical services."

The surgery is recommended for obese people with a body mass index of at least 40, although the U.S. Federal Drug Administration is considering lowering the threshold for some types of bariatric procedures. Body mass indices of 18.5 to 24.9 are considered normal, with figures higher than 30 considered obese.

Depending on the type of procedure and the area of the country the patient lives, costs for the surgery can run from $15,000 to $30,000. The actual procedures are usually followed by extensive post-surgery care that can include nutritional or behavioral counseling and cosmetic surgery.

As a result of Arnot's decision to discontinue its program, the hospital is now working to transfer its pre-surgery bariatric patients to Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, which also operates a Center of Excellence bariatric program. The designation was also carried by Arnot Ogden's program. Meanwhile, Handrick said, Arnot's program will remain open over the next few months to provide post-surgical care to patients.

 I feel your pain.  As of March 3rd I have to find a new surgeon.  I was told on my last fill that my current surgeon will no longer be accepting my insurance provider.  They can't guide me on where to head next other than to contact my insurance company be cause they know of NO other surgeons anywhere in my area that accept my insurance.  We were told the payback from the insurance was too low.
They are working on a sliding scale for fill/office visits of something less then 200.00.  Oh yay :(
Both my husband and I had our Lapbands November of last year.  Sigh.  Of course we really like the office and the surgeon we have.  It takes us an hour to get to him as it is.  
Best of luck and your not alone.

Ah, man, that sucks (no other way to put it).

I too live in the middle of nowhere and it was a blow when my original surgeon lost his KY medical license (long story) and the hospital where he had practiced had to put their bariatric surgery program on hold for almost 2 years while they tried to recruit another surgeon. It took a lot of phone calls and persistence to find another surgeon to take me on (after I paid a patient transfer fee of about $300). I went from a 1-1/2 hour drive one way to a 2-1/2 to 3 hour drive one way to get to my new surgeon's office. Totally worth it, but a real logistical challenge.

Is Elmira near Ithaca? You'd think that Cornell could attract some medical hotshots.

I think Arnot Ogden is going to regret their decision. Now that the FDA has approved the band for lower BMI patients, this is a field that's going to explode.

Good luck!

Jean