St. Peter's Hospital drops WLS

From Saturday's Star Ledger: "Saint Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick has closed down its gastric bypass surgery program...." full article at: http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1085812288122210.xml

Hi Jennifer, Thanks for posting this ~ I always read the Star Ledger but somehow missed this article. This stinks! I am curious to find out where Dr. Mehta is going to be performing these surgeries now. If anyone finds out, please post.

This was crushing news especially for me as I was scheduled for surgery on May 24th!!I recieved the news on May 22nd!!I am still confused as to what I am going to do but currently I am sticking with doctor Mehta...tonight is the support meeting so it will be interesting to hear what is said!!

How did the support meeting go? What information were they able to give you about the hospital dropping them and where is Dr. Mehta going to practice? I am post-op but live in New Brunswick and was looking for a support group close to my home. I currently go to one in North Jersey and the schlep sometimes does not work.

I think ultimately it is a poor decision for St. Peters. To me, its just another way of discrimation of the morbidly obese. I wasn't pleased to find out that St Peters had handled this so poorly too, just canceling surgery for people that went through all the pre-op testing and PAT's knowing that they were canceling the program. There was blatant disregard for those people feelings. Dr Mehta will come out on top. He is by far a great skilled surgeon and compassionate man. New doors are opening for him and this unfortunate situation will turn out for the best. Dr. Mehta has always been here for his post op patients as well as those needing support. His support group will still be in existence and we will be meeting at the Hyatt Regency for the next few months: The Hyatt Regency 2 Albany St. New Brunswick, NJ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Tuesday, July 6, 2004 Tuesday, August 3, 2004 Hope to see you there! ~Kristin

Kristin, Thank you for the update! Everyone that's ever said anything about Dr. Mehta to me has always said positive things. I hope he's able to take care of the people that St. Peters stranded very soon. I'm so thankful that nothing like that happened to me.. as soon as I was approved, I couldn't WAIT for surgery. I hope I get the chance to come to your group some time, it sounds like you have a great group of losers. Take care of yourself, Jen

Jen, You are very welcome! I know for a fact that Dr. Mehta will give those patients top priority. He even said so at the support group meeting, in front of about 60 people!!! We are all a witness!! LOL We do have a wonderful bunch of losers, and we all look forward to meeting you! ~Kristin