Arnot Ogden to discontinue weight-loss surgery program

Staffing turnover linked to decision

BY G. JEFFREY AARON •[email protected] • JANUARY 3, 2011, 5:55 PM

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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.