Hospital meets all criteria as a Comprehensive Center according to national quality standards established to deliver safe, high quality bariatric patient care
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (January 18, 2016) – Patients seeking surgical treatment for severe obesity and its related conditions have a high-quality choice for receiving treatment at White Plains Hospital - now a nationally accredited program that meets the highest standards for patient safety and quality of care.
Philip Weber, MD, FACS, Director of Bariatric Surgery at White Plains Hospital, announced its bariatric surgical center has been accredited as a Comprehensive Center under the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP), a joint program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). White Plains Hospital is one of only 2 hospitals in Westchester to receive the accreditation.
The MBSAQIP Standards ensure that bariatric surgical patients receive a multidisciplinary program, not just a surgical procedure, which improves patient outcomes and long-term success. The White Plains Hospital accredited center offers preoperative and postoperative care designed specifically for severely obese patients.
This designation of Comprehensive Center is an affirmation of the long, excellent history of bariatric surgery at White Plains Hospital. The program was started in 1998 by Dr. William Homan and his wife, Valerie. They were considered pioneers and were highly respected by the entire bariatric community. Under their direction, the bariatric surgery program at White Plains Hospital received the first Center of Excellence designation in Westchester County. Surgeons at the Hospital currently perform state-of-the-art bariatric surgery including laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass and Sleeve Gastrectomy.
“This designation is a credit to our outstanding, highly dedicated team that includes a bariatric coordinator, a nutritionist, a physical therapist, and expert nurses. Our anesthesia care is provided by Westchester Anesthesiologists, a phenomenal group of anesthesiologists who are all board certified and experienced in working with bariatric patients,” said Dr. Weber.
Bariatric Program Coordinator Sandi Gallo, BSN, RN added, “We are dedicated to providing a comprehensive program that truly helps our patients succeed in improving their health in the long term.” The Hospital also offer monthly support groups to patients who undergo weight loss surgery.
White Plains Hospital’s commitment to quality care begins with specially trained staff, as well as leadership who participate in meetings throughout the year in order to make continuous improvement to the structure, process and outcomes of the center. To earn the MBSAQIP designation, White Plains Hospital met essential criteria for staffing, training and facility infrastructure, as well as protocols for care, ensuring its ability to support patients with severe obesity. The program also participates in a national data registry that yields semiannual reports on the quality of its processes and outcomes, identifying opportunities for continuous quality improvement. The standards are specified in the MBSAQIP Resources for Optimal Care of the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Patient 2014, published by the ACS and ASMBS.
After submitting an application, centers seeking MBSAQIP Accreditation undergo an extensive site visit by an experienced bariatric surgeon, who reviews the center's structure, process, and clinical outcomes data. Centers are awarded a specific designation depending on how many patients it serves annually, the type of procedures it provides, and whether it provides care for patients under age 18.
In the United States, around 15.5 million people suffer from severe obesity, according to the National Institutes of Health, 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. Metabolic and bariatric surgical procedures have proven to be effective in the reduction of comorbid conditions related to severe obesity (Buchwald H, Avidor Y, Braunwald E, et al. Bariatric Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA. 2004;292(14):1724-1737. DOI:10.1001/jama.292.14.1724.) Working with American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), the American College of Surgeons (ACS) expanded this quality program for bariatric surgery centers so that it can assist bariatric patients in identifying those centers that provide optimal surgical care.
About White Plains Hospital
White Plains Hospital (WPH) is a 292-bed not-for-profit health care organization with the primary mission of providing exceptional acute and preventive medical care to all people who live in, work in or visit Westchester County and its surrounding areas. Centers of Excellence include the Dickstein Cancer Center, The William & Sylvia Silberstein Neonatal & Maternity Center and The Ruth and Jerome A. Siegel Stroke Center. The Hospital’s Flanzer Emergency Department is the busiest in Westchester County, seeing over 55,000 visits a year. White Plains Hospital performs lifesaving emergency and elective angioplasty in its Joan and Alan Herfort, M.D. Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Marie Promuto Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory. White Plains Hospital also has outpatient medical facilities in Armonk and New Rochelle. The Hospital is fully accredited by the Joint Commission and earned its recognition as a Top Performer for Key Quality Measures® in 2015 and 2013. The Hospital is also an eleven-time winner of the Consumer Choice Award, an honor given to the nation’s top hospitals by the National Research Corporation, and received Magnet® designation in 2012 from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). In 2014 White Plains Hospital received the Outstanding Patient Experience Award from Healthgrades®, given to only 5% of hospitals nationwide. White Plains Hospital is a proud member of the Montefiore Health System. For additional information, visit http://www.wphospital.org.
About the American College of Surgeons
The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational association of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical education and practice and to improve the quality of care for the surgical patient. Its achievements have placed it at the forefront of American surgery and have made the College an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 80,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world.
About the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery
The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, founded in 1983, was formed to advance the art and science of metabolic and bariatric surgery by continually improving the quality and safety of care and treatment of people with obesity and related diseases through educational and support programs for surgeons and integrated health professionals.