St. Vincent Charity Hospital Named Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence by American Society for Bariatric Surgery

Designation Provides National Recognition for High Quality Care

Cleveland (February 2006) – St. Vincent Charity Hospital’s Center for Bariatric Surgery (CBS) recently was named an American Society for Bariatric Surgery (ASBS) Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence, a designation given by the ASBS and the Surgical Review Corporation (SRC) to surgical programs with a demonstrated track record of favorable outcomes in bariatric surgery. The designation also recognizes program surgeons Helmut Schreiber, MD, Indu Sonpal, MD, and Aviv Ben-Meir, MD.

“We are thrilled that St. Vincent Charity Hospital has received this prestigious designation, which speaks to our experienced surgical team, comprehensive program and our record of successful outcomes,” said Jeffrey S. Jeney, President and CEO, St. Vincent Charity Hospital.

Participation in the ASBS/SRC review process is voluntary, but rigorous. Designated Centers of Excellence are organizations that hold patient safety, outcomes and quality in the highest regard. Participants must submit to a site review, demonstrate that they have the resources and experience to perform safe bariatric procedures, and have excellent short- and long-term outcomes.

St. Vincent Charity Hospital’s CBS received a three-year designation, the maximum, reserved for those applicants who exceed the requirements for full approval in most or all respects. As a part of this designation, the program will continue to share information on clinical pathways, protocols and outcomes data with the ASBS and the SRC.

Upon learning of the designation, Helmut Schreiber, MD, chairman, department of surgery for St. Vincent Charity Hospital, and founder and co-director of the CBS, said, “I am delighted that the ASBS has validated our heartfelt efforts to establish a comprehensive and safe surgical weight loss program. This designation will allow us to further our leadership role as advocates for the morbidly obese and patient safety in medical weight loss.” Dr. Schreiber is a 2003 inductee of Cleveland Magazine’s Medical Hall of Fame.

“The more than 5,500 patients who have chosen St. Vincent Charity Hospital for their surgery, and our excellent outcomes speak for us,” said Aviv Ben-Meir, MD, CBS co-director and Director of Minimally Invasive Surgery. “Individuals considering weight loss surgery need to look carefully at factors such as a program’s length of stay, safety, mortality and complication rates.”

“It is truly an honor to be recognized by our peers for the excellent work that we have done and for touching the lives of so many,” said Indu Sonpal, MD, Program Surgeon.

According to a study released in July 2005 by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the number of U.S. bariatric surgeries more than quadrupled between 1998 and 2002 – from 13,386 to 71,733. Faced with clinical evidence that the most experienced and best-run bariatric surgery programs have by far the lowest rates of complications, the ASBS Centers of Excellence program was created to recognize bariatric surgery centers that perform well and to help surgeons and hospitals continue to improve the quality and safety of care provided.

Surgical Review Corporation (SRC), an organization dedicated to pursuing surgical excellence, formulates and establishes the standards with which the Center for Bariatric Surgery and other Centers of Excellence must comply, thoroughly inspects and evaluates each candidate for designation, and, upon review, recommends approval of designation for those physicians and facilities whose practices and outcomes meet the stringent demands set forth by SRC for ASBS.

Obesity has become a significant national health issue, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting that 64 percent of all U.S. adults are overweight or obese. Morbid obesity is closely correlated with a number of serious conditions that severely undermine the health of overweight patients, including heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.