Lapband Center Of Michigan Moving From Phh To Mercy

[Cindy C 150]

From the Port Huron Times Herald:

St. Joseph Mercy Port Huron hospital is branching out into bariatric surgery by teaming with the Michigan Bariatric Institute. Two local surgeons who had worked at Port Huron Hospital are the first onboard.

Dr. Zubin Bhesania and Dr. Anthony Boutt will be moving the bulk of their bariatric practice from Port Huron Hospital to St. Joseph Mercy this month, although both will do surgeries at Port Huron Hospital when necessary.

"It's a huge thing for the community," Bhesania said. "At St. Joseph Mercy, we will be able to network with fellow Michigan Bariatric Institute surgeons. It is a good synergistic move for us. We are bringing a lot of bariatric experience with us."

The Michigan Bariatic Institute is part of the St. Joseph Mercy Health System, the parent of St. Joseph Mercy Port Huron.

Bhesania founded Port Huron Hospital's Lap-Band Center of Michigan and has been serving as its director since it opened in 2002. Boutt also has been on staff since the center opened.

Patients will be able to have both surgical and medical bariatric treatment at the new center, which Bhesania said is a big improvement. Port Huron Hospital's bariatric center only offered surgical treatment, which excluded some patients from care.

"Not everyone qualifies for surgical bariatric weight loss," he said. "If your (body mass index) is 29 and you have high blood pressure, you wouldn't qualify, even though you would definitely benefit from being able to lose weight."

Medical weight loss combines dietary changes, medications and exercise to achieve weight loss, Bhesania said.

The bariatric center at St. Joseph Mercy Port Huron will be on the main floor, near the emergency department. It will open Jan. 23, and the first patient education seminar will be 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Jan. 26.

Registered nurse Tammy Kwarciak has been named director of bariatric services for the new center.

Officials with St. Joseph Mercy Port Huron said they are excited about the chance to start a bariatric program with Bhesania and Boutt.

"We are very fortunate that this important service will be provided by two highly experienced and professional surgeons who have completed more than 3,000 bariatric cases over their extensive careers," Peter Karadjoff, president and chief executive officer of St. Joseph Mercy Port Huron, said in a news release. "Alignment through the Michigan Bariatric Institute will provide Dr. Boutt and Dr. Bhesania access to health system resources not available before, offering the ability to more readily expand their scope while improving service to the entire southeastern Michigan community."

The surgeons aren't the only ones moving to St. Joseph Mercy Port Huron. Bhesania said most of the staff at Port Huron Hospital's Lap-Band Center will be following the surgeons to the new center at St. Joseph Mercy Port Huron, and he expects patients will do the same.

"We are intimately involved with the care of our patients," Bhesania said. "I expect that they will follow us."

"We'll be the same people with a different roof over our heads."

The news comes one month after Port Huron Hospital announced an expansion of its Lap-Band Center of Michigan. In December, the hospital said surgeons would do gastric sleeve and gastric bypass surgeries in addition to Lap-Band. The hospital also said it would add surgeons to the center.

Officials with Port Huron Hospital said the center has earned accolades as a Bariatric Center of Excellence by the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery during its 10-year center.

"Port Huron Hospital's Lap-Band Center of Michigan is considered one of the most experienced programs in the state," Dave McEwen, vice president of operations, said in a statement. "In the next few months, the center will expand to include additional surgical procedures and welcome two additional bariatric surgeons to the program."