Sacred Heart and Rockwood Clinic recognized for excellence in weight loss surgery for obesity

Sacred Heart Medical Center and Rockwood Clinic surgeons Andrew Bright, MD and Mathew Rawlins, MD have announced that their Weight Loss Surgery Program has been named a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence by the American Society for Bariatric Surgery (ASBS). This designation is limited to surgical programs with a demonstrated track record of favorable outcomes in bariatric surgery.

Andrew Bright, M.D., FACS, general surgery, received his Bachelor of Science degree from Davidson College in Davidson, N.C., and his medical degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham, Ala. He completed his residency and internship in general surgery at the Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, Wash. Dr. Bright belongs to the American Board of Surgery and has special interest in bariatric and laparoscopic surgery. Dr. Bright joined Rockwood Clinic in 1998. Mathew Rawlins, M.D., FACS, general surgery, received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and his medical degree from the University of Washington in Seattle, Wash. Rawlins completed his residency in general surgery at Virginia Mason Medical Center also in Seattle. He belongs to the American Board of Surgery and has special interest in bariatric and advanced laparoscopic surgery. Dr. Rawlins joined Rockwood Clinic in 2002.

To earn a Center of Excellence designation, Sacred Heart and Rockwood Clinic bariatric surgeons Bright and Rawlins underwent a site inspection during which all aspects of the program’s surgical processes were closely examined and data on health outcomes was collected and reviewed.

“The certification process was very thorough, lasting well over a year. It provided further validation of the strength of our preoperative and surgical processes as well as the care of the patient throughout their hospital stay and beyond,” said Rawlins, who also serves as medical director of Bariatrics at Sacred Heart. “The combined experience of all those involved in caring for our gastric patients at Sacred Heart and Rockwood Clinic has helped develop a pattern of success that we are very proud of. This has resulted in excellent clinical, surgical and health outcomes for those procedures.”

Together, Drs. Bright and Rawlins have performed more than 700 gastric bypass operations since 2000.

Patients in the Weight Loss Surgery Program at Sacred Heart and Rockwood Clinic benefit from a support group, nutrition counseling and intensive pre-operative education. They learn about making necessary lifestyle changes and even begin a weight-loss regime before surgery occurs. At the hospital, staff members from the surgical admit unit to the nursing care unit offer support and understanding based on the clinical and emotional needs of bariatric patients. Upon discharge, patients continue to receive support from various services and programs.

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.

Obesity has become a significant national health issue, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 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.

Bariatric surgery can help obese patients manage these conditions. The procedure most often performed by Drs. Bright and Rawlins is the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, which restricts both food intake and the amount of calories and nutrients the body absorbs.

Surgical Review Corporation, an organization dedicated to pursuing surgical excellence, formulates and establishes the rigorous standards with which hospitals and physicians must comply, thoroughly inspecting and evaluating each candidate for Center of Excellence designation.

About Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children’s Hospital
With 623 beds, Sacred Heart is one of the largest hospitals in the Northwest. It employs over 4,000 health care professionals and support staff. Its medical staff provides the expertise and skills of over 800 specialists and primary care doctors. In addition to a full-service Children’s Hospital, Sacred Heart features comprehensive cardiac programs, a certified Stroke Center, Level II Trauma Center and neuroscience, psychiatric, continence and cancer services.
www.shmc.org

About Rockwood Clinic
Established in 1930, Rockwood Clinic is a physician-owned and operated health care organization that believes in treating each patient with expertise, knowledge and care. With more than 190 on-staff physicians and providers and 26 specialty areas, Rockwood Clinic is home to the region’s most comprehensive and skilled medical and health care experts. Rockwood Clinic operates six primary clinical locations providing concentrated medical and urgent care services and several other specialty care locations throughout Spokane, Wash., and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
www.rockwoodclinic.com

About American Society for Bariatric Surgery
The American Society for Bariatric Surgery (ASBS) was founded in 1983 to advance the science of bariatric surgery by encouraging investigations in both the clinic and the laboratory; promote guidelines for ethical patient selection and care; develop educational programs for physicians, paramedical persons, and lay people; and promote outcome studies and quality assurance.
www.asbs.org.

About Surgical Review Corporation
Surgical Review Corporation is an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to surgical excellence. Its mission is to promote the delivery of surgical care with the highest levels of efficacy, efficiency, and safety possible.
www.surgicalreview.org.