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Date Published: Monday, March 26, 2018
Date Updated: Friday, June 30, 2023

Good Samaritan Hospital Achieves National Accreditation from the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program

Suffern–area center meets all criteria as a Comprehensive Center according to national quality standards established to deliver safe, high quality bariatric patient care

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SUFFERN, N.Y. (March 26, 2018) - Patients seeking surgical treatment for severe obesity and its related conditions have a high-quality choice for receiving treatment at a nationally accredited program that meets the highest standards for patient safety and quality of care in Rockland County.

Ramon Rivera, MD, FACS, Medical Director of Good Samaritan Hospital's Surgical Weight Loss Institute, a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMC Health), 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).

The MBSAQIP Standards, outlined in the Resources for Optimal Care of the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Patient 2016 ensure that bariatric surgical patients receive a multidisciplinary program, not just a surgical procedure, which improves patient outcomes and long-term success. The accredited center offers preoperative and postoperative advanced care designed specifically for the treatment of severe obesity.

"This accreditation affirms our hospital's commitment to long-term quality patient care and recognizes the contributions of all staff members who helped make this designation possible," said Dr. Rivera.

Good Samaritan Hospital's commitment to quality care begins with appropriately trained staff and the leadership team who participate in meetings throughout the year to review its outcomes. They seek continuous improvement to enhance the structure, process and outcomes of the center.

To earn the MBSAQIP designation, Good Samaritan Hospital met essential criteria for staffing, training and facility infrastructure and protocols for care, ensuring its ability to support patients with severe obesity. The center 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 2016, 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 and the type of procedures it provides. Our center performs gastric sleeve, gastric bypass and revisional surgeries including conversion of laparoscopic band to other procedures such as gastric sleeve.

Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y., Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis, N.Y., and MidHudson Regional Hospital in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. also offer bariatric surgery.

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 there are 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.

*Working with ASMBS, the 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. *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.\

Photo Left to Right: Ramon Rivera, MD, FACS, Medical Director of Good Samaritan Hospital's Surgical Weight Loss Institute, Maria Scaffidi, RD, CDN, Bariatrics Coordinator. Good Samaritan Hospital