By Maria Ginsbourg
Mills-Peninsula Health Services has again been named one of America’s top practitioners of surgery to curb obesity by HealthGrades, an independent organization that rates health care quality.
HealthGrades analyzed the quality of bariatric surgery at 680 hospitals in 17 states. The study awarded the best 93 hospitals five- star ratings. For the third year in a row, Mills-Peninsula Health Services was one of them .
Bariatric surgery limits the amount of food the stomach can hold by surgically reducing the stomach’s capacity to a few ounces.
Albert Wetter, director of laparoscopic surgery at Mills- Peninsula, said his team operates on 300 to 400 bariatric patients a year. He usually operates twice a week, three times a day.
He said doing so many surgeries is a good thing; the procedure becomes routine, which reduces the likelihood of complications. Nationally, the complication rate is only 1 percent, but Mills- Peninsula’s rate is even lower.
Rick May, author of the study, found that bariatric-surgery patients at five-star hospitals have a 65 percent lower chance of experiencing major complications than those who go to lower-rated hospitals.
Wetter said Mills-Peninsula surgeons practice laparoscopy, an innovate and noninvasive technique. Doctors operating in the traditional manner have to cut the stomach open, but doctors practicing laparoscopy create a tiny hole, into which they insert a telescopic rod equipped with a camera.
The technique allows surgeons to see and operate inside the abdomen. One of the benefits of this type of surgery is that the recovery period is shorter. Patients who undergo traditional surgery have to wait six weeks before going back to work. Laparoscopy allows people to be back on the job in two to three weeks, Wetter said.
Mills-Peninsula chief executive Bob Merwin said he was proud of the distinction.
“This HealthGrades recognition — in addition to our distinction as a Center of Excellence by the American Society of Bariatric Surgery — tells our patients they are receiving the highest quality care,” Merwin said in a statement.
Mills-Peninsula Health Services operates two local hospitals, Mills Health Center in San Mateo and Peninsula Medical Center in Burlingame.
Originally published by Maria Ginsbourg, San Mateo County Times.
(c) 2008 Oakland Tribune. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.
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