Why Choose St. Mark’s Hospital?
There are many hospitals/practices that can perform gastric bypass procedures, but none are as dedicated to your long term success as St. Mark’s Center for the Surgical Treatment of Obesity. With the Bariatric Community, St. Mark’s Hospital is considered the “Gold Standard” in bariatric care.
There is experience and there is expertise. The physicians associated with St. Mark’s Hospital have performed over 15,000 gastric bypass procedures and have 50 years of combined experience in bariatric surgery.
Here are just a few of the reasons to make St. Mark’s Hospital your number one choice for weight loss success:
- Dedicated Staff to assist you through the process.
- Dedicated Bariatric Floor
- Specialty Nurses who are dedicated to the Bariatric Unit
- Bariatric Dietiacians
- Follow up Support/Education
The primary goal of St. Mark’s Center for the Surgical Treatment of Obesity is to improve the health of patients through education, support and encouragement in their quest to achieve and maintain a healthy, normal weight and lifestyle after gastric bypass surgery.
What is Morbid Obesity?
If you are 75 pounds or more overweight, you are one of more than 4 million Americans afflicted with the condition called morbid obesity. Medical professionals view morbid obesity as a disease with serious medical, physical and psychological effects, not as a lack of will power or self control.
What are the long term risks of morbid obesity?
Excess weight severely impacts your body. It crushes the heart, taxes the lungs and kidneys, and damages knees and hips. Morbid obesity can cause an increased risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other illnesses which can lead to premature death.
What is gastric bypass surgery?
The procedure used by the experienced physicians affiliated with St. Mark’s Hospital is called the Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass. Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery converts the upper section of the stomach into a very small pouch that initially holds about 2 ounces or ¼ cup of food. This limits the amount of food that can be eaten, yet leaves the patient feeling full and satisfied with very little food. The caloric intake is reduced and the weight loss follows. In essence, it is forced behavior modification.
Is surgery for weight control a safe method for weight loss?
The National Institute of Health rates gastric bypass surgery as one of the safest forms of weight loss surgery, having the least amount of complications and highest rate for long term success. There is experience and there is expertise. The physicians associated with St. Mark’s Hospital have performed over 15,000 gastric bypass procedures and have 50 years of combined experience in bariatric surgery.
Am I a candidate for gastric bypass surgery?
Depending on your specific condition, surgery for weight control may be a viable option to improve your health and quality of life. Only a qualified physician, upon conducting an in-depth consultation and examination for your specific condition, can determine if this operation is appropriate for you. Only you can decide if surgery for weight control is right for you.
One indication is your body mass index (BMI). BMI accounts for a person’s height and weight to determine a statistical health risk. A BMI greater than 35 is considered morbidly obese. The following criteria are commonly applied to determine who is a candidate for Gastric Bypass Surgery, however they are not universal standards. Your insurance company will have personal criteria you will have to meet:
- A BMI greater than 35
- An excess of 75 or more pounds over ideal body weight, with presence of medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, sleep apnea, congestive heart failure, or other obesity-related disorders.
- An inability to maintain weight loss through other methods.
- An absence of severe psychological, emotional or medical problems which would make surgery unsuccessful.
- A lack of dependence on drugs or alcohol, unless well into a good treatment program with at least one year of sobriety.
- An understanding that the surgical treatment is only part of the total treatment program for obesity, and agreement to accept the outcome of surgery, as well as commit to the program outlined by St. Mark’s Center for the Surgical Treatment of Obesity and the associated physicians’ practices. (i.e. support groups and educational classes.)
Will my insurance cover this procedure?
Insurances companies are slowly recognizing gastric bypass surgery as a viable, long term option for weight control. As such, more and more insurance companies are covering the procedure. Below is a list of insurances that we have found that cover gastric bypass procedure. There are thousands of insurance companies. If your particular insurance company is not listed below, it does not necessarily mean that it is not a covered benefit for your plan. Every insurance company will have its own medical criteria you must meet before they approve gastric bypass surgery:
- Aetna
- Accordia
- Altius Federal
- Blue Cross of California
- Blue Cross of Idaho
- Blue Cross Federal
- Blue Cross of Wyoming
- Blue Cross (most out of state plans)
- Benefit Planners
- Cigna
- Coresource
- Deseret Mutual (DMBA)
- Eighth Distric Electrical
- Empire Blue Cross
- Employee Benefits Management (EBMS)
- First Health
- GEHA
- Great West Life
- JAS Administrators
- Mailhandlers
- Medicaid of Utah
- Medicare
- Molina
- Healthy U
- Mutual of Omaha
- Newmont Gold
- Principal
- Provident
- Prudential
- State Farm
- Teamsters
- Thiokol
- Tricare
- United Health Care
- United Postal Workers
- Value Care (University of Utah Group)
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