Institute for Weight Loss Attains Renewed National Accreditation
February 22, 2019
The Institute for Weight Loss at Hackensack Meridian Health Raritan Bay Medical Center-Old Bridge was recently re-accredited as a Comprehensive Bariatric Center under the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP).
The institute provides individualized medical and surgical solutions and ongoing support for individuals seeking weight loss, including nutrition and lifestyle counseling. Typically, patients who benefit from services have previously been unable to lose weight through conventional weight loss diets, exercise, or medications and have obesity-associated medical problems such as diabetes, heart disease, or sleep apnea.
“This important accreditation confirms what has always been the ultimate goal of the institute,” said Medical Director of the Institute for Weight Loss Ayotunde Adeyeri, M.D., FASMBS, a board-certified and fellowship-trained laparoscopic, bariatric, and general surgeon. “It affirms that we are providing our patients with the necessary and ongoing comprehensive care and support services required to help them achieve their weight loss goals, maintain their health and well-being, and keep the weight off.”
To make an appointment or to learn more about weight loss surgery at a free seminar, call 1-855-TIME-4-ME or visit www.rbmc.org/institute-for-weight-loss/.
The MBSAQIP is a joint program of the American College of Surgeons and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. To earn the designation, Raritan Bay-Old Bridge met essential criteria for staffing, training, and facility infrastructure and protocols for care, ensuring its ability to support patients with severe obesity. The institute also participates in a national data registry that yields semi-annual reports on the quality of its processes and outcomes, identifying opportunities for continuous quality improvement. After submitting an application, Raritan Bay-Old Bridge received an extensive site visit by an experienced bariatric surgeon, who reviewed the institute’s structure, process, and clinical outcomes data.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than one-third of U.S. adults, 93 million people, have obesity. Obesity is associated with more than 40 diseases and causes of death.
About Hackensack Meridian Health
Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the largest, most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care.
Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 17 hospitals from Bergen to Ocean counties, which includes three academic medical centers – Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, JFK Medical Center in Edison; two children’s hospitals - Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital in Hackensack, K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital in Neptune; nine community hospitals – Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, and Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin; a behavioral health hospital – Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead; and two rehabilitation hospitals - JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison and Shore Rehabilitation Institute in Brick.
Additionally, the network has more than 500 patient care locations throughout the state which include ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, fitness and wellness centers, rehabilitation centers, urgent care centers and physician practice locations. Hackensack Meridian Health has more than 34,100 team members, and 6,500 physicians and is a distinguished leader in health care philanthropy, committed to the health and well-being of the communities it serves.
The network’s notable distinctions include having four hospitals among the top 10 in New Jersey by U.S. News and World Report. Other honors include consistently achieving Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center and being named to Becker’s Healthcare’s “150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare/2018” list.
The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its first class of students in 2018 to its On3 campus in Nutley and Clifton. Additionally, the network partnered with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to find more cures for cancer faster while ensuring that patients have access to the highest quality, most individualized cancer care when and where they need it.
Hackensack Meridian Health is a member of AllSpire Health Partners, an interstate consortium of leading health systems, to focus on the sharing of best practices in clinical care and achieving efficiencies.
For additional information, please visit www.HackensackMeridianHealth.org.