Obesity affects millions of adults in the United States, significantly increasing the risk of severe health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. The Bon Secours Weight Management Center offers medical and surgical weight loss programs designed to help patients achieve and maintain a healthier lifestyle. This article delves into the details of the Bon Secours weight loss program, its comprehensive approach, and the benefits it offers.
Introduction to Bon Secours Weight Management
The Bon Secours Weight Management Center in Richmond provides dedicated and experienced staff to guide individuals through their journey to improved health and wellness. With a focus on long-term lifestyle changes, the center offers both medical and surgical weight loss programs, complemented by nutritional counseling.
Comprehensive Weight Loss Programs
Bon Secours St. Francis Weight Management is recognized as a Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) Center of Excellence. This designation reflects the program's commitment to providing comprehensive care for patients seeking bariatric surgery.
Surgical Weight Loss Program
The Bariatric Surgical Weight Loss Program at Bon Secours has been serving patients for over 25 years, aiming to facilitate permanent weight loss through changes in diet, behavior, and activity. The program emphasizes the importance of maintaining weight loss, providing ongoing monitoring and support to ensure patients maintain their weight in a safe and nutritionally balanced manner.
Robotic Bariatric Procedures
In 2020, Bon Secours began offering robotic bariatric procedures, which provide physicians with enhanced visualization during surgery, potentially reducing complications and leading to shorter recovery times and less pain for patients.
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Non-Surgical Weight Loss Options
Bon Secours offers medically-supervised weight loss programs as a safe, non-surgical method for individuals to lose significant amounts of weight. These programs involve nutritionally-complete meal replacements in various flavors, allowing patients to follow a very low-calorie liquid diet consisting of shakes, soups, and puddings. Throughout the program, patients receive comprehensive support, starting with an evaluation to determine suitability. They meet weekly with a nurse for health checks and monthly with a physician for lab work. As they approach their weight loss goal, patients enter a five-week transition phase, gradually reintroducing whole foods into their diet while applying the principles learned from dietitian classes.
Accreditation and Standards
The Surgical Weight Loss program at the St. Francis Eastside campus has been reaccredited for Bariatric Surgery and Obesity Medicine Services by MBSAQIP®, a joint Quality Program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). This accreditation ensures that patients receive multidisciplinary medical care, improving patient outcomes and long-term success. To achieve this accreditation, the program met stringent criteria for staffing, facility infrastructure, training, and patient care pathways.
MBSAQIP Accreditation Process
To earn MBSAQIP Accreditation, the St. Francis Surgical Weight Loss program met essential criteria for staffing, training, facility infrastructure, and patient care pathways, ensuring its ability to support patients with obesity. After applying for MBSAQIP Accreditation, centers also undergo an extensive site visit by an experienced bariatric surgeon who reviews the center’s structure, processes, and clinical outcomes data. Centers that earn accreditation are awarded a specific designation level, depending on how many patients it serves annually, critical care capabilities, the types of procedures provided, and whether it provides care to patients under the age of 18.
Comprehensive Approach to Patient Care
The health care system’s surgical weight loss program takes a comprehensive approach with preoperative and postoperative care to ensure patients long-term success. The weight loss programs at Bon Secours provide a comprehensive approach to weight loss. The programs include extensive pre-surgical education, diet and exercise counseling, psychological support, and ongoing support groups. If you’re considering one of our bariatric clinics, we offer customizable programs that are monitored all the way along your journey to a better life.
The Importance of Addressing Obesity
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that approximately 93 million adults in the United States are affected by obesity, a number that continues to rise. Obesity is associated with increased risks of morbidity and mortality due to conditions such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
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Bon Secours St. Francis Health System
Bon Secours St. Francis Health System is part of Bon Secours Mercy Health (BSMH), one of the 20 largest health systems in the United States and the fifth-largest Catholic health system in the country. With over 60,000 associates, BSMH provides quality, compassionate care across multiple states and Ireland. Annually, Bon Secours Mercy Health provides care for patients more than 11 million times through its extensive network of care sites, including 49 hospitals.
Community Investment
In 2023, BSMH invested over $600 million in community initiatives across five states, ensuring that cost is not a barrier to health care for patients in need. Locally, Bon Secours St. Francis provides compassionate medical care to thousands of area residents through Bon Secours St. Francis Downtown and Bon Secours St. Francis Eastside, along with a network of primary and specialty care practices and ambulatory care sites throughout the Greenville region.
Mission and Values
The mission of Bon Secours St. Francis is to extend the compassionate ministry of Jesus by improving the health and well-being of our communities and bring good help to those in need, especially people who are poor, dying, and underserved.
Benefits of the Bon Secours Weight Loss Program
The Bon Secours St. Francis Weight Management program helps patients improve their overall health, quality of life, and achieve long-term weight loss. Their surgeons are highly experienced and offer exemplary care to the Upstate and surrounding areas, including North Carolina. Bariatric surgery may be an option for those who are 50 or more pounds overweight and have unsuccessfully tried to lose weight through diet and exercise. Weight loss is not a quick fix. It’s an ongoing journey toward better health through long-term lifestyle changes.
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