Crouse Hospital’s weight-loss surgery program re-accredited

SYRACUSE — The bariatric, or weight loss, surgery program at Crouse Health has been reaccredited as a “comprehensive center” under the metabolic and bariatric surgery accreditation and quality improvement program (MBSAQIP).

MBSAQIP is a joint program of the Chicago–based American College of Surgeons and the Newberry, Florida–based American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.

To earn the MBSAQIP designation, Crouse’s bariatric-surgery program met “strict” criteria for staffing, training and facility infrastructure, and protocols for care, “ensuring its ability to support patients with severe obesity,” the hospital said in a news release. 

“This accreditation is the definitive ‘seal of approval’ in our field, and it tells patients that we meet the highest standards for patient safety and quality,” Dr. Jeffrey DeSimone, medical director of Crouse Hospital’s weight-loss surgery program, said.

The MBSAQIP standards ensure that a “multidisciplinary team of providers that strives to improve patient outcomes and long-term success” provides care for bariatric-surgery patients. MBSAQIP-accredited centers focus on tracking outcomes of patients who undergo bariatric surgery and providing “continuous quality-improvement processes to make sure patients receive the highest level of care.”

Crouse started its bariatric surgery program in late 2011. Since that time, Drs. DeSimone and Kenneth Cooper have performed an increasing number of weight-loss surgeries each year, the hospital said.

The Crouse Health program is a partnership with Central New York Surgical Physicians, PC. The practice, located at 739 Irving Ave. in Syracuse, includes Drs. DeSimone and Cooper, according to its website.