MODESTO, Calif. – Doctors Medical Center’s Surgical Weight Loss Program has received national accreditation as a comprehensive center, meaning it meets the highest standards for patient safety and quality of care.

The accreditation was awarded by the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP), a joint program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS).

According to the MBSAQIP, “As an accredited program you have demonstrated that your center meets the needs of your patients by providing multidisciplinary, high-quality, patient-centered care.” To earn the designation, Doctors Medical Center program met essential criteria for staffing, training and facility infrastructure and protocols for care, ensuring its ability to support patients with severe obesity. The center also participates in a national data registry that yields semiannual reports on the quality of its processes and outcomes, identifying opportunities for continuous quality improvement.

“This national accreditation is an outstanding affirmation of the high-quality care that the physicians, nurses and other staff in our Surgical Weight Loss Program offer our patients,” said Warren Kirk, CEO at Doctors Medical Center. “By meeting the MBSAQIP’s standards, we are ensuring that our bariatric surgical patients receive a multidisciplinary program, not just a surgical procedure, which improves patient outcomes and long-term success.”

In the United States, around 15.5 million people suffer from severe obesity, according to the National Institutes of Health, and the numbers continue to increase. Obesity increases the risks of morbidity and mortality because of the diseases and conditions that are commonly associated with it, such as type II diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease, among other health risks. Metabolic and bariatric surgical procedures have proven to be effective in the reduction of comorbid conditions related to severe obesity.  Working with ASMBS, the ACS expanded this quality program for bariatric surgery centers so that it can assist bariatric patients in identifying those centers that provide optimal surgical care.