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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media
Contact
Ron Harris
Director of Communications
202.683.0182
rjharris@howard.edu
HUH
Weight Loss Surgery Program
Named Center of Excellence
WASHINGTON
(Nov. 18) -- The Howard University
Hospital Center
for Wellness and Weight Loss
Surgery has been accredited
as a Center of Excellence
by the Bariatric Surgery Center
Network (BSCN) Accreditation
Program of the American College
of Surgeons (ACS).
This
designation means that Center
for Wellness and Weight Loss
Surgery, led by Dr.
Terrence M. Fullum, has
met the essential criteria
that ensure it is fully capable
of supporting a bariatric
surgery care program and that
its institutional performance
meets the requirements outlined
by the ACS BSCN Accreditation
Program.
Howard’s
Center provides weight loss
surgery as well as non-surgical
weight loss. Heading
the Center and its surgical
team is Fullum, an associate
professor of Surgery at Howard
University College of Medicine,
medical director of the Howard
University Center for Wellness
and Weight Loss Surgery and
chief of the Division of Minimally
Invasive and Bariatric Surgery
at Howard University Hospital.
Also
part of the surgical team
is Dr.
Daniel D. Tran, an attending
physician at the Center and
an assistant professor of
surgery at Howard University
College of Medicine, and Dr.
Henry Paul, Jr., an assistant
professor and chief of the
Division of Plastic
Surgery at Howard University
College of Medicine and co-director
of the Howard University Hospital
Combined Hand Surgery Service.
Dr.
Denia Tapscott is a specialist
in Bariatric Medicine who
as program director oversees
the non-surgical aspects of
weight loss at the Center.
ACS
BSCN Accreditation Program
provides confirmation that
a bariatric surgery center
has demonstrated its commitment
to providing the highest quality
care for its bariatric surgery
patients. Accredited
bariatric surgery centers
provide not only the hospital
resources necessary for optimal
care of morbidly obese patients,
but also the support and resources
that are necessary to address
the entire spectrum of care
and needs of bariatric patients,
from the pre-hospital phase
through the postoperative
care and treatment process.
Dr.
Edward Cornwell III, surgeon
in chief at Howard University
Hospital and chair of the
Department
of Surgery at Howard University
College of Medicine, applauded
the announcement.
“Dr.
Fullum and the many members
of his team are to be congratulated
for their approach towards
obesity as a disease and as
the focus of a vibrant research
effort,” Cornwell said.
“The achievement of
the Bariatric Center of Excellence
classification is consistent
with the mission of the Health
Sciences enterprise and the
Department of Surgery to focus
our efforts on clinical and
academic excellence around
diseases where outcome disparities
exist.”
Fullum
pointed out that weight-loss
surgery has been proven to
be the only effective, lasting
relief presently for severe
obesity, that it saves lives
by curing obesity-related
conditions, such as hypertension,
diabetes and sleep apnea,
that it and improves patients’
quality of life.
“We
are privileged to provide
access to this quality, life-changing
program to a traditionally
underserved population,”
he said. “The
accreditation reflects the
comprehensive nature of our
program, the experience of
our team and the quality of
the care that we provide our
patients.”
In
the United States, more than
11 million people suffer from
severe obesity, 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.
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