Childhood obesity is a significant problem for today’s youth, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting that numbers have more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. To address this critical area of well-being, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Denton has been accredited by the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) as a Comprehensive Center with Adolescent Qualifications. Bariatric surgery is an option to help reverse serious life-altering and life-threatening medical conditions in adolescents who may be appropriate candidates.

Texas Health Denton was originally recognized as a Center of Excellence by the MBSAQIP in 2010 for the hospital’s demonstrated track record of favorable outcomes in bariatric surgery. The standards for the adolescent qualifications were set by the MBSAQIP in early 2014, and Texas Health Denton is one of few hospitals nationwide to have achieved the qualification, along with Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano.

“Having a bariatric program that can meet the needs of both adults and adolescents takes incredibly dedicated employees and a team of pediatric hospitalists on the medical staff, which we have at Texas Health Denton,” said Stan Morton, FACHE, president of the hospital. “Our goal is to offer treatment options that meet the needs of patients in a safe and effective way.”

According to the CDC, Children and adolescents who are obese are much more likely to have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes or pre-diabetes, sleep apnea, joint problems and psychological problems, and are more likely to be obese as adults.  In a study published in the Jan. 2009 issue of Pediatrics, teens who had gastric bypass surgery showed dramatic, often immediate, remission of type 2 diabetes post-surgery. 

The bariatric program at Texas Health Denton will follow the guidelines set forth by the American Academy of Pediatrics and MBSAQIP for adolescents under consideration for weight loss surgery, which include requirements that patients should:

• Have failed six or more months of organized attempts at weight management. This should be determined with the assistance of a physician.
• Have attained or nearly attained physiologic or skeletal maturity. This generally occurs at age 13 or older for girls and at age 15 or older for boys.
• Be severely obese, with a body mass index (BMI) of greater than 40, with serious obesity-related problems; or have a BMI of greater than 50 with less severe obesity-related problems.

“The recent designation confirms the hospital’s commitment to patients undergoing weight-loss surgery,” said David Provost, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.S.M.B.S., bariatric surgeon on the medical staff at Texas Health Denton and on staff at Provost Bariatric Surgery, a Texas Health Physicians Group practice in Denton. “This is a viable treatment option for a select group of patients, and is one part of an overall treatment plan that includes many different facets of support including medical and psychological follow-up."

For more information on the hospital, visit www.TexasHealth.org/Denton.

About Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Denton

Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Denton is a 255-bed acute-care, full-service hospital that has served North Texas and southern Oklahoma since 1987. The hospital’s services include: heart and vascular; a Level III neonatal intensive care unit; a pediatric unit; orthopedics and sports medicine; neck, spine and pain management; emergency medicine; an accredited sleep center; women’s services; and a weight loss surgery program that has been designated a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence. As one of the largest employers in Denton County, Texas Health Denton has more than 900 employees and more than 300 physicians on the medical staff practicing in more than 45 specialties. Texas Health Denton is an accredited chest pain center, and is certified by the Joint Commission as a Primary Stroke Center and designated by the State of Texas as a Primary Stroke Facility. Texas Health Denton is an affiliate of Texas Health Resources, one of the largest faith-based, nonprofit health care delivery systems in the United States.

About Texas Health Resources

Texas Health Resources is one of the largest faith-based, nonprofit health systems in the United States. The health system includes 25 acute care and short-stay hospitals that are owned, operated, joint-ventured or affiliated with Texas Health Resources. It includes the Texas Health Presbyterian, Texas Health Arlington Memorial and Texas Health Harris Methodist hospitals, Huguley Memorial Medical Center, Texas Health Physicians Group, outpatient facilities, behavioral health and home health, preventive and fitness services, and an organization for medical research and education. For more information about Texas Health Resources, call 1-877-THR-WELL, or visit TexasHealth.org.