HARRIS, NY — Catskill Regional Medical Center (CRMC) announces a new bariatric and metabolic surgical service program to help patients suffering with obesity. CRMC now offers three surgical procedures: gastric band, sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass surgery, which reduce the size of the stomach to help patients achieve weight loss. Free seminars are held monthly for individuals considering bariatric surgery, and support groups are available to help patients post-surgery. Long-term studies show bariatric surgical procedures provide significant long-term weight loss, recovery from diabetes, improvement in cardiovascular risk factors and a reduction in mortality, among other health related benefits.

The program’s medical director is Peter Kwon, M.D., the founder and director of Tri-State Bariatrics. His practice has helped over 6,000 severely obese patients with surgical weight loss in the past 12 years. Dr. Kwon has 29 years of experience in the general and laparoscopic surgery field. He has performed over 3,000 weight loss surgeries.

The most recent American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) guidelines suggest any patient with a BMI of more than 30 with co-morbidities such as diabetes and cardiac-related issues may be a candidate for bariatric surgery. For more information or to register for a free seminar, visit www.crmcny.org/bariatrics or call 855/321-2762.