Middle Tennessee Medical Center News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                 
Contact: Erin Yeldell                                                                                                          
Phone: (615) 396-4959
erin.yeldell@mtmc.org

BARIATRIC SERVICES AT MTMC CELEBRATES 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY AND DESIGNATION AS CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Bariatric Services program at Middle Tennessee Medical Center recently celebrated its five year anniversary with a patient reunion at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center. Guests in all stages of post-surgery weight loss attended the ceremony, encouraging each other and offering support for those considering surgery.

“I couldn’t climb a set of stairs without my knees killing me or getting short of breath,” said Christie Allison, a gastric bypass patient who has lost more than 135 pounds since her procedure in November 2008. “Prior to surgery I was borderline diabetic, my blood pressure was at stroke level and I was on five different medications. Now my blood pressure is normal and I’m on zero medications. I feel like I have been released from morbid obesity prison.”

Allison’s story is similar to the hundreds of other stories from patients who have experienced outstanding results after bariatric surgery. Since opening in January 2005, more than 500 patients have received weight loss surgery through the Bariatric Center at MTMC, and commonly see other weight-related health issues, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, disappear along with their weight.

In addition to celebrating five years of service, the Bariatric Center also celebrated its recent designation as a bariatric surgery Center of Excellence by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. MTMC bariatric surgeons, Wayne Westmoreland, MD and George Eckles, MD, have been designated as bariatric Center of Excellence Surgeons.

“We’re continuing to develop new techniques and improve the services, as well as the nutrition, we have available,” said Dr. Eckles. “We’re inspired by the successes we see in our patients.”

The MTMC Bariatric Center offers comprehensive weight loss surgery programs such as Lap-Band, an inflatable prosthetic device that is placed around the top portion of the stomach to decrease stomach size, gastric bypass, a procedure that divides the stomach into a small upper pouch separating it from the larger portion of the stomach and sleeve gastrectomy, a surgical procedure that reduces the size of the stomach to a third of its original capacity, creating a feeling of fullness.

For more information about weight loss surgery procedures and MTMC’s Bariatric Center call 615-396-4965 or visit www.mtmcweightloss.org.  

Saint Thomas Health Services is a faith-based ministry with more than 6,500 associates serving Middle Tennessee. Saint Thomas Health Services' regional health system consists of four hospitals - Baptist and Saint Thomas in Nashville, Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro and Hickman Community Hospital in Centerville - and a comprehensive network of affiliated joint ventures in diagnostics, cardiac services and ambulatory surgery as well as medical practices, the Center for Spinal Surgery, clinics and rehabilitation facilities. STHS is a member of Ascension Health, a Catholic organization that is the largest not-for-profit health system in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.sths.com.