By Katie Knapp Schubert
Omaha, NE – The Nebraska Medical Center has been named a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence.
Med center officials announced the designation Monday. It's based in part on site visits, surgical procedures and outcomes. Medical centers must perform at least 125 bariatric surgeries a year to qualify for the designation.
Dr. Corrigan McBride is director of the medical center's bariatric surgery program. She says people with high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes can benefit from bariatic surgery. Dr. McBride says in some cases, diabetic patients have been able to reduce the number of medications they take after having bariatric surgery, or go off medication completely.
Since 1992 the Nebraska Medical Center has performed 1,550 bariatric surgeries.