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Welcome
It is well known that the waiting time for
weight loss surgery (WLS) in many parts of Canada (e.g. Quebec and
Ontario) is up to 4-5 years. The busiest WLS center in Quebec,
McGill University Health Center, currently has almost 1000 patients
on their waiting list.
Extrapolating from 2003 United States
statistics, Ontario requires 4,500 bariatric surgeries per year for
patients with severe obesity. In 2004, however, only
200 WLS procedures were performed within the
province. In that same year, 650 patients were referred to
bariatric surgery centers outside of Canada (mainly in the
USA) to pick up some of this slack.
Canadian Health
Departments such as OHIP in Ontario will cover WLS in the USA if
certain conditions are met. OHIP will pay in full for health
services outside Canada if: a) the patient gets written
authorization from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care before
the treatment is given, b) the treatment is generally accepted in
Ontario, and c) the treatment or an equivalent procedure is not
performed in Ontario, or d) the treatment is performed in Ontario
but it is necessary that the person travel outside Canada to avoid a
delay that would result in death or medically significant
irreversible tissue damage. To obtain consideration for full funding
of treatment outside Canada, the patient's physician must apply to
the ministry for approval while the patient is in Ontario and before
the patient receives out-of-country treatment. The application form
is two pages long and is reviewed by an OHIP physician for medical
merit. Additional documentation (e.g. a letter from the patient's
surgeon) can also increase the likelihood of the application
getting approved by OHIP.
How We Can Help
We can help you get your application for WLS out of Canada
approved by OHIP and other health departments and reduce your
waiting time for bariatric surgery from 4-5 years to 3-4
months.
To download a copy of the OHIP out-of-country application, go
to this link:
http://www.fade-on.ca/Prior%20Approval%20for%20Out-of-Country%201442-84_.pdf
(You may have to cut and paste the URL if the link
does not automatically open.)
Our Program
We are located in the New
York City area. We operate out of two hospitals, one in Downtown
Manhattan and one in suburban New Jersey (10 minutes from
Manhattan).
The
joint program at Beth Israel Medical Center (Manhattan site)
and Holy Name Hospital (New Jersey site) is a state-of-the-art
surgical therapy program dedicated to the care and treatment of
patients with clinically severe (morbid) obesity refractory to
non-operative treatment. The surgical procedure performed at Beth
Israel and Holy Name, by highly trained board certified surgeons, is
typically the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. We are also experts in
correcting the problems associated with bariatric surgery performed
at other institutions.
This procedure has proven to
be superior to all others in numerous trials. Both Beth Israel and
Holy Name provide a full complement of pre and post-surgical support
services, including endocrine medicine, psychiatry and nutritional
sciences, ensuring a full multi-disciplinary approach to the complex
and challenging patient that is often found in this surgical
specialty.
Morbid obesity describes an
individual who is 100 or more pounds overweight or has a body mass
index of 40 or more. The term morbid is defined as meaning
"unhealthy or diseased", since this degree of obesity is almost
always associated with complications such as hypertension, diabetes
mellitus, and chronic arthritis. Most, if not all, of these
secondary conditions are cured by the surgical treatment of morbid
obesity.
The treatment goal for severe
obesity should be an improvement in health achieved by a durable
weight loss that reduces life threatening risk factors and improves
performance of activities of daily living.
Beth Israel Medical Center (www.wehealny.org) is a 1,368-bed,
full-service tertiary teaching hospital that was founded on
Manhattan's Lower East Side before the turn of the 20th century.
Beth Israel originally was dedicated to serving a vulnerable
population in that community. Now a century later, the Medical
Center serves individuals and families from every walk of life
throughout New York City and beyond.
Holy Name Hospital (www.holyname.org) is a fully
accredited, not-for-profit community hospital located in suburban
Teaneck, New Jersey. Founded in 1925, the hospital
has grown to become a comprehensive 361-bed medical center offering
the most modern medical technology coupled with an enduring
tradition of compassion and respect. Affiliation with New York
Presbyterian Health System further brings the advantages of large
urban hospitals to our community, with access to clinical trials and
expanded education for our
physicians. | 
