HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Cabell Huntington Hospital’s (CHH) Center for Surgical Weight Control has been named a Center of Excellence (COE) for bariatric surgery by the Clinical Sciences Institute of Optum. CHH has received this award five times.

A COE designation is given to medical practices that combine top-quality clinical care with excellent patient support and better patient outcomes. Optum Centers of Excellence are reviewed annually and provide access to clinically superior, cost-effective healthcare-based criteria, such as fewer patient complications and readmissions.

Those who belong to the Optum COE program perform more successful bariatric procedures than many other facilities nearby and are able to provide:

• 15 percent lower mortality rate compared to non-COE providers
• 16 percent lower inpatient hospital readmissions
• 12 percent lower reoperation rate for bariatric procedures

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 33 percent of U.S. adults 20 years and older are obese and about 6 percent are extremely obese. With obesity comes a higher risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, digestive diseases, orthopedic disorders and an increased risk of death from some cancers. Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States.

Bariatric surgery is an effective solution to reduce the long-term health effects of obesity. To learn more about weight loss and bariatric surgery options at Cabell Huntington Hospital, please call 304-399-4118.