Bariatric Center
Washington Bariatric & Weight Loss Center
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About Morbid Obesity | Surgical Intervention | Meet Our Physicians | Contact Us |
About The Washington Bariatric & Weight Loss Center
Recognizing that obesity is a serious disease with many issues, the Washington Bariatric & Weight Loss Center has pioneered a unique, comprehensive multidisciplinary program. It focuses on diet, exercise, mental health, surgery, and education in order to heal the whole patient and achieve long-term weight-management success.
"Obesity is a disease that requires a multidisciplinary approach to treatment that includes medical, psychological, and behavioral care components—and many patients don't realize that surgery is just one step of the process," says Gabriel Alperovich, MD, Medical Director for the Washington Bariatric & Weight Loss Center. "Patients need to evaluate the type of counseling and support programs available and, most importantly, the rate of success associated with the particular surgical center they are considering."
Formerly a partner with the Wish Center Corporation; VMC relaunched its bariatric program in 2006 and was ranked #1 in Washington State for bariatric surgery (2007) by healthgrades, a national group that assesses healthcare quality.
Teamwork, Honesty, and respect
The Washington Bariatric & Weight Loss Center team is committed to providing an environment in which patients are treated with the utmost respect.
Via ongoing support group programs and classes, patients become lifetime partners in helping each other through the emotional and social challenges of modifying and adapting to new behaviors surrounding food consumption and dietary management.
About Morbid Obesity
Morbid obesity, defined as being 100 or more pounds overweight, is a severe health problem that often results in other diseases including high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, urinary incontinence, chronic back and joint pain, depression, sleep apnea, heartburn, and asthma, and even premature death.
There is often a strong genetic component to morbid obesity. This makes it difficult to overcome the disease through sheer willpower, diet, and exercise. The truth is that 95 percent of morbidly obese patients will be unable to lose the weight and keep it off. For these people, surgical treatment is a reasonable option. This kind of surgery is called “bariatric surgery.”
Surgical Intervention
Bariatric surgery is not a cosmetic operation, but one designed to restore a normal life expectancy and to relieve the "co-morbidities" or medical problems directly caused by obesity. It should only be considered by those who have been unsuccessful at losing weight by other means—diet, exercise, and medications.
When surgery is appropriate, the Washington Bariatric & Weight Loss Center assigns each patient to a team of experts including a surgeon, a nurse educator, a registered dietitian, an exercise physiologist, and a clinical psychologist. There are also support group mentoring programs.
The two main types of surgery are:
Gastric Bypass: A small pouch at the top of the stomach is creating, from which the rest of the stomach is permanently divided and separated. A segment of small intestine is then attached to this pouch, allowing food to bypass most of the stomach and thus reducing the amount of food that can be eaten and the calories that can be absorbed by the digestive tract.
Lap-Band: An inflatable ring is placed around the upper part of the stomach, creating a small pouch that controls the flow of food. The ring is inflated or deflated until the goal weight loss has been achieve.
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C. Gabriel Alperovich, MD, FACS
Dr. Alperovich is the Medical Director for the Washington Bariatrics & Weight Loss Center.
Dr. Alperovich received his undergraduate degree from the University of Rochester, New York followed by his residency at University of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine in Camden. He earned a fellowship at University of Maryland, Shock Trauma Institute.
Dr. Alperovich is the clinical associate professor at Finch University of Health Sciences at the Chicago Medical School and the affiliate clinical instructor at the Midwestern University/Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Hanafy M. Hanafy, MD, FACS
Dr. Hanafy is a board certified surgeon, Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Scotland, and a member of the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
Dr. Hanafy obtained his medical degree from the University of Alexandria in Egypt. He completed his surgical residency training at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He started practicing out of Valley Medical Center in April 2007. Previously, Dr. Hanafy was the medical director of the bariatric surgery program at Pioneer Valley Hospital in Utah.
Dr. Hanafy performs Lap Band and gastric bypass (both open and laparoscopic) as well as revision bariatric surgery, in the context of a multidisciplinary team approach and with the aim of long-term success.
Outside of work, he likes scenic drives and learning about different cultures.
Contact Us
To contact the Washington Bariatric & Weight Loss Center for more information, please call our office at 425.251.5111, fax us at 425.656.5387 or contact us by email.
We are located on the north end of the Valley Medical Center campus, at 4033 Talbot Road South, Suite 560, Renton, Washington, 98055