Program is One of Only Five in the Country to Achieve this Certification
(New Brunswick, NJ) – Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH), an RWJBarnabas Health facility, has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Bariatric Surgery Certification by demonstrating continuous compliance with its performance standards. The Gold Seal is a symbol of quality that reflects a health care organization’s commitment to providing safe and quality patient care.
This is the program’s third consecutive recertification. Only five hospitals in the United States have achieved this certification.
The certification recognizes health care organizations that provide clinical programs across the continuum of care for bariatric surgery. The certification evaluates how organizations use clinical outcomes and performance measures to identify opportunities to improve care, as well as to educate and prepare patients and their caregivers for discharge.
RWJUH underwent a rigorous onsite review in February. During the visit, during which a surveyor evaluated compliance with related certification standards including program management, supporting self-management, and delivering and facilitating clinical care. Joint Commission standards are developed in consultation with health care experts and providers, measurement experts and patients. The reviewers also conducted onsite observations and interviews.
“Achieving this certification reflects this team’s skill, compassion and dedication to providing exceptional care for the whole patient throughout their individual bariatric surgery journeys,” said Bill Arnold, President and Chief Executive Officer of RWJUH. “It affirms our program’s commitment to quality and patient safety, and the strength of our multidisciplinary approach to providing this specialty care, especially to high-risk patients, seeking an active, healthy lifestyle.”
The Bariatric Surgery Center at RWJUH offers a comprehensive medical and surgical program for both adults and adolescents dedicated to making a lifestyle change. RWJUH’s comprehensive bariatric surgery program not only includes surgical options, but provides metabolic medicine and addresses individuals’ weight loss goals with medical and nutritional therapy.
“Our Bariatric Surgery Center brings together a broad range of highly skilled specialists who work together to develop a personalized care plan for patients based on their medical needs and individual weight loss and lifestyle goals,” notes Ragui Sadek, MD, FACS, Chief of Bariatric Service Line for RWJBarnabas Health and Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “These individual care plans include extensive education and evaluation before surgery, and the lifetime follow-up care and support crucial to helping individuals keep weight off and stay healthy.”
In addition to this Joint Commission certification, RWJUH received the 2023 Excellence in Bariatric Surgery Award from Healthgrades and has been designated as a designated Center of Excellence in Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery™ by the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery’s Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program. This means RWJUH’s Bariatric Surgery Center has met a number of requirements for delivering high-quality patient care. RWJUH’s has also been named to the America’s Best Hospitals for Bariatric Surgery list for 2023 by the Leapfrog Group and Money Magazine. This is the inaugural year for the award, which rates the top 101 weight loss surgery programs across the nation.
For more information please visit: Bariatric Surgery at RWJUH and Weight Loss and Bariatric Surgery at RWJBarnabas Health.
About Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH), an RWJBarnabas Health Facility, is a 640-bed academic medical center that is New Jersey’s largest academic medical center through its deep partnership with Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. RWJUH is the flagship Cancer Hospital of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and other Centers of Excellence include cardiovascular care from minimally invasive heart surgery to transplantation, cancer care, stroke care, neuroscience, orthopedics, bariatric surgery and women’s and children’s care including The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (bmsch.org). A Level 1 Trauma Center and the first designated Pediatric Trauma Center in the state, RWJUH’s New Brunswick campus serves as a national resource in its ground-breaking approaches to emergency preparedness. Learn more at rwjbh.org/newbrunswick.
RWJUH has earned significant national recognition for clinical quality and patient safety, including the prestigious Magnet® Recognition for Nursing Excellence and being named to Newsweek’s 2022 list of Best Maternity Care Hospitals. The RWJUH Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center has been recognized by The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association as meeting The Joint Commission's standards for Disease-Specific Care Comprehensive Stroke Center Advanced Certification. RWJUH has also earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Disease-Specific Care Certification for Spine Surgery; The Joint Commission Gold Seal Certification for Bariatric Services; and The Joint Commission Gold Seal Certification for Hip and Knee Replacement services. The Joint Commission also awarded RWJUH a Gold Seal Certification as well as an Advanced Certification in Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) Implantation.
For more Information visit us online at rwjbh.org/newbrunswick.
Contact:
Peter Haigney
RWJUH Public Relations
732-937-8568