Program Highlights Include Highest Volume of Procedures on List
(New Brunswick, NJ) - Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH), an RWJBarnabas Health facility, has 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.
Additionally, Clara Maas Medical Center in Belleville, also an RWJBarnabas Health facility, was recognized for their Bariatric Surgery Program performance.
Bariatric Surgery programs achieving this status must fulfill four criteria established by the Leapfrog Group, which includes meeting the Leapfrog Group’s standards for bariatric surgery weight loss, safe high-risk surgery, preventing health care-associated infections, and achieving an A or B Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade at the time of the Best Hospital List public announcement.
The Leapfrog Group is a nonprofit organization that aims to help consumers make informed decisions about their health and access safe, high-value care. For Money and The Leapfrog Group's inaugural list of Best Hospitals for Bariatric Surgery, hospitals with the best abilities to perform these types of surgeries were selected with an emphasis placed on volume and safety.
“We’re proud to earn this distinction from the Leapfrog Group and Money Magazine, which affirms our program’s commitment to quality and patient safety while performing a broad range of complex, high-risk surgeries,” said Ragui Sadek, MD, FACS, Chief of Bariatric Surgery for RWJBarnabas Health and Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “With our volume of procedures significantly higher than most hospitals on the list, our expert team offers patients access to the most sophisticated laparoscopic procedures and surgical techniques, as well as lifestyle counseling and support, to return them to active, healthy lives.”
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.
In addition to this Leapfrog/Money Magazine designation, 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™ (COEMBS) by the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation Quality Improvement Program. This means RWJUH’s Bariatric Surgery Center has met a number of requirements for delivering high-quality patient care. We’ve provided information on all aspects of our program, including surgical outcomes, and have undergone a rigorous site inspection in order to earn this designation.
RWJUH also has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for its Bariatric Surgery Program by demonstrating compliance with The Joint Commission’s national standards for health care quality and safety in disease-specific care. The certification award recognizes RWJUH’s dedication to continuous compliance with The Joint Commission’s state-of-the-art standards.
About Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH), an RWJBarnabas Health Facility, is a 614-bed academic medical center that serves as the principal teaching hospital of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the flagship Cancer Hospital of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Its 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 (www.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.
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.
Contact: Peter Haigney
RWJUH Public Relations
(732) 937-8568