NY Health Dept. examines Bellevue’s weight loss surgery program
The New York State Department of Health is investigating Bellevue Hospital’s use of unlicensed technicians to assist doctors with weight-loss surgeries.
Bellevue, a major public hospital in Manhattan, processes thousands of low-income patients through bariatric surgery every year, The New York Times reported this month. Doctors are paid partly based on the number of operations.
In their drive for speed, bariatric surgeons have sometimes asked equipment technicians to pitch in and participate in operations because the surgeons were short of assistants, two Bellevue doctors told The Times. These technicians, who worked for a third-party vendor called Surgical Solutions, were not licensed to treat patients.
The state health department has begun an investigation into the allegations, which could lead to a formal investigation.
“The department is investigating the matter,” spokeswoman Danielle De Souza said Wednesday.
Christopher Miller, a spokesman for Bellevue, said the investigation was preliminary and may not lead to an actual investigation. “We are reviewing your allegations and will take action as appropriate if the facts warrant it,” he added.
Surgical Solutions did not respond to requests for comment.
The use of unlicensed technicians was one of several warning signs Bellevue employees described to The Times about the bariatric program. Two surgeons ran to see how many operations they could perform in a day. And anesthesiologists reduced the doses of pain medication, so that patients woke up earlier and operating rooms were cleared more quickly.
Bellevue even recruited patients from New York City’s Rikers Island prison complex, who had virtually no chance of maintaining required diets after surgery. Two said it left them malnourished.
After the Times article was published, executives at Health and Hospitals Corporation, the New York City agency that oversees Bellevue, emailed employees saying that “the article left out important context.” They praised the bariatric surgery department for offering “comprehensive care and affordable, high-quality surgical services” to low-income New Yorkers.