Surgical Specialty Hospital is where we do our weight loss surgery. It is a physician owned facility, and today proudly announced its affiliation with Gridiron Greats.
The Gridiron Greats organization is dedicated to retired NFL players who are in dire need of medical care or assistance. We became involved with them last year when they had a dinner for their charity in town. We approached and offered our hospital and physicians to assist for these needy players. We are proud of our association with the Gridiron Greats, and look forward to helping these players.
Today I spent time with Brian DeMarco, a retired NFL player who cannot walk without the assistance of a cane, and cannot play with his children. He has no insurance, serious issues and part of his problem is that he cannot work out. So, among other issues, he is inquiring about a laparoscopic band. He feels his weight loss will take pressure of his spine, his knees, his hips.
Besides weight loss surgery, Surgical Specialty Hospital has top spine, orthopedic, and neurosurgeons who are offering their services to these needy players.
I am proud of my association with this hospital. The hospital asked me two years ago if I would consider doing weight loss surgery there. These surgeons had purchased the facility and turned it into the first specialty hospital in the state, and built a state of the art ICU.
For the laparoscopic equipment I asked if they would purchase modern high definition monitors, that allow us to see even better than standard monitors — when they asked why, I responded, for patient safety. They didn’t hesitate. It has the most modern equipment in the valley. Now we do almost all of our procedures at this facility. They continue to show their commitment by starting the process to become a Center of Excellence for weight loss surgery. So I purchased one half of a share of the facility, allowing more physician input into this bariatric program.
We have invited other weight loss surgeons to the facility, and we are going to become the major weight loss center in Arizona, already doing more LAP-BAND surgeries than any other facility in the Arizona.
