WellStar Comprehensive Bariatric Services New Surgeon Joins WellStar Bariatric Services! We are very excited to welcome a new surgeon to our program! Dr. Fritz Jean-Pierre has joined the team to help us give you the best possible care as you go through your weight loss journey. The Full Range of Minimally-Invasive Bariatric Procedures Dr. Dennis C. Smith, Jr. has been involved with bariatric surgery for 14 years, and is one of the few bariatric surgeons in the US who regularly performs all four of the major laparoscopic bariatric operations done in the United States today. Dr. Smith performs the Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy with Duodenal Switch (DS) (commonly referred to as the "Duodenal Switch", and in the past known as the Biliopancreatic Diversion with Duodenal Switch (BPD/DS) procedure, the Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass, the Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy, and the Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding (LAP-BAND® System) Procedure. Dr. Smith will also evaluate patients for conversion of the LAP-BAND® adjustable gastric banding system to a Sleeve Gastrectomy with Duodenal Switch procedure, and some other Revisional procedures. Please click on the tabs to the left or above to learn more about these procedures. You can also email us using the link at the bottom of any of our pages to ask for more information! Please feel free to contact us at any time to ask any questions you have.
We Have Moved! Dr. Smith and the entire WellStar Comprehensive Bariatric Services team are now in the 55 Whitcher Street Building, attached to Kennestone Hospital! We are in Suite 410 as of August 1, 2011. We hope this move will allow you to more efficiently use the resources of WellStar and Kennestone Hospital, thereby making your overall bariatric care easier for you and better for everyone. The Whitcher Street facility includes covered parking that is attached to the building, a pharmacy, a very nice lunch cafe, as well as many of the consultants and specialists that work with our program. There is also a lab draw station in the building, and an X-Ray facility. This move is another step toward the kind of integrated, comprehensive care that WellStar envisions for all of its areas of care, and we are very excited to be making the change!
The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS)and the Surgical Review Corporation (SRC) in 2005 designated our bariatric program, including Dr. Smith, WellStar Comprehensive Bariatric Services, and WellStar Kennestone Hospital, as a Center of Excellence in Bariatric Surgery. We are very proud of this designation, as it reflects our ongoing commitment to excellence in all areas of the performance of bariatric surgery.
Dr. Smith has been involved with the development of laparoscopic techniques for the Duodenal Switch procedure. He was the third surgeon in the world to perform the totally laparoscopic Duodenal Switch, and has now performed over 400 of these totally laparoscopic Duodenal Switch Procedures. He has also done over 700 laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass procedures. He was the first bariatric surgeon in the world to present the Hand-Sewn Duodenal-Ileal Anastomosis technique for the Duodenal Switch, and he has presented his techniques and results with the Totally Laparoscopic Duodenal Switch procedure at national and international meetings of bariatric surgeons. Dr. Smith continues to be an authority on the performance of the laparoscopic Duodenal Switch as well as the Sleeve Gastrectomy. He is also very involved with teaching laparoscopic bariatric surgery techniques to other bariatric surgeons, especially the Sleeve Gastrectomy, the Sleeve Gastrectomy with Duodenal Switch, and laparoscopic suturing techniques. Dr. Smith is a Committee member in both the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). and the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES). Further information on Kennestone Hospital and the WellStar Bariatric Surgery Program can be found on the WellStar Bariatric Surgery Web Page.
You can also see VIDEO CLIPS of Dr. Smith's Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy and the Duodenal Switch! Go to the Duodenal Switch page to view them.
