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Article: Obesity Surgery Waiting Lists Increase Drastically at Massachusetts Hospitals.
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
- Article date:
- January 12, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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By Liz Kowalczyk, The Boston Globe Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Jan. 12--When the waiting list for obesity surgery surged to 500 patients at Tufts-New England Medical Center last year, doctors made a drastic decision: They closed Boston's largest program to new patients for six months, hoping to buy time for surgeons to catch up.
But the hiatus -- along with hiring a second surgeon and a surgical fellow -- barely eased the hospital's backlog. Waits for the most sought-after obesity surgery, gastric bypass, routinely stretch 12 to 18 months, with sign-up lists at most teaching hospitals now in the hundreds. As a result, academic medical ...