Local surgeon to lead national bariatric society

Published 11:50 am Thursday, June 30, 2011

Local bariatric surgeon Jaime Ponce is the new president-elect of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), recognizing his leadership and expertise in the field of weight-loss surgery.

“It is an honor to serve the ASMBS,” said Ponce. “Our work will continue to improve patient care, improve access, and provide high quality education and support.”

Ponce, who will serve as president-elect until becoming president at the June 2012 ASMBS annual meeting in San Diego, Calif., is medical director of the Hamilton Comprehensive Weight Management Center.

Ponce has helped more than 3,000 patients manage obesity and related medical problems through minimally invasive weight-loss surgery. His previous ASMBS positions have included chair of the Insurance Committee, co-chair of the Insurance Committee, Executive Council member-at-large and liaison for the Public Education Committee, founding member and vice president of the ASMBS Tennessee Chapter, and chair of the Bariatric Surgical Review Committee of the Surgical Review Corporation, the administrator entity for the ASMBS Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence program.

Ponce practices in Dalton and Chattanooga, and has extensive credits in the Northwest Georgia and East Tennessee region where he was the first to establish a laparoscopic bariatric program and outpatient gastric band program, perform a gastric band procedure, single-incision bariatric procedure, laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and laparoscopic greater curvature plication procedure. He has been the principal investigator in several U.S. Food and Drug Administration-monitored clinical studies, including the Lap-Band and Realize Band trials and more recently the ReShape Duo intragastric balloon study.

Hamilton Medical Center has been an ASMBS Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence since 2005. The Hamilton Comprehensive Weight Management Center is a comprehensive treatment center devoted to helping people lose weight. The center offers a variety of weight loss programs designed to meet different goals, depending on a person’s degree of weight loss needs and associated medical problems.

Surgical weight loss patients are cared for by experienced bariatric surgeons, as well as a medical team including dietitians, psychologists, exercise physiologists and certified bariatric nurses. Patients receive long-term follow up care, engage in support groups, and maintain access to exercise, nutrition and psychology experts.