The Methodist Hospital opened Houston’s first fully comprehensive weight-loss center Wednesday to help patients make informed, safe and effective choices in weight loss and long-term weight maintenance.

The Methodist Hospital Weight Management Center wed the hospital’s bariatric surgery program, medical weight management program and medical nutrition therapy to provide a unique, all-inclusive approach to weight loss and weight management. The new approach provides patients with options, helps them make educated, healthy choices and provides continuous follow up care to help maintain a healthy weight.

“We feel that each patient should be treated individually,” said Dr. Peter Jones, medical director of the medical weight management program at the Weight Management Center.  “Not every patient will benefit from the same weight-loss method. Our goal is to help all patients lose weight successfully and lead a healthy life.”

Patients entering the center will attend a free orientation to learn about all options, and then have the opportunity to work with a team of weight-loss experts to decide which program is best for them. The experts include physicians, surgeons, dietitians, psychologists, behaviorists and exercise physiologists.

The medical weight management program is a three-phase, beverage-based diet program that helps patients achieve rapid weight loss while being monitored by a physician. Patients must have a BMI of 30, or be about 40 pounds overweight, to enter this program.

Bariatric surgery at Methodist is designed for patients with a BMI of 35 to 40. This surgical solution provides extensive guidance before and after surgery, as patients adjust to the physical change.

Medical nutrition therapy is offered at Methodist to help patients with specific disorders to maintain a healthy weight.  The program includes one-on-one instruction with a dietitian, management of medical nutrition needs and advanced counseling.

“These methods have proven to cure numerous medical conditions related to obesity, including diabetes and hypertension, along with reducing premature death by up to 89 percent,” said Dr. Garth Davis, medical director of bariatric surgery at the Weight Management Center.  “Our patients have improved sleeping habits, greatly reduced joint pain and even been taken off medications after losing significant amounts of weight through our programs.”