Newswise — Mercy Medical Center's Bariatric Surgery Program, ranked highest in New York State 2008/2009 by the HealthGrades® national hospital rating company, has become the first weight-loss surgery center in New York State to offer the new non-invasive ROSE procedure that reduces the size of a patient's stomach without the need for any incisions.

The transoral ROSE (Restorative Obesity Surgery, Endolumenal) technique reduces the gastric pouch in patients who have had previous gastric bypass surgery but begun to regain weight as a result of stretching of the stomach. It utilizes a multi-channel endoscopic operating system inserted through the patient's mouth to suture the connection between the stomach pouch and the small intestine, for a more accurate, durable and effective reduction in the diameter of the stomach opening and over stomach pouch volume than can be achieved with previous non-invasive techniques that utilize fasteners.

"This is an important new option for the 15 to 20 percent of patients who gain weight a few years after undergoing bariatric surgery," explained Shawn Garber, MD, Chief of Bariatric Surgery at Marcy and head of the New York Bariatric Group. "The controls in the ROSE system instruments enable us to place the sutures precisely where they'll be most effective, but with no abdominal incisions so there's a lower risk of infection or other complications and patients recover more quickly to return to their normal activities."

Dr. Garber and his colleague, Spencer Holover, MD, are among fewer than two dozen surgeons nationwide performing the ROSE procedure and they have the most extensive experience with endoscopic weight-loss procedures in the Northeast.

They have performed more than 3,000 weight-loss surgeries and their specially-trained team at Mercy has received the HealthGrades Bariatric Surgery Excellence Awardâ„¢ 2008/2009 for the third consecutive year, along with the rating company's highest score of any program in New York State. Mercy is the only program in Nassau County, and one of only 93 nationwide, to receive the highest Five-Star Rating from HealthGrades, and has been designated as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence by the American Society For Bariatric Surgery.

Potential patients can learn about the new technique at Mercy Medical Center's free monthly seminars on weight-loss surgery, which offer participants the opportunity to speak with bariatric surgeons and hear from patients first-hand about their experiences. Information and registration is available by calling 516-62MERCY (516-626-3729). Or visit on line at www.MercyMedicalCenter.info