Bariatric and GI Surgery at Highland

Pictured: David Burns, M.D. and former General Surgery Resident, Maria Durdach, M.D.

Faculty Listing:

Joseph A. Johnson, M.D., F.A.C.S,

Associate Professor of Surgery and Chief of Bariatric and GI Surgery

David E. Burns, Jr., M.D., F.A.C.S.,

Associate Professor of Surgery; Associate Program Director of General Surgery Residency

William E. O’Malley, M.D., F.A.C.S.,

Assistant Professor of Clinical Surgery and Director, Bariatric Surgery Center at Highland Hospital

Twenty-twenty proved to be a year of struggle, but also accomplishment for all of us. The UR Medicine Bariatric/GI Surgery Division was affected by COVID-19 in many ways. The curtailment of elective surgery during the peak of the pandemic and the loss of physical interaction with patients, colleagues and staff was particularly difficult. Our team provided emergency general surgery services for Highland Hospital and Strong Memorial Hospital, so that we could load balance the increase demand for care.

We met patients over the phone and via telehealth, but something seemed missing. As the restrictions eased and we opened up, a sense of normalcy developed, albeit behind masks. Interacting with others has become accepted again and I believe we have become better physicians and people in terms of our kindness. COVID has made us all stronger – and improved our ability to treat patients and colleagues in ways we never thought possible.

Our bariatric surgical service, headed by Dr. Bill O’Malley, also changed significantly. Classes for our pre-operative patients are done via Zoom. All patients receive a binder of information and are required to attend these educational sessions. In addition, we are able to offer IV hydration to certain post-operative bariatric patients. This has led to a decrease in emergency room visits. These latter two initiatives have been spearheaded by our physician assistants and nurse practitioners. Our bariatric Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocol has had a tremendous impact this past year by decreasing our length of stay of sleeve gastrectomy patients by one day.

Bariatric Surgery Targeting Opioid Prescriptions (BSTOP) finished accruing patients and preliminary promising results were published in the fall of 2021. Yu Yang, Ph.D., a researcher in the School of Nursing, continues to study loss of control eating in bariatric patients and the follow-up of bariatric patients. We have just started recruiting patients for the Surgical Weight Loss to Improve Functional Status Trajectories Following Total Knee Arthroplasty (SWIFT) with the Department of Orthopedics. Preliminary results are to be presented in early 2023.

Dr. David Burns has become the “Educator of Choice” at Highland Hospital by the medical students and surgical residents. He has been integrating robotic hernia surgery into practice at Highland.

I am very proud of how each of our Division’s staff members came together and made changes to the way we practice because of the pandemic. As we have come out of the isolation many of these changes persist and we have become more efficient.

Joseph A. Johnson, M.D.

Associate Professor of Surgery and Chief of Bariatric and GI Surgery