The UCSF Bariatric Surgery Center is accredited for weight-loss surgery by the Bariatric Surgery Center Network of the American College of Surgeons. We are accredited as a Level 1 center, meaning we provide complete bariatric surgical care, have a high volume of patients and have the expertise to manage the most challenging and complex conditions.
Our team includes nurses, dietitians, gastroenterologists and surgeons. We offer comprehensive evaluations before surgery and follow-up care after surgery including support groups, dietitian services and continuing education. We consider bariatric surgery a tool to help you live a healthier, longer and full life. The majority of our patients lose 50 to 70 percent of their excess weight during the year after surgery and maintain that loss. Eighty to 90 percent of patients experience an improvement or cure of obesity-associated diseases such as diabetes.
Your ultimate success, however, depends on your adherence to dietary, exercise and lifestyle changes after surgery. We want to help you succeed.
Obesity is a complex and chronic disease with many causes. It's not simply a result of overeating. Research has shown that genetics often plays a role, particularly if you're morbidly obese. To help patients lose weight and maintain that weight loss, the UCSF Bariatric Surgery Center uses surgical techniques to treat morbid obesity when other efforts have failed.
There are several criteria to determine morbid obesity. One is being 50 to 100 percent more than your ideal body weight. Another measure is being 100 pounds overweight or having a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more. BMI is a number based on both your height and weight that can help evaluate the degree to which you are overweight and assess your total body fat. Normal BMI is 20 to 25. Use our Body Mass Index Tool to check your BMI.
Obesity becomes "morbid" when it increases your risk for life-threatening conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and severe joint problems. In many cases, bariatric surgery is the most effective way to treat morbid obesity. Several bariatric procedures are available. The most common are "restrictive" procedures that reduce the stomach size and limit the calories you can consume.
Bariatric Surgery Center
400 Parnassus Ave., Sixth Floor, Room A-655
San Francisco, CA 94143-0338
Phone: (415) 353-2804
Fax: (415) 353-2505
Before scheduling an appointment, please provide the following four items. Please mail the information to the Bariatric Surgery Center.
Last updated May 17, 2012
To be considered for bariatric surgery, you must weigh less than 450 pounds. Our hospital X-ray equipment can't accommodate patients who weigh more. A nutritionist can help you lose weight to meet this requirement, if necessary.
To schedule an appointment at the UCSF Bariatric Surgery Center, the following items are needed:
After receiving these documents, we will contact you to schedule your first appointment with one of our bariatric surgeons.
The UCSF Bariatric Surgery Center has performed surgical weight-loss procedures since 1996. We offer comprehensive evaluations before surgery and follow-up care after surgery including support groups, dietitian services and continuing education.
Attend a free information session about bariatric surgery.
Public parking at UCSF Medical Center is available for an hourly fee in the seven-level Millberry Union Garage at 500 Parnassus Ave. There are two garage entrances — one on the north side of Parnassus Avenue and another on Irving Street, just east of Third Avenue.
Another garage with an hourly fee, at 350 Parnassus Ave., is open Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Metered street parking is rarely available.
Patients being admitted to the hospital may be dropped off at the circular driveway leading to the main entrance at 505 Parnassus Ave. This area also may be used to pick up patients who are being discharged.
For more information about parking at Parnassus, call Campus Parking Services at 476-2566.
Valet parking service is available at the Ambulatory Care Center (ACC) at 400 Parnassus Ave. from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The valet service is free. Patients pay regular parking fees. For more information about the valet service, call (415) 476-6200.
A UCSF "greeter" also is available at the ACC from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to assist patients find their way.
UCSF Medical Center is accessible via Muni streetcar line N-Judah*, which stops at Second Avenue and Irving Street, and the following Muni bus lines, which stop in front of the hospital:
For more information about Muni visit, www.sfmuni.com.
* Wheelchair accessible bus routes
