Garnet Health

About Garnet Health

What is Garnet Health?

Garnet Health is a hospital system in Orange and Sullivan counties, New York, and part of the Mid-Hudson Healthcare System. Its weight loss care runs through the Garnet Health Bariatric Program, which is mainly a surgical program. Its listed services are Weight Loss & Obesity Medicine Management, bariatric surgery (gastric banding, gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy), bariatric support groups, seminars and preoperative education, and pre-surgical testing. Medicine management is one service among several, and most of what it publishes about weight loss is about surgery. It is recognized as a Surgical Quality Partner by the American College of Surgeons.

Its listed physicians are Sandeep Malhotra, FACS, MD, Seth Judd, FACS, MD, Zeyad Loubnan, MD and Dawnette Urcuyo, MD. It serves Orange and Sullivan counties, including Middletown, Harris and Callicoon, NY. It has a Google rating of 3.7 from 3 reviews.

In its own words: "Before surgery, you will meet with a dietitian to go over the bariatric surgery diet you will need to follow."

What does it cost?

It does not publish prices for weight loss care, medication or surgery. No consultation fee is listed, and it does not say whether any fee includes medication. It does not say whether it accepts insurance, and it does not describe cash pay, financing, a membership or a monthly plan. Its surgery material does mention medical clearances required by insurance for pre-authorization, so insurance plays a part in the surgical route. Ask for a full price list before you book.

What should you ask before you book?

Its listed services include Weight Loss & Obesity Medicine Management, but it does not name any weight loss medication. Ask which medication, if any, the program uses, and whether it is brand-name or compounded. Ask who signs the prescription and whether any monthly fee includes the medication.

Ask what the consultation, pre-surgical testing and follow-up visits cost, and which of them your insurance covers. Ask whether it accepts your plan at all, since it does not say. Ask whether weight loss visits can be done by telehealth, because it does not say that either.

Ask how follow-up and lab work are billed, and how you would cancel or stop care. It publishes nothing on either. For surgery, the free introductory seminar is a low-commitment first step. It is held virtually and covers eligibility criteria, the surgical procedures, insurance clearances and pre-op requirements. To speak with a weight loss specialist, call 845-333-2123.

Who is it a good fit for?

This is a good fit if you are weighing weight loss surgery, want a hospital-based program with pre-op classes and a free seminar before you commit, and are comfortable asking about cost before you book. If you want a cash-pay medication program with published prices and a named medication, it may not suit you yet, since none of those are published.

Sources: garnethealth.org/services/weight-loss-garnet-health-bariatric-program

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