It’s easy to find medical weight loss solutions. Just do a quick web search, and you’ll see dozens of options throughout north Georgia, not to mention countless clinics in metro Atlanta.
The trick lies in finding the approach and the clinic that works best for you – and not just in the short term.
It takes a concerted effort to lose significant weight and keep it off for good, a reality that requires a special mix of knowledge, experience, determination, and – not least of all – support. And at Longstreet Clinic’s Center for Weight Management, an entire team of caring specialists dedicates itself to ensuring its patients get more than just weight loss, they get the means to make healthy weight a lifestyle.
“The question that I often get from patients is, ‘I’ve tried everything, what makes your program different?’ And I think my best answer is this group [of doctors, nurses, and specialists at the Center for Weight Management],” said Robert L. Richard, M.D., FACS. “All of us are involved in treating obesity at many different stages with many different tools.”
Featuring a combination of bariatric surgeons, medical weight loss specialists, an endocrinologist and a nutritionist, among other staff, the Center for Weight Management – which has offices in Braselton, Gainesville and Suwanee – thrives on unique solutions for every patient. Those solutions may include surgery, dietary changes, or emotional support, and quite often all three. But the result is that no path to weight loss is viewed as a cookie cutter solution. The patient is the focus – not just a number to attain.
“We have patients from the medical weight loss program that may end up in in a different part of our practice at different times. The point is, is that we don’t just have one tool, we have all of these tools, and we use all these tools equally effectively for all of our patients. And I think that’s what makes this clinic stand out,” Dr. Richard said.
Center for Weight Management surgeons Dr. Richard along with Eric J. Velasquez, M.D., MBA, FACS, FASMBS, are skilled and experienced in providing surgical bariatric solutions, including procedures such as the duodenal switch, gastric bypass and gastric sleeve. But they also view surgery as one step in a process, rather than a shortcut to success. And, as many Longstreet Clinic patients have discovered, the staff at the Center for Weight Management has every angle covered.
“They’re very detailed. They give you a coordinator that’s just for you that keeps track of your progress and all the things that you’re going to need to have for your surgery to make sure you’re good to go,” said Kristen Mote, who underwent gastric sleeve surgery with Dr. Richard in 2022. “They make it literally as easy as possible. I really love the fact they offer support groups too. There are cooking classes. There are general support classes for after surgery. There are pre-surgery classes. There are workout classes too.”
The Center even offers a boutique, so that patients can easily obtain clothing that better fits them through transitional weights – without having to spend money on items that will only fit for short periods.
“It helped us, so we didn’t have to buy a whole outfit to only wear a couple of weeks,” added Mote, whose husband Danny also had a gastric sleeve procedure with Dr. Richard in 2020.
Financial realities are also a key factor in the Center for Weight Management’s approach, and its staff works hard to ensure that procedures are covered by insurance. If that’s not possible, they will develop a payment plan to make significant weight loss obtainable, ensuring that there are no hidden fees or surprises.
It is a total approach to weight loss that has made a real and lasting difference for patients throughout north Georgia. And the Center for Weight Management staff is always happy to discuss a prospective weight loss journey with you.
To learn more, please call Longstreet Clinic’s Center for Weight Management today at 770-534-0110 or toll-free at 877-921-0110. Or you can watch our online seminar then fill out our contact form, and our weight loss team will reach out to you.
