Connecticut

Chapter Information

Incorporated May 2012

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Executive Officers

President: Darren Tishler, MD FASMBS
Vice President: Saber Ghiassi, MD MPH FASMBS
Immediate Past President: Pavlos Papasavas, FASMBS
Past Presidents: Neil Floch, MD; Aziz Benbrahim, MD FASMBS; Jonathan Aranow, MD
Secretary/Treasurer: Vanessa Malit, MD FACS FASMBS
Integrated Health Chair: Dawn Garcia, APRN
STAR (State Access to Care Representative): Danielle Friedman, MD FACS
Executive Director: Katy Dunay

Members at Large

Jon Pirrello, MD
Juan Holguin, MD
Grigoriy Klimovich, MD

Chapter Contact

Katy Andrews Dunay, CPPM
ctasmbs@gmail.com

Chapter Meetings

• Connecticut State Chapter Meeting 2023
  January 26-27, 2023
  Foxwoods Resort, Manshantucket, CT

• Connecticut State Chapter Meeting at the ASMBS Annual Meeting 2022 in Dallas, TX
  Tuesday, June 7th
  5:30-6:30pm Central
  Hyatt Regency Dallas/Dallas Belt 355 Room

• Obesity Summit 2021 – postponed to later in 2021 due to COVID concerns

• Connecticut State Chapter Board Meeting June 11, 2020

• Obesity Summit of the ASMBS Connecticut Chapter 2020
  January 23-24
  For more information click here

• May 30, 2019 – Spring CT Chapter ASMBS Board Meeting: Review and Discussion of SB-, Review and Discussion of Chapter Code of Ethics, Treasurer’s Report, Obesity Summit 2020, Patient Care/Continuity of Care, Statewide/Group Research Effort, Walk from Obesity

• Connecticut State Chapter Meeting at ObesityWeek 2019 in Las Vegas, NV
  Tuesday, November 5, 2019
  5:15-6:15pm Pacific
  Mandalay Bay, 3950 S Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89119, Lagoon K Room

• ASMBS Foundation’s Walk from Obesity 2019 Saturday, October 5, 2019
  Hubbard Park
  999 West Main Street
  Meridian, CT 06451

• First Annual ASMBS CT State Chapter Meeting
  January 25-26, 2018
  Foxwoods Casino
  350 Trolley Line Blvd, Mashantucket, CT 06338
  If you have any questions please contact our Executive Director Katy Dunay at katy@fcbariatrics.com
  For More Information or to Register for Meeting

• Connecticut State Chapter Meeting at ObesityWeek 2018
  Tuesday, November 13
  5:15-6:15pm
  Omni Nashville Hotel, 250 5th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37203, Music Row 3 Room

• CT ASMBS State Chapter Meeting with New England ASMBS Chapter at ObesityWeek 2017
  7am-8am
  Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center
  201 Waterfront St, Oxon Hill, MD 20745
  Chesapeake G Room

• CT ASMBS Chapter Meeting at the CT ACS Meeting
  October 20, 2017
  Farmington Marriott
  15 Farm Springs Rd, Farmington, CT 06032

• State Chapter Annual Meeting at ObesityWeek 2016 in New Orleans, LA:
  Wednesday, November 2, 2016
  6pm-7pm Central Time
  Hilton New Orleans Riverside, 2 Poydras Street, NOLA 70130

• 9/14/16 Meeting for new Member at Large and Treasurer/Secretary acceptance (elections to be held prior via survey)

• Summer Meeting June 2, 2016 at Trumbull Kitchen – resident presentations; Guest Dr. Raul Rosenthal, ASMBS President; 6/3/16 Grand Rounds with Dr. Rosenthal sponsored by chapter at Hartford Hospital

• Northeast Regional ASMBS Meeting in conjunction with the New York State Chapter
  May 5th from 6:00PM-8:45PM & May 6th from 7:30AM-6PM
  New York Academy of Medicine
  1216 5th Avenue
  New York, NY 10029

• Spring Meeting March 14, 2016 – discussion of upcoming CTASC for presentations

• State Chapter Annual Meeting at ObesityWeek 2015 in Los Angeles, CA:
  Wednesday, November 4, 2015
  6pm-7pm Pacific Time
  L.A. Convention Center Room #305

  • Bylaw amendments passed; membership amounts approved; Executive Director position discussed; partnership opportunity with New England Chapter discussed; elections for upcoming year discussed/ballot disclosed at future date

• Spring Meeting May 14, 2015

• Chapter Annual Meeting on November 5, 2014 at ObesityWeek in Boston, MA

Chapter Updates

• Continuing advocacy and close attention to the potential of new legislation related to coverage of obesity in Connecticut – will continue to monitor and support any bills that would provide greater access to care for our patients with obesity in the state of Connecticut.

• Discussion of callaboration with the CT chapter of the ACS

• Discussion to start an educational series – quarterly event

• Discussion of Walk from Obesity – 25th Anniversary – Date of event 9/24/22 – West Haven location

• ObesityPAC Meeting on 6/7/22 following annual chapter meeting

• Our STAR representative, Dr. Tishler, recently provided updates to the membership of some expansion in coverage and changes in the requirements for bariatric workup process for some of the insurers who provide coverage in the state. We have seen changes to the requirements for bariatric workup preparation and policy change from Aetna and most recently (August, 2020) Anthem BCBS and Medicaid. There is progress and we will continue to advocate for more.

• In 2019 and into 2020 we worked together, across programs and as a group, to support and advocate for the passage of legislation to expand access to bariatric care and coverage in the State of Connecticut. We worked with legislators and patients and continued our efforts to educate and add bariatric coverage to the essential health benefit plan for the state. Unfortunately, our efforts fell short and all work at the capitol was put on hold due to the pandemic and the challenges our state faced. Elective surgery was put on hold from March-May and many systems started to allow for surgical cases to be scheduled beginning in June. Providers used telehealth technology to deliver care and support for our patients during these unprecedented times. We will continue to work to serve our patients and be prepared to care for them in person or virtually and will continue to advocate for changes and expansion in coverage of bariatric services at the state level.

• 9/26/2020 – Walk from Obesity – Virtual – members of the chapter and patients participated in the live facebook event that the chapter organized and raised a significant amount of money to support the ASMBS foundation.

• Continued Enrichment of Website – Production and Maintenance of the Chapter Website has allowed for: Additional outreach, provision of relevant information and accessibility of tools to support our advocacy efforts; A robust site, this showcases the activities sponsored and supported by the chapter and shows the growth we have sustained; Support tools for our advocacy efforts are accessible and easily available, including links to resources, information about our meetings, the chapter and the members and their programs.

• SB-317 – 2/14/2019 – Day of Advocacy – Public Hearings at the State Capitol – collaborative effort by physicians, patients, team members for bariatric programs throughout the state with Senator Eric Berthel to support and advocate for SB-317 which would add coverage of bariatric services to the essential health benefit for the state; leading up to the public hearings a smaller group of board members held weekly conference calls to coordinate advocacy efforts to support and work to get the word out for the hearing – this was an amazing effort, with many patients, staff members and advocates in attendance and supporting the initiative with letters.

• 3/1/2019 – Doctor’s Day at the Capitol – members of the chapter carve time from their schedules to travel to the Capitol for Doctor’s Day, to take the opportunity to meet with our elected officials and express the need and explain the importance of SB-317 to the patients we serve, the people of the State of Connecticut.

• Connecticut Walk From Obesity 2017 – September 9, 2017 at Hubbard Park in Meridan in collaboration with Bristol Hospital.

• August 2017 – CT Bariatric Physicians and Program Coordinators List – we are working to have a complete and updated list for all programs throughout the state; we have been able to gather contact information for the coordinators for each program and will reach out to the programs and physicians to invite and encourage membership with chapter. With better communication and outreach we hope to have more participation and engagement. If you have not received correspondence and wish to be included or if someone in your program should be receiving information please send updates to our Executive Director Katy Dunay at katy@fcbariatrics.com.

• 2016-2017 State of CT – STAR update shows that all work in the state is on hold due to an impasse with the state; there will be no extra spending on healthcare due to the poor state of the economy and budgetary limitations .

• Bristol Hospital Walk from Obesity October 2016 – all practices/members encouraged to participate with patient/staff/practice.

• Connecticut is one of the few New England states that is a "no coverage" state in the Affordable Care Act – work to change: Political actions & Patients with no coverage speaking out.

• Formalization of elections and membership.

Support Groups

Local programs per hospital – please contact your hospital for more information/reference websites for specific details. Each hospital provides preoperative and postoperative guidance for patients. Some private practices also host postoperative support groups and events. Many programs have added creative and new support groups, including Closed Facebook groups and virtual postoperative support groups to accommodate social distancing and safety in the context of the continued presence of COVID-19.

Advocacy Information

• View the Connecticut Essential Health Benefits Toolkit