Scottsbluff, Neb., – Are you or is someone you care about struggling with weight issues? It may be that weight issues are causing other health complications such as pre-diabetes, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, back pain, lack of energy, and low self-esteem. Regional West Weight Loss Options may be able to help you.

The public is invited to a free educational seminar hosted by Regional West bariatric surgeons to learn how weight loss surgery can help you gain control of your weight, your health, and your life.

Regional West surgeons Jeffrey Holloway, MD, FACS, and Jason LaTowsky, MD, will be the presenters. Dr. Holloway has been a surgeon at Regional West for over 17 years and has performed more than 1,600 lap band surgeries and 400 gastric bypass surgeries in his career. He specializes in laparoscopic banding (LAP band®) and gastric bypass. Dr. LaTowsky is a Nebraska panhandle native and is fellowship-trained in bariatric surgery. He specializes in gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy.

Regional West Weight Loss Options will host several free bariatric surgery seminars in the coming months throughout the panhandle of Nebraska and eastern Wyoming. Dr. LaTowsky will be presenting Sept. 9 and Nov. 11 in Regional West Scotts Bluff Room I and Dr. Holloway will be presenting Oct. 7 in Regional West Scotts Bluff Room I. Dr. LaTowsky will present Sept. 2 in Box Butte General Hospital’s Sandhills Room, and Sept. 16 in the Chadron Community Hospital meeting room. Dr. Holloway will present in the Dorwart Cancer Care Center’s conference room at 6 p.m. on Oct. 1. Dr. LaTowsky will present Oct. 7 in Torrington in the Platte Valley Bank Community Room. All presentations begin at 6:30 p.m. unless otherwise stated. Seminar dates and times, as well as other Regional West events, can always be found on the events calendar at http://www.rwhs.org/our-network/event-calendar.

The surgeons will present an overview of the three bariatric surgery options at each seminar and answer questions about gastric bypass, gastric sleeve, and laparoscopic (LAP band) surgery. All three procedures are available through Regional West’s Weight Loss Options program.

For more information or to reserve a seat (recommended but not required), call Mona Urwin, RN, Certified Bariatric Nurse, at 308-630-2249. For additional information about the programs available, please visit www.RWMCWeightLossOptions.com.

Regional West Medical Center began doing gastric bypass surgery in 1980, laparoscopic bypass surgery in 2000, and gastric sleeve surgery in 2014. In 2001, Regional West became the first hospital in the region and one of only two hospitals west of the Mississippi River to perform lap-banding procedures.

Though more facilities perform the surgery now, Regional West is proud to offer a great deal of experience in the procedure, performing more than 1,800 gastric banding procedures since 2001. That is more procedures than any other hospital in Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, Kansas, Iowa, or South Dakota.

Regional West Health Services in Scottsbluff, Neb., is the parent company of Regional West Medical Center, a 182-bed regional referral center and one of three Level II Trauma Centers in the state. As the region’s only tertiary referral medical center, Regional West offers care that spans more than 32 medical specialties provided by over 28 physician clinics. With nearly 300 providers, and over 2,000 employees, Regional West provides comprehensive and innovative health care services for the people of western Nebraska and the neighboring states of Colorado, South Dakota, and Wyoming.