September 11, 2007

Black Earns Region’s First Certification as Bariatric Nurse

Jennifer Black, RN, CBN, bariatric nurse coordinator for the Mercy Weight Loss Center at Dakota Dunes, has become the first nurse in Iowa, Nebraska or South Dakota to become certified as a bariatric nurse.

Black earned the prestigious (CBN) certification after successfully completing a rigorous examination in June at the annual conference of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) in San Diego, Calif. 

The newly designed certification will be valid for a period of four years.

The Mercy Weight Loss Center at Dakota Dunes, a program that provides specialized counseling and education services for weight loss surgery patients in one convenient location, was established earlier this year as a collaborative joint venture among Mercy Medical Center—Sioux City, Dr. William Rizk, Dr. Michael Wolpert, and Dr. Keith Vollstedt.   The center is housed inside Midlands Clinic, P.C. at 705 Sioux Point Road in Dakota Dunes, S.D. 

Bariatric (weight loss) surgical procedures have been performed at Mercy Medical Center since 1976. 

For more information about the Mercy Weight Loss Center at Dakota Dunes, call (605) 217-5566.