Meet The Surgeons

Jaime Ponce, MD, FACS

Director for Bariatric Surgery Hamilton Medical Center in Dalton, GA

Director for Bariatric Surgery Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga, TN

Dr. Ponce is the Medical Director for the Bariatric Surgery program at Hamilton Medical Center, in Dalton, Georgia and Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He completed a General Surgery Residency at East Tennessee State University and has published articles in peer reviewed surgical journals, lectured in different meetings and been a guest speaker in international congresses and courses. During the latest Bariatric Surgery consensus, Dr. Ponce presented the gastric banding supportive data. Dr. Ponce has been practicing bariatric surgery since 1998 and has extensive experience with the laparoscopic adjustable gastric band procedure. He was the principal investigator for the FDA “C” trial with the Lap-Band® and the FDA Swedish (RealizeTM) Band trial. He is a consultant for the makers of gastric banding devices (Allergan and Ethicon), has been the co-director of several gastric banding courses, has trained hundreds of surgeons and allied health staff, has proctored hundreds of surgeons during their first gastric banding cases and has one of the largest experiences with both gastric bands available in the U.S. Since October 2000 developed a multidisciplinary comprehensive Bariatric Surgical Center of Excellence in Dalton, GA, which includes one of the largest outpatient gastric banding experiences. Dr. Ponce is a member of the Bariatric Surgical Review Committee and Research Advisory Committee from the Surgical Review Corporation (SRC), member of the Insurance and Program Committees from the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), Vice- President of the newly formed ASMBS Tennessee State Chapter, was selected member of the AOA, is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and maintains memberships in the ASMBS, IFSO and SAGES. Dr, Ponce has treated thousands of morbidly obese patients and has dedicated his career to advocate and support obesity care working with insurance companies and lawmakers to establish better policies for the surgical treatment of obesity.

Steve W. Paynter

Bariatric surgeon, received his MD degree from the Medical College of Georgia in 1983, and completed his residency in General Surgery in 1988 at East Tennessee State University. He has a special interest and training in the Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band procedure. He has been an active participant in the lap-band program at Hamilton Medical Center since its inception in 2000. Dr Paynter is board certified by the American Board of Surgery, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a Member of the AMA, American Society of General Surgeons, the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons, and the American Society for Bariatric Surgery.

Richard F. Fromm

is a Bariatric Surgeon particularly interested in the Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band procedure. He graduated with Honors from the Medical College of Georgia and completed his General Surgery Residency at East Tennessee State University. Dr. Fromm is board certified by the American Board of Surgery and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.