Our Approach

The center brings together renowned experts in both the medical and surgical treatment of obesity, as well as in such fields as psychology, nutrition, exercise physiology, orthopaedics, endocrinology, cardiology, liver disease, and more. The center doesn’t just focus on weight management, but also on the many health outcomes associated with excess weight, such as diabetes, fatty liver disease, heart disease, joint problems, and cancer. Successful weight management can significantly improve these conditions and reduce the chance of developing them in the first place.

In short, the center provides services across the entire continuum of care for weight management, including everything from dietary advice to psychological counseling, medications, endoscopic interventions, and surgery. Having all of those services under one umbrella gives us the unique ability to care for any patient with weight management needs, regardless of size or treatment options.

The center also has an alliance with the YNHH Department of Pediatrics, and since obesity tends to run in families, center administrators are planning an intergenerational clinic where the entire family can receive care.

Currently, the center is situated at several different locations within the health system; in 2022, all of the components of the center are scheduled to move to a single location at 8 Devine St. in North Haven. Consultations are also available via telehealth.

The Center for Weight Management has three physician-directors: John Morton, MD, MPH, medical director of bariatric surgery for the Yale New Haven Health System; Wajahat Mehal, MD, PhD, director of the Yale Weight Loss Program and an expert in obesity medicine and endobariatrics; and Ania Jastreboff, MD, PhD, an adult and pediatric endocrinologist with expertise in obesity medicine and weight management.

The center has a fully integrated medical and surgical team. We have approximately 20 physicians, including 12 bariatric surgeons, who together have performed about 10,000 successful surgeries (Dr. Morton alone has performed about 4,000 successful bariatric surgeries). Other members of the team include nurses, dieticians, psychologists, social workers, and an exercise physiologist, as well as the many experts on weight-related health conditions who partner with the center.