St. Petersburg, FL (June 6, 2022)- Bayfront Health St. Petersburg’s Weight Loss and Bariatric Surgery Institute offers a new option for those looking to achieve better health. Alexander Ramirez, MD, FACS, FASMBS will lead this new program for the hospital. Dr. Ramirez uses an innovative approach to bariatric surgery, with just three small incisions that result in less patient discomfort and shorter recovery times. He is certified by the Surgical Review Corporation as a Master Surgeon in Robotic Surgery and Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery.

“Dr. Ramirez has gained a reputation of excellence in the field of Bariatric Medicine,” said Dr. Trina Espinola, Bayfront Health St. Petersburg, Chief Medical Officer. “Patients from all over the country have come to see Dr. Ramirez because of his minimal invasive approach and the results they see after surgery.”

As a board-certified bariatric surgeon, Dr. Ramirez has published more than 45 articles on various bariatric and surgical topics in peer-reviewed journals. He earned his medical degree at the University of Cartagena in Colombia and completed his residency in General Surgery at New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens in Flushing, NY. Dr. Ramirez also completed a fellowship in Minimally Invasive Surgery and Bariatric Surgery at Cleveland Clinic Florida. He is fluent in both English and Spanish.

About Bayfront Health St. Petersburg

The 480-bed Bayfront Health St. Petersburg was founded in 1910. It was acquired October 1, 2020 by Orlando Health, a not-for-profit healthcare organization with $8 billion of assets under management. The hospital’s areas of clinical excellence include heart and vascular, surgical services, rehabilitation services, neurosciences, maternity care and – as home to the only state-accredited Level Two Adult Trauma Center in the St. Petersburg region – emergency services and trauma care.

Bayfront Health St. Petersburg is integral to the 3,200-bed Orlando Health system which serves the southeastern United States through 10 award-winning hospitals, 9 hospital based ERs, including Central Florida’s only Level I Trauma Center, and 7 free-standing emergency rooms; rehabilitation services, cancer and heart institutes, imaging and laboratory services, wound care centers, physician offices for adults and pediatrics, skilled nursing facilities, an in-patient behavioral health facility, home healthcare services in partnership with LHC Group, and urgent care centers in partnership with FastMed Urgent Care. More than 4,200 physicians, representing more than 100 medical specialties and subspecialties have privileges across the system, which employs more than 23,000 team members.

Orlando Health’s Graduate Medical Education (GME) program hosts more than 350 residents and fellows including more than 40 who are enrolled at Bayfront Health St. Petersburg’s OB/GYN, Family Medicine, Sports Medicine and Pharmacy programs.

In FY21, Orlando Health served more than 160,000 inpatients and 3.6 million outpatients. During that same time period, Orlando Health provided approximately ¬¬¬$648 million in total value to the communities it serves in the form of charity care, community benefit programs and services, community building activities and more. Additional information can be found at https://www.bayfrontstpete.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.