The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) has named Overlake Hospital a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence, a designation that recognizes surgical programs with a track record of favorable outcomes.

Bariatric surgery is a form of weight-loss operation performed on people who are dangerously obese. It involves reducing the size of a patient’s stomach.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 66 percent of all U.S. adults are overweight or obese.

Morbid obesity is considered to be closely tied with a number of conditions that affect health, such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.