10/28/2024

Wentworth-Douglass Hospital Doctor Performs 2,000th Bariatric Surgery

DOVER, NH – Bariatric surgeon Dr. Dmytro “Dima” Havaleshko recently celebrated a milestone, performing his 2000^th robotic surgery at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital.

Dr. Havaleshko, who is chair of the robotic surgery committee and director of the Center for Weight Management at Bariatric Surgery, has helped thousands of patients with obesity achieve better health, sustainable weight loss, and healthier lifestyles since joining the hospital in 2017. His patients have lost more than 110,000 pounds of weight – roughly the size of a 737 aircraft – but he says what’s most important is that they re-gained their health.

“I’m honored to have reached this milestone, and I’ve been told that I’m now the busiest robotic surgeon in New England and the fastest to reach 2,000 cases in the Eastern United States,” said Dr. Havaleshko. “But for me, it’s never been just about the number of surgeries—it's about making a difference in the lives of my patients. Every surgery represents someone’s journey toward better health, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to be part of that.”

Dr. Havaleshko is a board-certified general surgeon, and fellow of the American College of Surgeons and American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, who specializes in weight loss, minimally invasive laparoscopic surgeries, and robotic abdominal surgeries. He is a well-respected national and international speaker on the topic of robotic bariatric surgery, while hosting dozens of surgeons yearly for observations.

The bariatric program at Wentworth-Douglass is accredited as a MBSAQIP Center of Excellence, offering fully robotic sleeve gastrectomy, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, single anastomosis duodenoileostomy with sleeve gastrectomy (SADI-S), and revisional bariatric surgeries. The surgeries are performed with the advanced da Vinci Xi robotic system.

“The recognition is appreciated, but the real reward is seeing my patients achieve lasting, positive change,” Dr. Havaleshko said.