About Our Unique Weight Loss Facility

About Our Unique Weight Loss Facility

The Bariatric Center of Kansas City is listed as a Bariatric Center of Excellence by the Surgical Review Corporation, an organization that works with the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) to find surgical centers that provide exceptional care to their patients. We are the only center in the Kansas City metropolitan area to have successfully gone through recertification as a Center of Excellence for Bariatric Surgery.

We are located in Lenexa, Kansas, and are proudly the highest volume weight loss center in the Kansas City area. Our surgeons perform surgical procedures in facilities at Shawnee Mission Medical Center, a nationally-accredited medical center which provides surgical equipment and peri-operative support during surgical procedures, as well as nursing staff trained in providing post-bariatric surgical care. We also operate at Shawnee Mission Outpatient Pavilion at Prairie Star; Heartland Spine and Specialty Hospital in Overland Park, Kansas.

Since 2002, the Bariatric Center of Kansas City has performed over 3,000 successful surgeries, with a complication rate that is much lower than the national average. The surgeons at the Bariatric Center trained with Dr. Alan Wittgrove and Dr. Wesley Clark at the Alvarado Clinic in San Diego, surgeons who were innovators in the field of laparoscopic weight loss surgery, as well as Dr. Robert E. Brolin, a past president of the ASMBS.

The Bariatric Center places a high priority on all aspects of patient care, including pre- and post-procedural care. Patients are screened for physical and psychological health before they are approved for surgery to ensure their success and safety. Follow-up care includes physician visits and a variety of activities focused on social support, such as support groups and peer mentoring.

Types of Insurance Accepted

It is important to talk with your insurance provider to find out if your insurance plan covers weight loss surgery. In addition to asking about things like your coverage, your deductible and your maximum out-of-pocket costs, it is important to ask about whether there are any exclusions to weight loss surgery in your plan.

Ask questions about what coverage you have for inpatient (gastric bypass) and outpatient (LapBand) procedures. Dr. Stanley Hoehn holds contracts with insurance companies to provide care, so when calling to find out whether the Bariatric Center is in your network, ask about Dr. Hoehn as opposed to the name of the Bariatric Center, as the program itself does not have contracts with insurance companies.

The Bariatric Center accepts many of the most common insurance plans, including United Healthcare, Aetna, Humana Choice Care, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna and AARP, as well as Tricare Standard and Tricare For Life and Medicare (as a non-contracted provider). In addition to these, the Bariatric Center is contracted with many more insurance companies, so be sure to call your provider.


Dr. Stanley Hoehn is Medical Director of the Weight Loss Surgery Program at Shawnee Mission Medical Center and approved as an ASMBS Bariatric Center of Excellence Surgeon.

Dr. Hoehn received his undergraduate degree in Biology from Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, and graduated from medical school from Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California. He completed his surgical residency and internship at the University of Kansas in 1999.

Dr. Hoehn is a founding member of the Bariatric Center of Kansas City. He combines skills that he uses daily in his bariatric and general surgery practice to perform weight loss surgery at both Shawnee Mission Medical Center in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, and Heartland Spine and Specialty Hospital in Overland Park, Kansas.

Dr. Hoehn has performed over 2,000 procedures.

Tim Stallard, P.A. joined the Bariatric Center of Kansas City after working for many years as a physician's assistant with an orthopedic surgery practice. Tim's responsibilities with the program are as vital as they are varied; including initial examination and assessment of patients, assisting Dr. Hoehn on all of his weight loss surgeries, peri-operative care of the patient while in the clinic and hospital, and making sure each patient is comfortable and safe in the post-operative period.

Tim evaluates the patients to be sure they are on-track with their expected weight loss, and guides and educates the patients during the post-surgical process. LapBand adjustments are another of his areas of expertise.

Tim's patients thoroughly enjoy his kind heart and ever-present sense of humor. He comes from Lawrence, Kansas each day to care for our patients and thoroughly enjoys the close patient interaction that being a physician assistant allows.

Dr. Christopher Kowalski is a bariatric and general surgeon who has been practicing at Temple University Hospital and Health System since 2003. During that time he practiced advanced laparoscopic and endoscopic procedures related both to bariatric surgery and general surgery.

As an assistant professor of surgery he taught at the Temple University School of Medicine both to medical students and residents. Between 2003 and 2005 he also established and was named director of the laparoscopic living kidney donor program at Temple University Hospital.

In 2006, he was named director of bariatric surgery at Jeanes Hospital in Philadelphia, one of the Temple Health System hospitals. Since then his practice has been completely devoted to bariatric surgery. He performs laparoscopic and open gastric bypass, laparoscopic banding and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

Dr. Kowalski has a full commitment to weight loss surgery both pre-operatively and in the post-operative care. He has performed over 1,500 bariatric procedures.

Joshua Crosier is a native of Kansas City. He graduated from Missouri State University with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Spanish in 2005. Before attending graduate school for his Physician Assistant degree, he volunteered with the United States Peace Corps in Tanzania, East Africa. While in Tanzania, he worked as a high school biology and chemistry teacher. He attended the Wichita State University Physician Assistant Program from which he graduated with a Masters of Physician Assistant Studies in May 2010.

He assists Dr. Kowalski in all of his weight loss surgeries, peri-operative care of the patient while in the hospital and assists with all the aftercare of patients in the post-operative period.

Joshua enjoys working in the field of surgery, especially in the area of bariatric surgery because he knows how much of a positive life changing impact it can have on patients. He also takes pleasure in working with patients to help them achieve their weight loss goals and live a healthy lifestyle.

Our Staff Members

  • Linda Johnston, R.N.,B.S.N.

    Clinic Nurse

  • Ravi Sabapathy, Psy.D

    Clinical Psychologist