European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 19, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Brand name medical service happiness through cosmetic surgery by Nancy Shulins associated press did nature give you a big nose shorten it. A Boyish bustling fill it out. Thunder highs streamline too can look Young Beautiful an slim and what nature has t Given you. Effort and artifice might Supply. That s part of the american dream. For Many people the Pursuit of happiness leads straight through cosmetic surgery. For some it s becoming As routine As washing away the Gray. So it s hardly surprising that a designer Label has come along to package the dream you re becoming the registered trademark of Republic health corp., the nation s filth largest and fastest growing investor owned health care Chain with More than 8,500 Beds in 23 states. At Decatur ga., Hospital just outside Atlanta you la find a melange of Medicine and marketing cosmetic surgery and consumer strategy. We applied business principles to health said Michiho Salazar a director of product management for the company. We figured it there could be a Jordache look ii there could be Brand name cars jeans and hotels Why not Brand name services we feel that people Are Brand conscious. That s been our Experiment and so far it s been very indeed. During 1984, the program s first year at Decatur Hospital the toll free information number Drew 5,342 Calls resulting in 600 appointments and 540 trips to the operating room a 1,000 percent increase Over the previous year. The increase in cosmetic surgery at Decatur echoes a nationwide trend. According to the american society of plastic and reconstructive surgeons close to 480.000 procedures were performed by Board certified plastic surgeons in 1984, a 60 percent increase Over 1981. The asps figures do not include cosmetic surgery performed by ophthalmologists dermatologists and other specialists who Are not Board certified plastic surgeons. A this perfection does t come cheap. According to an asps Price fist an average Facelift costs Between $2,500 and $5,000, a Chin implant Between $ 1,000 and $1,500, and a nose Job Between $2,000 and $3.000. Breast implants Cost in the neighbourhood of $2.500. Inido Tion to various types of surgery you re becoming now available at Lour Republic hospitals offers patients such amenities As specially decorated rooms help with financial arrangements and free Post operative consultations with makeup and hair styling experts. It enables patients to Check into the Hospital have their tummies tucked breasts reshaped faces lifted or thighs tapered charge it to a credit card and get Home in time for least 600 people Are expected to make the trip Down the quiet corridor of tastefully decorated cubbyhole to the operating room at Decatur Hospital this year. Much of the increase in surgery at Decatur Hospital can be traced to the program s aggressive advertising Campaign. Glossy brochures and Lull Page ads in magazines and newspapers detailing a Host of elective procedures Are sprinkled with Pink roses and drawings of sagging chins protruding ears pendulous breasts and fatty one illustration a woman surrounded by roses and butterflies gazes into Pond. How fortunate we Are to be at a time when the expertise exists to r Elp us make More of the and reads. White the majority of customers Are women it is by no Means restricted to women this month ads Lor you it becoming depleting men Reading Trie Wall Street journal and wearing Tennis shorts Are headed for the pages of the More popular surgeries Are breast augmentations facelifts and suction Lipec tomes a or. Theodore Thihon sex Omenn patient at Pecolor hot Ilal where the had Eyebrow reconstruction surgery. Relatively new procedure in which localized fat deposits often in the hips thighs and buttocks or Abdomen Are permanently removed by a special suction apparatus. The procedure perfected in France has been available in the United states for about three years. There is no shortage of satisfied customers. Edna Howell saw so Many of them being wheeled out of Decatur s operating room where she works As a nurse that she decided to try it herself. I saw it done so much and i liked what i saw says Howell 58, who treated herself to a Facelift and a Tummy tuck. I Don t mind being old i did mind getting now she says happily i feel much better. I like myself. And i carry myself Sara Taylor another Decatur patient has had several operations Over the past four years to enlarge her breasts flatten her stomach remove wrinkles from her upper lip and bags from under her eyes. She says the procedures made her feel prettier More desirable More of a they also gave her new Confidence she is pursuing a career As a Model something she was afraid to do prior to surgery. Before i was All wrapped up in my Little insecurities she says. Now i can give More of for some the Prospect of checking into the Hospital Lor cosmetic surgery in the morning and getting Home in time to make dinner for the kids is a dream come True. For others it s a matter of some concern. As the demand for cosmetic surgery increases the debate Over its merits is also heating up. Some people Are having major surgery cosmetic surgery As if they were having a says syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman. I have very mixed feelings. On the one hand in the Best of All possible worlds a woman would get character As she Ages. On the other hand. If it poses enormous difficulty to people s Yves whether they have big or Little noses Why not or. Memn Silra is chief of plastic surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and chairman of the asps Public education committee. In a recent interview with american medical news Silra said he was worried that few Pulc s advertising May attract people who Are seeking cosmetic surgery for the wrong reasons such As to save marriages or land higher paying jobs. Is it right that we should talk these people into surgery to asked. John Lynch chm of plastic surgery at Vanderbilt University medical Center in Nashville Tenn. And immediate past president of the asps. Criticizes the ads for not mentioning possible complications which can include infections scars and nerve damage. This is major he told american medical news. This is not going to the Beauty or. B. Alfred Plhal of Atlanta who received his training at Vanderbilt and who is now among the referral surgeons for you re becoming says he never operates on anyone without first spelling out All possible risks. Pihl says he also declines to operate on about 10 percent of those patients who come to him. Some Are medically unfit he says. Others have unrealistic expectations. Over the years you get a feel for the patient who thinks you can do miracles. You must gently persuade them that you cannot meet their expectations explains Plhal. You look for things in their life. Clues. If they have recently had a divorce for example. But what people say time and time again is that they be been thinking about it Lor years and did t know where to turn. We were surprised there s no shortage of plastic surgeons Pihl says. But people say they thought they needed a referral. The and Campaign has had an effect on Public education. It s Given people an Avenue a place to turn. Very Many decide after consultation not to go ahead. It s very important never to try to pressure or convince or. Theodore Wilson another referral surgeon at Decatur says that alter careful screening he declines to operate on about 20 percent of the people referred to him. We Are doing physical surgery Lor primarily psychological he says. For cultural psycho social economic reasons. I ask myself can i safely do this will i do no harm you need to know where the stress is coming from and whether you can help eliminate some of More and More Pihl says people Are equating plastic surgery with getting jobs and keeping whether looking Young is important to one s Job depends on the Job you have says Goodman. Looking older can be important too. Young people Don t carry the authority that older people do. I Don t think you d find too Many Federal court judges having their faces tuesday november 19, 1985 the stars and St Lopes Page 13
