Kansas City Area LAP-BAND® System Surgeons
Dr. Stephen Malley, MD
Dr. Stephen Malley is a highly respected board certified General Surgeon in the Kansas City area. His commitment to healthy, long-term weight loss has lead to a practice based entirely around the LAP-BAND® System, with emphasis on pre-operative education and post-operative patient follow up in a caring and supportive environment.
Dr. Malley’s interest in Bariatrics presented itself early on in his medical career after a personal battle with his own weight. In February of 2004 Dr. Malley was certified to perform the LAP-BAND System procedure by Allergan Medical, the LAP-BAND manufacturer, and has since performed more than seven hundred and fifty LAP-BAND System cases in the Kansas City area.
In 2006, as one of the most experienced LAP-BAND System surgeons in the Midwest, Dr. Malley had the distinguished honor of being asked to serve as an Allergan Medical faculty member involved in training other surgeons on the LAP-BAND System to adhere to the U.S. FDA’s standards of clinical excellence. Also in 2006, Dr. Malley partnered with NewHope Bariatrics, Inc. to develop and operate a new state-of-the-art ambulatory surgery center in Overland Park, KS designed specifically to treat the unique needs of patients suffering from severe obesity.
EDUCATION
A Kansas City native, Dr. Malley received his medical degree from the University of Kansas Medical School in 1991. While serving in the United States Navy, he served as a General Medical Officer from 1992 to 1994, and as Squadron Medical Officer from 1994 to 1995. He completed both his internship and residency at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and is a board certified General Surgeon through the American Board of Surgery.
C. Thomas Hitchcock, MD, FACS
Dr. C. Thomas Hitchcock is a highly respected Bariatric surgeon who has been serving the needs of the severely obese community in the Kansas City metropolitan area for more than 25 years.
He has performed several hundred LAP-BAND System procedures since he completed the FDA-required training in 2004. In September of 2008, Dr. Hitchcock joined Malley Surgical Weight Loss Center, in association with NewHope Bariatrics to better serve the growing demand for outpatient LAP-BAND surgery.
Dr. Hitchcock is a member of the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and is recognized as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence Surgeon by this organization. He is also a Board-certified general surgeon and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
EDUCATION
Dr. Hitchcock completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan. He graduated from medical school and completed his surgical residency at the University of Kansas Hospital, and then completed a surgical externship at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Hitchcock received specialized training in laparoscopic weight-loss surgery in 2002 from Drs. Wittgrove and Clark, founders of the laparoscopic technique for Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery.
Dr. Nicole Fearing, MD, FACS
Dr Nicole Fearing is a highly respected Bariatric and General Surgeon who has been in practice since 2003. Dr Fearing specializes in advanced laparoscopic surgery and endoscopy and has a special interest in bariatric surgery. She completed training and was certified to perform the Lap Band in 2005 and the Realize Band in 2009. Since 2005 she has performed numerous bariatric procedures in the area.
Dr Fearing recently joined Malley Surgical Weight Loss Center and will work with Drs Malley and Hitchcock to promote the LAP-BAND surgery as well as the gastric sleeve. She is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
Dr Fearing grew up in North Dakota and attending the University of North Dakota for medical school graduating in 1998. She completed her surgical residency training at the University of Kansas-Wichita in 2003. Dr Fearing went on to complete a fellowship in advanced laparoscopic/minimally invasive surgery at the University of Texas-Houston in 2004 under the direction of Dr Philip Leggett. Dr Fearing has specialized training in numerous bariatric procedures including the LAP-BAND and Roux-en Y gastric bypass surgery.
Dr. Jesse Lopez, Jr.
Dr. Jesse Lopez, Jr. was born and raised in St. Joseph, Missouri. Dr. Lopez received his BA degree in chemistry from William Jewell College in 1984. He then graduated from medical school from the University of Health Sciences in Kansas City, Missouri. He then completed his surgical residency at Mid-Western University in Chicago, Illinois.
Dr. Lopez is a board certified general surgeon through the American Osteopathic Board of Surgery. Dr. Lopez has specialized in the field of Bariatrics and was certified in May of 2005 by Inamed Health to perform the laparoscopic gastric band procedure. Dr. Lopez has performed over 1,000 of these procedures.
