Community Highlights: Meet Leslie Pristas of Best Life Bariatrics and Medical Weight Loss

Today we’d like to introduce you to Leslie Pristas.

Hi Leslie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
After serving almost 10 years in the Air Force, I moved with my family back to Ohio in 2018. My husband Tim and I have three young sons, and we knew we wanted to raise them in Ohio closer to extended family. I became the director of the bariatric surgery program at St Vincent Charity Hospital in Cleveland from Jan 2019 until the hospital unfortunately closed in Nov 2022.
St Vincent’s program was the first in Northeast Ohio with a longstanding reputation of excellence. At that time, I moved the bariatric program, including the staff and patients, to Southwest General Hospital in Middleburg Heights. Unfortunately again, after less than a year and a half in March of 2024 the hospital decided to close the bariatric program.
At this point, I had to really stop and question what direction to go in. Twice in less than two years was a devasting blow. Should I even stay in medicine?! What else could I be happy doing, find fulling and still care for myself and family? When St Vincent announced the closure, I only had 60 days notice and felt strongly about maintaining continuity for the staff and patients. It was a whirlwind! But this time, after Southwest’s decision, I really took time to reflect.
I came to the conclusion that I still really like what I do! I like helping people not just lose weight, but improve their overall health and sometimes, to really start living again. It would be wrong of me though to take too much credit, my patients do all the hard work and I am privileged to bear witness and offer guidance. But boy is it a great day when someone comes in excited and tells a story about the thing they just did that they never thought they’d be able to do. Or that they no longer need their CPAP machine for sleep apnea. Or they no longer have diabetes. Or any of the other accomplishments big or small.
I wasn’t ready to be done sharing those moments and especially not on anyone else’s terms or timeline. So, when I spoke to my mentor about the situation, he suggested that I start my own practice. At first, I thought this idea was INSANE. And perhaps it was/is. Coming from the military, I didn’t even choose my clothing! I showed up to work and did my job and took care of my patients to the best of my ability. All of the intricacies of operating a practice were totally opaque. I couldn’t even imagine where to start. But gradually the idea took hold and Best Life Bariatrics and Medical Weight Loss was born.
My first hire was Rebecca Miles, registered dietitian. Becky and I clicked right away when we met and shared a philosophy of patient centered care and individualized treatment. She took a chance and came on board and we have added and grown since then. Several of our staff members have come from St Vincent to Southwest and now to Best Life. Several are previous patients as well who feel passionately about the work we do.
Starting and running a private practice in today’s medical environment is not easy. But we see our patients do hard things every day and we want to keep working right alongside them. Sometimes it takes multiple tools and multiple approaches to get the weight loss results we want and it may take patience and discipline to grow the practice as well, but we’ll keep working together to reach our goals!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Medical reimbursements are delayed by weeks to months, how much you can expect any insurance to pay is variable and unclear, there’s really no negotiating rates with insurance – you just have to accept whatever they deign to pay you, it is time consuming to try to get insurances to cover medications and surgeries for patients.

Balancing costs and running a business are not taught in medical school.

Trying to reach people and overcoming the stigma around obesity and its treatment is HARD!

We’ve been impressed with Best Life Bariatrics and Medical Weight Loss, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Best Life Bariatrics and Medical Weight Loss is not just about offering surgery or medications, although we do both. Our staff combines years of experience and personalized care to optimize our patients’ long-term outcome and success, helping patients reach their life goals around weight and beyond.

As a bariatric surgeon, I meet people every day who struggle with their weight. They each have a unique background, experience and story. The reasons they have become overweight and been unable to lose extra weight vary with each individual. Many in society want to suggest there’s an easy solution to overweight and obesity, take this supplement, avoid these 5 foods, take that pill, etc. but obesity is complex. It’s complex as a social issue, and its complex as a physiologic, medical issue.

Understanding that our weight is affected by more than just the calories a person consumes or the amount of exercise that person does is important. This is not to say that these things don’t matter, of course they do. But when people, even doctors, tell someone to ‘try harder,’ they need to understand that they are asking for the opposite of what our bodies are designed to do.

We see in nature that animals have to work hard to survive and avoid starvation. Our bodies have also adapted mechanisms to avoid starvation which was great before there were grocery stores! But now when we actually want to lose weight these mechanisms work against us. We need to recognize how our bodies actually function in order make progress with weight loss that is sustainable for the long-term.

Even if patients could lose 10% of their body weight, they would reduce the risk factors for many diseases, especially heart disease. Weight loss helps to improve or resolve more than 40 obesity-related diseases and conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, sleep apnea, acid reflux, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea and joint problems. With bariatric surgery, there is a 60% reduction in mortality from cancer, with the largest reductions seen in breast and colon cancers as well as a 56% reduction in mortality from coronary artery disease, 92% reduction in mortality from type 2 diabetes and 40% overall reduction in mortality. Bariatric surgery typically adds 6-8 years of life expectancy so there are major benefits beyond just pounds lost.

We recognize not everyone is open to considering bariatric surgery, but for those who can benefit they should know that it is extremely safe, with an overall mortality rate of about 0.1% — less than gallbladder, hip replacement and hysterectomy surgeries. In fact, for many patients the risks of morbid obesity are greater than the risks of bariatric surgery. A BMI over 40 is associated with a reduced median survival of eight to ten years which is comparable to smoking. One can also make an economic argument that insurers/employers recover their costs for bariatric surgery within about two years. Many self-insured companies are now providing specific coverage for bariatric surgery.

At a comprehensive bariatric surgery program, each person’s medical, social and mental health history are assessed and optimized to ensure they have all of the tools to not only maximize their weight loss from surgery, but avoid regaining weight down the road. Patients have to commit to and demonstrate significant lifestyle changes before surgery. They can each tell you that surgery is not an “easy way out” of obesity, a common misconception.

What does success mean to you?
Success to me is progress, not an end point. If you’re making progress in whatever aspect of your life you’re working on, then you’re successful.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bestlifebariatrics.com