Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center offers virtual support groups for patients in the bariatric surgery program. The groups are led by a bariatric surgery clinician or staff member, and often feature speakers presenting on topics such as exercise, nutrition and more. Patients are encouraged to bring a care partner to these meetings.

When: First Wednesday of the month at noon and the third Thursday of the month at 5 p.m.
Format: Online via Zoom
Duration: 1 hour
Who can join: Support groups are open to Johns Hopkins Bayview patients at all stages of their bariatric surgery journey. Patients who are awaiting surgery can gain valuable insight into life after surgery. You’re welcome to attend any or all meetings each month.
How to join: To join, you must agree to our group etiquette rules and the HIPAA disclaimer (see below), and fill out an online form.
Contact: If you have any questions, please call 410-550-0409.

Support Group Etiquette

• Please be in a quiet, private room during the support group meetings. If you are not able to be somewhere quiet and private, please consider joining another upcoming meeting.
• Please mute your microphone when not speaking. The group facilitator reserves the right to mute participants if needed.
• Please be respectful of others’ opinions, struggles, differences, right to also speak and right to privacy.
• Do not share private identifying information about people who are not present in group.
• No recordings are allowed.
• Do not share the Zoom link for the meeting outside of the support group. If you would like to invite someone to this support group, please refer them to this website to agree to group etiquette and register.

If you feel uncomfortable at any time, you have the right to drop out of the group. There is no fee for attending a support group, and it is not documented in your medical chart.

HIPAA and Privacy

The video conferencing system used for our group sessions meets the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) standards of encryption and privacy protection. While our team takes all necessary measures, we cannot guarantee privacy or confidentiality of the information shared during support group meetings. Therefore, please review the conditions of participation. By joining the support group, you understand and agree that:

1. This is a group setting, and others will see you and know why you are participating in this group. Although group facilitator(s) cannot guarantee that this rule is followed, group members must agree to maintain the confidentiality of other group members. This means that you may not disclose names or other identifying information about group members, nor may you discuss the personal issues and experiences of other members.
2. To maintain the group’s privacy, it is important to connect from a quiet and private room with no interruptions or distractions from people or other devices. It is imperative that no persons not registered for the group are in hearing or visual proximity to you during the group meeting.
3. Recording or photographing the group sessions or other group members is strictly prohibited. If you create or share any audio or video recordings of this group meeting, you may be terminated from the program and may be subject to legal action by group members.

For Phone-Only Participants

If you will be joining us by phone only, please dial *67-301-715-8592 to prevent your phone number from being displayed in the participant list.

Sign up for the support group