Sanford Eating Disorders & Weight Management Center

Outpatient treatment for eating disorders is based on a multidisciplinary team approach, which includes psychology, psychiatry, dietetics, nursing and medicine. Our team will assess you and determine the level of care you need.

If the team determines that you need outpatient care, we develop a treatment plan, which typically includes one to three sessions per week with various members of the team. Depending on progress and severity of the disorder, transfers to higher levels of care may occur, but patients typically return to the outpatient clinic.

The outpatient team will work with you to ensure that appropriate treatment is being delivered over time and that you're making progress.

Intensive outpatient treatment is useful when some structure is required but with enough time in the day to accommodate daily activities such as school or work.

Intensive outpatient services include meals and snacks, groups, medication management and therapy services. Intensive outpatient treatment is useful as a step down from partial hospitalization or as a step up from outpatient services in order to get back on track.

We offer eating disorder intensive outpatient treatment for adults and adolescents in morning or afternoon time slots.

When outpatient care is not enough, but full hospital treatment is not necessary, the partial hospital program at Sanford Health offers more intensive treatment for teens and adults dealing with eating disorders.

You will take part in a full range of therapies shown to work to help overcome eating disorders. Patients live off-site but spend each weekday from 7:15 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the partial hospital program. We also offer intensive outpatient services with shorter daily hours.

Take a virtual tour of our programs.

When your eating disorder is considered life-threatening, your doctor will often require you to be under close monitoring. Those who fail to respond to outpatient treatment or partial hospitalization, or whose medical or individual treatment needs require it, may be admitted into the Inpatient Eating Disorders Program located at Sanford Medical Center.

Treatment during the inpatient stage is intensive, including environmental trigger management and individual and family therapy. Our staff provides personalized guidance and support throughout your hospital stay.

Take a virtual tour of our programs.

Weight loss management is a medically-managed weight loss program focusing on medication, interventions (if needed), individual and group nutritional classes, meal replacements, psychological evaluation and support as well as exercise options.

Weight loss management has many programs to fit your personal needs, including healthy lifestyles.

Weight loss surgery gives you the option to lose weight with the assistance of surgery. Our innovative procedures are minimally invasive to shorten recovery times and reduce the risk of complications. We provide a whole-person approach to weight loss with pre-surgery counseling to help you prepare for the lifestyle changes needed to lose weight and keep it off.

While weight loss surgery is not for everyone, it can help ensure long-term weight loss success. It's our goal to help you live a healthier, longer life.

Sanford Pediatric Feeding Disorders Program in Fargo, North Dakota, is a provider referral-based program that offers various levels of care for children from birth through age 12, across all levels of developmental abilities.

Levels of care include intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization:

• Outpatient: Our behavioral outpatient program is the only outpatient feeding program in the Fargo area and is designed for children with mild to moderate feeding difficulties. Treatments are tailored to the child's needs and focus on providing parents with the skills necessary to help their child be successful in the home.
• Partial Hospital Program: The partial hospital program is for children with severe feeding disorders. The program includes treatment rooms equipped with the technology for caregivers to observe staff and children during feeding sessions. This allows our caregivers to be fully involved in treatment throughout all phases of the program. The program includes a playroom as well as a nap area.

Children served in the feeding disorder programs may have complicated medical histories, neurodevelopmental disabilities, psychological disorders or disruptive mealtime behaviors.

We commonly treat children with conditions including:

• Failure to thrive
• Gastroesophageal reflux
• Autism
• Cerebral palsy
• Atresia (duodenal, esophageal, etc.)
• Food allergies
• Dysphasia
• Motility problems

The Pediatric Feeding Disorders Program at Sanford Health includes treatment rooms equipped with the technology for caregivers to observe staff and children during feeding sessions. This allows our caregivers to stay fully involved in treatment throughout all phases of the program. The program includes playroom and nap areas.

Patients We Treat

Pediatric feeding disorders are a complex set of feeding and swallowing problems that impact the development of age-appropriate feeding behaviors. Children with these difficulties often do not consume enough food or liquid to gain weight and achieve optimal growth.

Children with feeding disorders are not just "picky eaters." They present with longstanding feeding problems, which can include:

• Disruptive mealtime behaviors
• Difficulty advancing texture of food
• Refusal to accept particular food groups
• Refusal to swallow non-preferred foods
• Oral motor and sensory problems
• Total food and liquid refusal
• Gastrostomy (G-tube) or nasogastric (NG-tube) dependence

Feeding disorders may occur due to a variety of reasons which may be medical, developmental, behavioral or psychological in nature. If left untreated, feeding disorders may likely impact a child's physical and social or emotional development.

Ask your family practice doctor or pediatrician about Sanford Pediatric Feeding Disorders Program if:

• You have significant difficulty at mealtime with your child
• Your child refuses to eat
• Your child is losing weight or not gaining weight
• Your child regularly coughs, gags or vomits before, during or after mealtime
• Your child is not eating appropriate foods for their age
• Your child has anxiety or fear related to mealtime or new foods

New Patient Information

If your child's primary care physician or pediatric subspecialist suspects your child has a feeding disorder, they will refer you for an assessment with our team at Sanford Pediatric Feeding Disorders Program.

Comprehensive Evaluation

Once a formal referral is obtained and relevant medical records are reviewed, we will contact you by telephone to conduct a brief interview. Following this interview, a comprehensive evaluation will be scheduled with our assessment team.

The assessment will determine what level of treatment is necessary and appropriate for your child. If your child is recommended to participate in either the partial hospitalization feeding program or intensive outpatient program, Sanford Health will begin the authorization process. Once we obtain prior approval from your insurance provider, your child will be scheduled into the program and a packet of information will be sent to you for completion.

Your First Visit

The first visit will consist of additional evaluation with your treatment team. The team will conduct additional assessments to determine the best course of treatment for your child. We will observe meals fed by the parent or caregiver, as well as assess the child's current feeding difficulties. Following the initial assessment, your child will have three to four therapeutic feeding sessions each day.

Individualized treatment plans will be designed based on the results of the evaluation. Our treatment plans are based on objective data we collect, scientific principles of behavior analysis, team and caregiver input, and evidence-based treatments for feeding disorders.

We will regularly assess outcomes through the course of the admission. Once a treatment plan has been developed and your child begins to make progress toward treatment goals, parent or caregiver training will occur. This training is key to the success of Sanford Health's program, as we strive to help your child develop feeding behaviors that can be maintained in home and community environments.

Follow-up Care

Follow-up appointments will be scheduled at the clinic approximately two weeks after completing Sanford Health's partial hospitalization program. During the follow-up appointment, our staff will conduct a meal with your child to evaluate the effects of treatment and success. Recommendations for continued follow-up will occur based on the results of this visit.