Doctors' Day profile: Frank and Catherine Gaffney share their passion for the Bailey Bariatrics program

(March 30 is National Doctors’ Day. Bailey Medical Center would like to thank our physicians for the dedication and passion they show for their patients. In honor of National Doctors’ Day, we would like to spotlight Frank Gaffney, M.D., and Catherine Gaffney, D.O.)

For the Gaffneys, Bailey Bariatrics is more than a weight loss program. It’s their passion.

Frank Gaffney, M.D., is the director of cardiology for Bailey Medical Center while Catherine Gaffney, D.O., is the medical director of The Center for Bariatrics at Bailey. The husband-wife team each play a key role on the bariatric team, which has been nationally recognized for its success in helping patients transform their lives.

“It’s been a source of great pride and really one of the fulfilling things we’ve done, in terms of affecting peoples’ lives in a dramatic fashion with weight loss,” said Frank, who has been part of Bailey since the doors first opened in 2006.

Catherine, who admired the program’s impact had on her previous patients, joined the staff in 2019.

“I saw the success of the Bailey program because they had such great pre- and post-op care, education and great surgical outcomes,” Catherine said. “I’ve always believed in bariatric surgery as a great treatment for obesity. I saw there was a need and I came out here.”

The couple’s desire to help others seeking weight-loss solutions was rekindled a few years ago when each began their own weight loss journeys.

“We made some major lifestyle changes on our own, which required doing a lot of research on obesity as a disease and how to treat it chronically as a disease,” Catherine said. “The medical community, in general, has done a very poor job about educating people about obesity and the overall dangers of it. We treat it more as a vanity issue, instead of a medical issue.”

A few months into Catherine’s reinvigorated health journey, she was able to motivate Frank to join her.

“One day she came home from the gym and told me, ‘I’m stronger than you,’” Frank said. “She was probably right but I didn’t want to hear it. So, I literally joined the gym right after that.”

Not only has the experience helped the couple lead a healthier lifestyle, the Gaffneys also gained a greater perspective in caring for their patients.

“We focus so much on managing the diseases revolving around and related to obesity, but then we just tell people to eat less and exercise more,” Catherine said. “We spend 30 seconds on that and expect them to do it. We’ve developed a passion trying to educate people on all the treatments available to them and how important prevention and how important it is to treat it as a chronic disease. There is no cure for it. You have to follow it like other chronic diseases.”

The Gaffneys’ passion for health care is a family affair. Catherine’s sister, Cristin Bruns, M.D., is an endocrinologist at Oklahoma Heart Institute (OHI). All three of their daughters are in the medical field as well. Montana is a scheduler and Madeline is an RN, both at OHI, and their youngest daughter, Grace, aspires to be a physician’s assistant.

When looking into their own future, the couple hopes to continue to make a positive impact on others going forward.

“I hope we’re continuing to promote the health of Oklahomans,” Catherine said. “I’m very passionate about trying to gear toward preventing disease and promoting health, rather than just treating illnesses as they pop up.”