Expertise and recognition

The Centre’s activity in figures

• 70 to 100 operations a year for obesity, performed by the team at Hôpital de Nyon;
• around 400 new patients a year, whether or not they go on to have surgery: medical follow-up, nutrition, physical activity, psychological support and medication.

Surgery is one option among others: depending on each person’s needs, care combines medical follow-up, nutrition, physical activity, psychological support and medication.

A recognised centre

Hôpital de Nyon, where the team operates, is on the SMOB list of recognised centres as a primary bariatric surgery centre. The recognition applies to the hospital; it ensures that the indication, the operation, quality assurance and follow-up comply with Swiss guidelines.

Standard procedures — sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass — are performed there. Some situations are reserved for a specialist referral centre: complex or revisional procedures, BMI over 50, under 18 or over 65, and so-called metabolic surgery.

Working with specialist referral centres

The Centre works with the specialist referral centres of French-speaking Switzerland, including the HUG (Geneva University Hospitals) in Geneva and the CHUV (Lausanne University Hospital) in Lausanne, where Dr Fournier was a senior registrar (chef de clinique) from 2013 to 2017.

You can be seen and supported at the Centre in Nyon, including when your BMI is over 50. Assessment, preparation and follow-up can be organised there. If your operation requires a specialist referral centre, we coordinate this step with the appropriate hospital. Wherever possible, and in agreement with the receiving centre, Dr Pierre Fournier performs your operation himself.

Robot-assisted surgery

Robot-assisted surgery is one of the techniques used at Hôpital de Nyon for certain operations, including obesity surgery. The surgeon controls the robot entirely from a console: robotic assistance provides three-dimensional vision and very precise movements. Whether it is used depends on the operation and on your situation.

On 26 September 2025, at Hôpital de Nyon, Dr Pierre Fournier performed the first Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in Switzerland assisted by the Hugo™ RAS robotic platform: a national first, according to the GHOL (Groupement Hospitalier de l’Ouest Lémanique). He is a trainer (“proctor”) for this platform, supporting other surgeons as they learn the technique.

Dr Pierre Fournier

• Director of the Centre de l’Obésité et du Métabolisme de la Côte;
• Head of the Department of Surgery at Hôpital de Nyon since 2017;
• FMH (Swiss Medical Association) specialist in surgery, with advanced training in visceral surgery;
• Member of the French Académie nationale de chirurgie (National Academy of Surgery).

Medical director: Dr Pierre Fournier’s background

Publications

A selection of scientific articles on obesity surgery written or co-written by Dr Pierre Fournier.

• Douleurs abdominales après chirurgie bariatrique : que faire ? — Revue Médicale Suisse, 2019;15:1209-12 (co-author). Read the article
• La chirurgie peut-elle traiter le diabète de type 2 ? Oui, selon les sociétés internationales — Revue Médicale Suisse, 2018;14:1242-6 (first author). Read the article
• Surpoids et obésité morbide dans le canton de Vaud : projections pour 2040 — Revue Médicale Suisse, 2017;13:637-41 (first author). Read the article
• Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass with Manual Intracorporeal Anastomoses in 3D Laparoscopy: Operative Technique — J Laparoendosc Adv Surg Tech A, 2020;30(8):879-882 (co-author). Read the article
• Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass: Ten-year Results in a Cohort of 658 Patients — Annals of Surgery, 2018;268(6):1019-1025 (co-author). Read the article

All of Dr Fournier’s publications and teaching on drfournier.ch

In the media

• “By-pass, et après ?” — Planète Santé, 14 May 2018 (interview with Dr Fournier). Read the article
• “Perdre du poids oui, mais pour de bon !” — Planète Santé, 24 March 2021 (Dr Fournier is quoted). Read the article
• “Hugo™, la chirurgie de demain” — GHOL, 2025 annual report (first robot-assisted gastric bypass with this platform in Switzerland). Read the article

Coming to the Centre

You can ask for an appointment directly, without waiting to be sure that surgery is right for you. If your doctor refers you, a report is sent to them after the consultation.

Sources and references

Sources accessed on 17 October 2026.

1. Swiss Society for the Study of Morbid Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (SMOB). List of recognised centres, as of 1 May 2026. View source
2. Groupement Hospitalier de l’Ouest Lémanique (GHOL). “Hugo™, la chirurgie de demain”, 2025 annual report (in French). View source
3. GHOL. Dr Pierre Fournier, Head of the Department of Surgery: hospital directory entry (in French). View source
4. Activity figures: Centre data, provided by Dr Pierre Fournier (October 2026).