This year at the National Bariatric Solutions Conference (NBSC), Savaria hosted Clinically Speaking LIVE, a series of podcast-style conversations recorded live at our booth with professionals and voices from across bariatric care. This webinar brings you the series’ Featured Town Hall: a single patient case examined through clinical, health system, frontline, patient and VA perspectives — each seeing something different in the same situation.

Moderated by Amber Slay, Academy Director of Clinical Development at Savaria, the conversation doesn’t offer easy answers — it offers a more complete picture of what bariatric care actually looks like from every seat at the table.

Clinically Speaking LIVE: NBSC 2026 Agenda

Throughout the National Bariatric Solutions Conference, Clinically Speaking LIVE brought together clinicians, healthcare leaders, patients and safe patient handling experts for candid conversations about the realities of bariatric care.

Tuesday — Opening Reception

5:45 PM | Karen Thomas
Are You Really Bariatric Ready?

6:30 PM | Tarek Dakakni, MD
Too Sick to Move? Rethinking Mobility in Neuro Critical Care

Wednesday — Individual Conversations

10:05 AM | Rhonda Turner
When the Textbook Transfer Doesn’t Work

10:25 AM | Tony Hilton
Lessons from the VA: SPH, Bariatric Readiness, and What Other Health Systems Can Learn

12:35 PM | Jimbo Varnum
Beyond the Body: What Are We Missing in Bariatric Care?

1:05 PM | Ronnie Turner
The View From the Bedside

5:30 PM | Terry Probst
The Plan No One Wants to Need: Are Healthcare Organizations Prepared for Bariatric End-of-Life Care?

Thursday — Conversations + Featured Town Hall

9:55 AM | Tracey Carr
What Patients Wish We Knew

12:15 PM | Clinically Speaking LIVE — Featured Town Hall
Same Patient. Different Perspectives.
Real Cases. Real Questions. No Easy Answers.

Moderator: Amber Slay
Panel: Susan Gallagher, Kathy Bishop, Tracey Carr, Ronnie Turner and Tony Hilton.

What You’ll Learn

  • How clinical, frontline, health system, patient and VA perspectives can diverge — and align — when facing the same bariatric care case
  • Practical insights on mobility, safe patient handling and respiratory considerations that surfaced throughout the NBSC 2026 Clinically Speaking LIVE series
  • What patients themselves wish clinical teams understood about their experience of care
  • How interdisciplinary collaboration changes outcomes and reduces risk in bariatric care settings
  • Where health systems and the VA are focusing safe patient handling and mobility (SPHM) efforts at scale

Who This Webinar Is For

This live webinar is designed for healthcare professionals across bariatric care settings, including nurses, physical and occupational therapists, wound care specialists, SPHM coordinators, respiratory therapists, case managers, patient care technicians, clinical educators and clinical leadership.