Our goal is to guide every patient through a transformative experience with confidence and care.
25,000+
Patients cared for
15,000+
Body contouring procedures after weight loss
2,500+
Body lifts personally performed
3,000+
Tummy Tucks personally performed
2,000+
Arm lifts personally performed
1,000+
Inner thigh lifts personally performed
25+
Years in practice
Largest experience and photo gallery in body contouring after weight loss in the world
Largest published series by a single surgeon on body lifts, arm lifts and medial thigh lifts
5 Stars
From more than 99% of patients
Dr. Joseph F. Capella has devoted his entire surgical career — more than 25 years — exclusively to patients who have achieved significant weight loss through bariatric surgery, lifestyle changes, or GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy. With more than 25,000 patients cared for and over 15,000 cosmetic and body contouring procedures performed, Dr. Capella holds the largest published series of body lifts, arm lifts, and medial thigh lifts on the massive weight loss patient by a single surgeon in the world. He has been voted into the Top 10 Best Plastic Surgeons in New York and Best Doctors in America list. This is not a subspecialty within a broader general plastic surgery practice. This is all he does. For patients who are ready to complete their physical transformation, Dr. Capella offers the depth of experience and compassionate understanding that only comes from a career built entirely around this patient and this moment in their journey.
Dr. Capella is a nationally and internationally recognized leading expert in body contouring surgery. He lectures and provides instructional courses on a regular basis at the symposia of the most prestigious plastic surgery organizations in the world — The American Society of Plastic Surgeons, The American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, and The Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery — sharing the techniques and clinical insights he has developed through decades of exclusive practice.
Dr. Capella has co-authored several of the most important textbooks in plastic surgery: The Art of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery: Principles and Techniques, 2nd edition, Plastic Surgery, 3rd edition, and Body Contouring and Liposuction, as well as one of the first books written specifically for patients considering body contouring after weight loss. He has authored many peer-reviewed articles and has been featured in national media including ABC's 20/20, The View, Elle Magazine, and CNBC, Top 10 Best Plastic Surgeons in New York and Best Doctors in America list.
The widespread adoption of GLP-1s — including semaglutide and tirzepatide, known by brand names such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro — has brought a significant and growing population of patients to plastic surgery. Many have achieved remarkable weight loss and now face what no medication can address: loose skin on the arms, a hanging abdominal pannus, changes in the contour of the lower body and buttocks, deflation of the breasts, and facial volume loss that can make a patient appear older despite being in better health than ever before. These are predictable, treatable consequences of significant weight loss — and treating them is precisely what Dr. Capella has done, exclusively, for over 25 years, across more than 25,000 patients and over 15,000 cosmetic and body contouring procedures.
Dr. Capella is not a general plastic surgeon who has added body contouring after weight loss to his practice in response to this trend. The surgical techniques being applied to GLP-1 patients across the country today are techniques he developed, refined, published, and taught to other surgeons long before GLP-1 medications existed. His 25 years of exclusive focus on this patient population — through bariatric surgery patients, lap band patients, and now GLP-1 patients — means that the nuances of post-weight-loss tissue, the complexity of staging multiple procedures safely, and the full range of outcomes this patient can expect are not new territory for him. They are the foundation of everything he has built.
For patients who have worked hard to achieve significant weight loss and are ready to complete their transformation, Dr. Capella offers something that experience alone cannot fully convey: the understanding of what this journey means, and what it takes to finish it well. For referring physicians seeking a trusted surgical partner for their post-GLP-1 patients, Dr. Capella welcomes collaboration and is committed to supporting both patients and physicians throughout this process.
Dr. Capella serves as Chief of the Division of Post-Bariatric Surgery in the Department of Plastic Surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center and holds privileges at Hackensack Meridian Health Pascack Valley Medical Center, where he is Chief of Plastic Surgery. He is a member of the Post-Bariatric Task Force of the American Society of Plastic Surgery. Dr. Capella has been recognized among the Best Doctors in America for four consecutive years and named one of the Top 10 Plastic Surgeons in New York.
Dr. Capella has co-authored several of the most important textbooks in plastic surgery: The Art of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery: Principles and Techniques, 2nd edition, Plastic Surgery, 3rd edition, and Body Contouring and Liposuction, as well as one of the first books written specifically for patients considering body contouring after weight loss. He has authored many peer-reviewed articles and has been featured in national media including ABC's 20/20, The View, Elle Magazine, and CNBC, Top 10 Best Plastic Surgeons in New York and Best Doctors in America list.
Dr. Capella is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Following completion of a fellowship in plastic and reconstructive surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Dr. Joseph F. Capella joined his father, Dr. Rafael F. Capella, a world-renowned bariatric surgeon and founding member of the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, assisting on over 1,000 bariatric procedures. This experience provided Dr. Capella with an in-depth knowledge of morbid obesity and the surgical treatment of this condition — insight that has informed his approach to the plastic surgery concerns of the weight loss patient throughout his career.
Dr. Capella graduated from Phillips Academy Andover and received a B.A. degree from Cornell University and an M.D. from the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center. He completed a general surgery residency at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, a University Hospital of the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, and trained in plastic and reconstructive surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Board Certification
American Board of Plastic Surgery
Professional Societies
American College of Surgeons
American Society of Plastic Surgeons
Ambulatory Surgery Facility
Our on-site, state-of-the-art, Class C, private ambulatory surgery facility is certified by the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities
Hospital Privileges
Hackensack University Medical Center
Hackensack, NJ
Hackensack Meridian Health Pascack Valley Medical Center 250 Old Hook Rd, Westwood, NJ 07675
Committee Membership
Post Bariatric Task Force
American Society of Plastic Surgery
Schedule your consultation to discuss your body contouring concerns with Dr. Joseph Capella.
Give yourself the gift of expert care and world-class results. Patients from all over the United States and from many other countries request Dr. Capella's expertise from the field’s foremost authority in body contouring after weight loss. Remote consultations are available for patients who are unable to travel for an initial visit, and Dr. Capella's team is experienced in guiding out-of-state and international patients through every step of the process.
545 Island Road, Suite 2A, Ramsey, New Jersey 07446
