Looking of CoE in Central FL

My cousin is looking to have Lapband surgery. She is on Medicare and needs a good doctor who is Center of Excellence certified. She lives in The Villages. Can anyone help? Thanks Barbara

Hi, You can try Dr. Jawad's office in Ocala. He is a center of excellence. The number is 352-351-5770! He is an excellent doctor and his statistics speak for themselves. Good luck Jo Ann

Thanks for your reply. I will let her know.

Dr. Kim at Celebration has the COE but I do not know if he takes Medicare. That's the rub; a lot of surgeons have the COE but not all of them accept medicare. Red

Thanks I will check and let you know. Barbara

Barbara, Last time was in Dr Jawad office, he was not taking Medicare at all. He has one patient approved but than they would not pay him. Sandy Wesley

Barbara you might also call Dr. Murr in Tampa. You can get a list of all of the surgeons in Florida that have the COE at the ASBS site http://www.surgicalreview.org/locate.aspx?state=FL#srchResults or at the medicare site http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicareApprovedFacilitie/BSF/list.asp#TopOfPage You will notice on the medicare site that some of the surgeons have provider numbers and some do not. I am not sure if that is any indication of whether or not they accept medicare but it might be a good place to start. Red

We have a few patients who live in The Villages. Florida Hospital Celebration Health and Dr. Keith Kim are CoE - Orlando. 407-404-4504. HTH, Kristen