Taking a poll

3 years ago I entered the BMC program.  This time I have a neighber that just had it done at Tufts and loved it but I am also hearing the Newton-Wellesley is the best place to go.  I have an appointment  at with one and plan on attending each one's "orientation" meeting with my fiance.  He knows nothing about Gastric Bypass.

But ... I am just wondering what kind of results you all have from any of the three above...?   I am seeing:

Dr Hess @ BMC
Dr Rajan Chahal @ Newton Wellesley
Dr Stephanie Powers @ Tufts NE Medical

I had Dr. Shikora from Tufts as my surgeon and couldn't of asked for a better surgeon & program.  Of course all the programs throughout Boston are wonderful and it is really a personal decision who you choose.  Tufts has a great team that really helps out with life post-surgery.  I would highly recommend attending their immersion day at well.

Best of luck to you on your WLS journey

I 2nd everything redsox 15 said!!! 
I couldn't be happier but personal choice!

I considered both Tufts' and NW as well.  I know people who have had surgery at both facilities, and everyone swears their hospital/doc is the best.  I'm not familiar w/BMC, but Tufts and NW are both Centers of Excellence.  In the end, I decided to go with NW, just a few differences that made me feel more comfortable.  Another major consideration is access.  People who are most sucessfull long term take advantage of the support groups; you're not likely to attend if it's a pain in the butt to get there, park, schedules conflict with yours, etc.  I agree, you'd have to look really hard to find a sub-prime program in the area, so shop around and see where you are most comfortable.  You are making a life long commitment (no pressure) so follow your gut (pun intented).

I am thrilled with the staff at NW.  I don't know Dr. Chahal personally, but the rest of the staff is great.  One of the reasons, besides it's great reputation that I picked NW was it's proximity to the rest of my life.  I knew I would not do well going to support group meetings in downtown Boston or anywhere out of my way... I made a choice that was easier to make part of my life.

Good luck!

I think i have pretty much ruled out BMC even though Dr Hess there has an excellant reputation.

Unfortunately, neither of them are really conveniently located near me so that  is going to be a pain in the butt either way.  I agree that after looking another reason I ruled out BMC was becasue they are not a Center of Excellance.

I'm hoping that attending the orientation meetings for both of them will help guide me with making a decision.
 
I appreciate the input!

 Wherever you choose you should checkout the hospitals record of MRSA.

jude

 Good suggestion. How do you do that?

I dont mean to sound like the devils advocate here, as you really should do your homework and look into where you feel the most comfortable but, do you know what the qualifications are to be a "center of excellence"? If you look into it, really the one thing you must have is a total of 125 patients a year that have surgery.  There are plenty of smaller hospitals that are striving for that but havent reached it, but are certainly fantastic wonderful devoted programs with great reputations!!  All I'm saying is dont forget about the smaller community hospitals, you may actually get better service there because they are smaller, closer knit and are able to give you more one on one time and care.

::stepping off of pedistal now::

hehe

Hi there!

I originally wanted to have my surgery at Newton Wellesley as I had a friend who highly recommended Dr. Partridge.   I went to the inital meeting and really liked the surgeon - the hospital was a little run down - not what I expected in a hospital - for instance no real cafeteria - but my standards may be a little high.  My primary care, however, would not refer me to N-W because she said that they do not do the same volume of surgeries as Tufts and for that reason Tufts staff is better experienced with the surgery and dealing with any complications.   I literally begged her for a referral to N-W and she refused.   So I ended up with Tufts and was very happy with the results and the Tufts program.   Thankfully, I had no complications so I do not know if her rationale was valid but she was adamant in her position.    That being said - I have two friends with very good experiences at N-W.    I am not familar with any of the surgeons you mention, I had Dr. Kim and loved her.

- Eliza