Dr. Christou - costs?

What is the cost of the surgery at Dr. Christou's private clinic? also, I don't understand why Manitoba Health won't pay for the surgery at a private clinic since Manitoba does not have its own bariatric surgery program? does anyone know?? Margaret

Dear Margaret, his website is: www.weightlosssurgery.ca. I am looking into him too. He charges $18,000. His private clinic only takes out of province patients. I live in Vancouver and this problem is in every province except for Ontario where the goverment pays for patients to go to the US for the surgery, no other province does this . We have 2 surgeons who perform the WLS in BC and there are about 600 people waiting for it with a 4-5 year wait time. Many people are self paying because they don't want to wait. Good luck Sim from Vancouver

Thanks Sim, I noticed that he does a type of surgery (bilio-pancreatic bypass) that the other clinics don't seem to do. And it appears that it might have fewer complications or side-effects. there's certainly a lot to learn in this search! Margaret

Dr. Christou is $18, 500 plus you have to pay him $100 on your first visit with him. (Why... I am not too sure). I had surgery with him just before Christmas. If you want the lap band the costs are a little smaller.

Hey, I just read this post and thought I'd share a bit extra info. I had no idea Manitoba didn't have a bariatric program...that's awful! Dr. Christou is performing my RNY in May, I am in Montreal and having this done at his private clinic. It's been open to Quebec residents who are opting to pay for it since last August. The gastric bypass is now $18 000 (they now do some tests at the hospital rather than at the clinic...so the price went down from $18 500) and the lapband is $17 000. Plus like someone else mentioned, the consultation fee. It's probably because he just wants serious patients...expensive, but oh well. I am doing it privately because at the time I applied, they were only taking emergency cases at the hospital...and even now, they just raised their required BMI to 55. Let me know if you need anything else, the link somebody else posted is Dr. Christou's website, so all the phone numbers are there, and you can e-mail Mary, the receptionist, she's a sweetheart and very quick at answering!

Hey girlie! Why did ya think I was coming there? ;) Well, that and I wasn't willing to waste another moment being obese - the wait at just about any other facility is 3 years for a consult, up to 7 years for surgery!! and a ? - when did they raise their required BMI to 55? Mine is under that.... :-l As for the bariatric program - it is at a standstill. We have a doc qualified (trained by Dr C - Dr. Andrews) but there is no funding for the program... hell, even SASKABUSH has one! Grrrrrrrrrr....

Not too sure when they raised the minimum...sometime after my consult in January and a couple of weeks ago. Gotta love government

Hi Margaret. The best person to call to ask the information about private clinics is Lydia with Out Of Province referrals at Manitoba Health. She is an invaluable source of info for me - going the extra mile, and also maiong sure that I have all the information I need to get the most money back. Here is her info: Out-of-Province Claims Manitoba Health 300 Carlton Street Winnipeg MB R3B 3M9 Telephone: (204) 786-7303 Toll-free: 1-800-392-1207 Ext. 7303 TDD/TTY: (204) 774-8618 Hope that helps!!! Diana

thanks so much Diana - I've just emailed for information from that department in MB health so I'll be sure to ask for Lydia! I've also just had a telephone consultation with Dr. Cobourn in Toronto and I'm going to look into what costs can be covered by MB health before I go ahead with a surgery appointment. Margaret

Hi, I live in Manitoba and just had the surgery 5 weeks ago. Manitoba Health will pay for you to go to another province, except Quebec. They will not pay for you to go to the U.S. I just had my surgery done by Dr. Nohr in Medicine Hat, Alberta, fully paid by Manitoba Health. I had to jump through some hoops with forms and letters from my doctor, but it was relatively easy. It took me 15 months from the time I got my Doctor to refer me to Dr. Nohr, until the time I had my surgery. From what I understand, this is relatively quick, as my original consult date wasn't until 2009. But you can call and try to get in earlier on a cancellation list - which is what I did. Hope this helps. R.