Dr.Savorie

My referral was sent in on December 4th, 2008 and I've yet to receive my initial consult phone call.  I don't know if they're still following the order in which they were received.

I thought someone posted here that they had a first appointment recently....but it was a lapband patient.     I could be wrong

.  This  is for Dr Savois  clinic

   I just got off the phone with Gisele from DR.Savoie's office. It is 11.39 am Monday .

  This is what she told me.

        ""DR.Savoie has told me to stop taking new consultations until future notice. The reason being is that the list for waiting is getting long and that they need to help Dr Beausoileil do some of his  old referrals first. She said that there was some as old as 2004,2005.  I asked her if she thought that referrals from November 2008 had a good chance of being done in 2010. She said yes, with no promises""

  Giselle is an angel

    I now this is not what anybody wants to hear, but at least we now know whats going on.


 Cheers to you all
Big Mike

I waited 5 years, so 2 years sounds fast to me! LOL. I have a friend that referred last fall and she will be over the moon to hear she won't be waiting 5-7 years.

I'd be surprised if any of the DSers will be done next year.  Not to put a damper on things but if they're working on Dr. B's backlog, and since Dr. Savoie only has enough OR time to do 2 bands per week, I'd be surprised if his team is sent away to train for the DS.  It would mean that all wls would stop until they return.

I don't see that happening.  And I don't think the province will begin covering it by next April since he has only been here for just over a year.

Sorry guys, like I said, I don't want to be a downer but I hate getting my hopes up and have them shattered yet again.

I received this answer from NB Medicare in May 2009.

"Medicare may cover the cost of bariatric surgery when it meets specific criteria.  In order for such surgery to be considered out of province, it is necessary for physicians to request prior approval from New Brunswick Medicare.  Therefore, your physician must submit a written request with supporting medical documentation to Medicare's Medical Consultant at the following address:

Medicare's Medical Consultant
New Brunswick Medicare
Department of Health
PO Box 5100
Fredericton, NB    E3B 5G8
Fax: (506) 457-7671

The service in question must be rendered by a certified physician in a public hospital, and the hospital fees billed reciprocally to Medicare. The physicians may opt to bill Medicare directly, but the requested fees must be based on existing host-province fees. Neither the patient nor Medicare may be billed additionally. No “private arrangements" between patient and surgeon will be honoured by Medicare, even if rendered in a public hospital. It is always prudent to verify this with the physicians in question."