Bariatric Meeting at Mount Carmel West - 4/11/07

Did you attend the Bariatric information meeting at Mount Carmel West on Weds., April 11, 2007? If so, have you sent in all of your paperwork AND have you received a reply back yet? If you were accepted into the program, what is your next step? I attended this meeting as well and I am curious to see if anyone has heard anything yet? Thanks for your help. Marie

Hi Marie, I sent in the paperwork from the seminar they gave us and it took 3 weeks to get it back. It told me what clearances I had to do BEFORE I even got the consult with Dr. Choban. I felt that for me, I wanted the consult first to see if I would even be a good candidate and before I shelled out $300 for their worthless Admin fee and for the other phsych eval (mandatory for ALL candidates). So I had the check all ready to go and then something told me not to send it. I called Barix over in Groveport and they had me in the same week for the seminar and consult with the docotr. They don't even have a stupid program fee. The do the surgery in the same building (like a mini hospital) and they are very nice. Ijust felt like they treated me like a valued customer and patient. Whenever I called the bariatric dept at Mt Carmel, Charlene was very rude to me and acted like I was bothering her. She was even rude to my doctor's office when they tried to send her a referral for me. So I am glad that I didn't continue with Mt. Carmel! I hope you have better luck than I had. Paula

Paula, I'm starting to feel the same way you did. At the meeting, they were all so nice but afterwards when I called Melissa (RN), she has been so rude to me. I only contacted Charlene once but I must have reached her on one of her good days because she wasn't rude. Melissa made me feel like I was bothering her too. I tried to explain my situation to her and she interrupted me and said, "so what is your question" in her offensive tone. I then asked how long does it take once you send in the original information, and she said that she had already sent packets back out to everyone that had submitted paperwork from the 4/11/07 meeting. I told her that I never got one. She didn't say anything. I also have talked to people that had this surgery in Cleveland Clinic, St. Vincent Hospital, and Dayton. They told me that they DID NOT have to pay any fees out of pocket, when I told them that I was going to have to pay $700, they were shocked. I'm like you though, something tells me that I better look elsewhere. I'm going to check out Barix and I will let you know what happens. Thanks for the info......Marie

I sent in my packet the next day, but haven't heard anything yet.

I finally received my packet today (4/26). Now to tackle the insurance.