CLEVELAND CLINIC

HAS ANYONE OUT THERE HAD SURGERY AT THIS HOSPITAL. ANY COMMENTS ON ROOMS ETC. THANKS DEBBIE BARBER

Deborah, They only have one person doing the surgery and it will take up to a year to see them and for surgery. I dont think there follow up is very good either. Why Cleveland clinic? Pattie

Patti, Hi, Thanks for responing. My insurance co. is sending me there due to my pcp dosen't want me to wait 18 months for the surgery. hey claim it only takes 2-3 months. I am scheduled to come out there end of May for my nut. psyc. endro. apts.. The Drs. name is Bipan Chand. Is this the Dr. you are refering to. Can you tell me any thing else. Debbie

Debbie, CC was the first hospital I called. The wait for my first appointment was FOUR MONTHS. And when I asked how long the whole process would take start to finish I was told a year at least. St. Vincents is MUCH more streamlined from beginning to end. Also, when I called Cleveland Clinic I asked why the wait was so long, the lady on the phone told me it was because they only have one surgeon who does this operation and he only does them on Thursdays. I asked why, if there was such a HUGE wait for the surgery, doesn't he do them more frequently. She told me "Because he likes to keep his schedule free for REAL surgeries." I immediately hung up and called St. Vincents. St. Vincents doesn't make you jump through as many hoops as CC AND they do all their pre admission testing at once, no seperate appts for each doctor/nurse that needs to look you over. Jen

I researched the 3 hospitals in the Cleveland area when I decided to have WLS. What I found is that St V or CCBS and University Hospital both have very good programs. St V's stats for complications is lower than the national average and they have 4 surgeons that have several years experience. I did notapply for the program at Univ Hosp because the surgeons are not in my Insurance program. What I found out about the Clinic is that they do the surgery but they do not have any kind of "program", no presurgery support or post surgery. This is major surgery and you need all the education in the pre and post area as much as haveing compitent surgical care too. Try to switch.

I had my surgery done at University Hospitals of Cleveland. While at one of their pre op meetings, I met someone who waited 18 month, at the Cleveland Clinic and was shuffled from dietician to doctors etc... She gave up on them, and has already had her surgery at University Hospital... only a 3 month wait! I can only rave about their program and care. I hope this helps. Renee

I had mine done at St. Vincent Charity Hospital and I waited less than a month. I wouldn't be too confident if I had to be operated on at Cleveland Clinic. They're not extremely experienced in weight loss surgery. Tammara Faye

Could you tell me about your experiance at St Vincents, and what Doctor did you use Thanks

Yes, I just had surgery there on April 19, 2004. I am doing extremely well. I had the same surgeon as you. I was well cared for. I've had 2 previous surgeries, an open gallbladder and hysterectomy and was told that I would probably need an open routen y, however, he said he would look and try. (He is known for advanced laproscopic surgery) What a pleasant surprise when I woke up and he was able to do me via laproscope! Also, know that you are is a World Class Place and if anything goes wrong (cardiac, pulmonary, etc.) you will have the best care.