Choice in Hospitals

Hi Sara - I had my surgery at St V's in July - Lap RNY w/Dr. Ben Meir. I really liked him and so did my family (he met with them after I came out of surgery). Dr. Ben Meir was very thorough medically; referring me for tests and so on. Also, Latonya (the insurance assistant) is phenomenal! You get her the info and she takes care of everything for your approval. I feel truly blessed because I have heard horror stories about my insurance company - Medical Mutual - and I was approved in five days! "Thanks Latonya!!" I am very happy with my weight loss (down 105 lbs) and besides having pnemonia in the hospital; I have had no complications. I have mixed feelings about the actual hospital itself (the hospital is old and had a bad experience with one nurse but all the rest of the nurses were awesome) and I have mixed feelings about the program. The program has been great for me because the requirements fit my life. They are not as strict as other programs as to how much you have to do beforehand and after. I did a TON of research before I went forth so I felt like I had a great knowledge base to start with and I have a great support system (hooked up with a couple surgery people on this sight, know a couple other people who had surgery and attend a support group - along with supportive friends and family). If you feel like you need a lot of that from your program, my advice would be to research more programs. A couple people at the support group I go to (in Canton) have gone to UH and it sounds like a much more intensive program with a lot more education and support. I do not know anything about Barix except from the few posts I have read on here and people sound satisfied with their program. Please feel free to email me with any questions. Also, you may want to check out our support group in Canton - the 2nd Tuesday of the month we meet at John Knox Presbyterian Church across from Stark State at 7pm. We have people from St V's, UH and Akron. Good Luck - Stacey

Hi Sara , You should Also check out the program at Akron City (Summa ) Dr Z is awesome easy to talk to tells you like it is and they seem to have a good aftercare program ( i am a pre op so i havnt fully checked out the after care but i do know they have support group and some exercise program involved ) and even a bit closer than St Vincents .. i really wanted to stay closer to home that was another reason but ive had several friends who went to st V also and they were very satisifed and had great results ... my advise to you is go to all the seminars you can then make a decision to which is the best fit for you we are really lucky we have such a wealth of resources in this area to choose from Hope this helps Missy

My mom had her surgery at St. Vincents and she never had to have any pain medicine afterwards. Dr. BenMier is so experienced! My mom had zero complications and is doing great. I had my surgery at the Cleveland Clinic and almost died from a serious complication. If I were you I would go to St. Vincents.

I'm hearing a lot more about UH than I expected. I'll have to take it into consideration. And, surprisingly I didn't hear a whole lot about Barix. Hehe, interesting.. ~Sara

Sara, I just wanted to say I am in the process at St. V's and so far they are great Diane is handling all my insurance things, and I had my consult with Dr. Schreiber who i might add was inducted into the medical hall of fame. He was very clear and descriptive on the pro's and cons of surgey and what the risks are. Also St. V's is only one of 4 centers in the state of Ohio rated as A CENTER OF EXCELLENCE. One thing I also liked was that there will be 2 surgeons in the OR during surgery. I think you should attend one of there seminars and see what you think. Whatever choice you make good luck in your journey.