Need help in the Poconos

Good luck to your friend.

Dr. Rovito is an excellent surgeon and I think the world of him. I know many who have gone to him for surgery. That said I don't know how he feels about seeing patients he didn't do the surgery on.(??) It can't hurt to ask though.There is also another surgeon Dr. Boorse who is in Allentown and does surgery out of LHV hospital. Maybe try him as well.

I'm in the Pocono's and attend a local support group in Stroudsburg. If your friend is interested here are the details:

The ladies name who runs it is : Annette Herlighy (570) 267-0915 The meeting is the last Wednesday of every month at the Library on Route 611 in Stroudsburg.
He can call Annette for details if he wishes.

Good luck, Rhonda

Thanks Rhonda!  Dr Rovito is the first one I suggested, he did my mom's and my best friends surgeries!  His wife called down there already, they couldn't get him in for about 3-4 months!  I know when I went to see him, I had to wait months...good thing I had the time to wait!  I didn't know of any of the other Drs names.  I know Lehigh Valley Hospital has a group, hadn't heard too much about them from here.  I'll pass the info about Dr Boorse on to them! 

I told her about the meetings at the Library.  I've been meaning to get up to one of them!!  I'll pass on Annette's info as well!  Thanks again!

I live in Pocono's and worked with Dr. Abkin and Dr. Bertha in NJ... wasn't that much farther than Allentown for us.

 Of course, I'll be glad to help as needed.

Thanks Jayne!  I'll pass the info along.  I never thought of NJ.  I was only thinking up and down, not over!!

Rhonda had suggested Dr. Boorse but I can tell you that he will not see any patients he did not perform surgery on. I was told by his office manager and I quote "We have enough to handle with our own patients so unfortunately you're going to have to suck it up and go back to NJ". Lovely right? Anyways, the very kind and helpful lady (can ya sense the sarcasm there? lol) did tell me that Dr. Boorse has a bariatrician as part of his practice who may be willing to see "outside" patients but #1 she does not participate with any insurance plans whatsoever so your friend would need to pay out of pocket for everything and then submit for reimbursement from his insurance company. If he doens't have out of network benefits, then the entire cost would be his responsibility. #2, she's not a bariatric surgeon so for me personally, I felt like there was really no point to it.

Liz suggested Dr Brader and I can tell you that he took me on as a new patient for follow up care without a bit of hesitation. If your friend isn't able to find someone local, I would definitely give him a call. It's about a 2 hour drive but soooooooooo worth it.

Wow Valerie, you are a wealth of knowledge!!  I'll scratch Dr Boorse off the list!!  Some people just are not nice people!  They shouldn't be allowed to work with the public!

Thanks again Valerie!

I'm sure Dr. Boorse himself is probably a great guy and an excellent surgeon but his office manager left alot to be desired for. The one thing that bothered me though is that here he is performing WLS for how many patients every year and he's participating with many different insurance companies yet the bariatrician that he has working in his practice, for him,  that he expects his patients to see for follow up care after X amount of time of follow up care under him, does not participate in any insurance plans at all. It just doesn't seem very fair to his patients that they either pay the out of pocket / out of network charges or find another office to take over their care which can be very difficult. They're stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Your right, that isn't fair to the patients!!  My Dr's Nut doesn't accept insurance, but I paid like $125 or something and that covers 4 appts with her (per op eval,  pre op nut class and I think 2 appts post op).  But to have to pay for all the follow up care!!  That will get expensive!!  My Doc has a 5 yr follow up plan!  And as you said (from experience), its hard to find someone to do follow up care when they didn't operate on you. 

I just think its great that we can all share these experiences, so people realize they are not alone in this journey!

Thanks Valerie!

Sorry, I saw where you mentioned Dr. R but missed where you saw him. ( My mind is going along with the weight perhaps)
Funny, but before I decided on Dr. Rovito I did call Boorse's office and the person I got was.. ahem.. not very helpful. Interesting what Valerie had to say. ( Hi Valerie..Hi Jane ) I just figured it was one unhelpful person.....my luck. I would never deal with follow up care that wasn't with my surgeon! I see Dr. R and only him. I didn't know this about Boorse.
My experince with Dr. Rovito's staff has been great. I am suprised you had to wait. I got in right away as did my brother and sister in law. Lol Yeah, we should have gone for the Family Plan! I guess it depends on just how busy they are but I have nothing but good things to say about them.

Let us know what transpires! Rhonda