new here, wondering about surgery costs

Hi! I'm new here and I wonder if anyone has gone to Alberta to have surgery and how much the cost is? I have made several phone calls, but no one seems to know. Arlene

Hi I am from Winnipeg, Manitoba and my family Dr. referred me to Dr. Nohr in Medicine Hat, Alberta (on my request). MB Health covered the cost of travel to Alberta in May 2007 for a consultation appt. I have surgery scheduled for March 2008 and MB Health has approved the cost of surgery and travel. (I had to wait from 2004 to 2007 for an appointment) Diane

I am from Saskatoon. I was just approved for RNY bypass in Edmonton at the Weight Wise clinic at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. I was initially referred in March 2006, had my appointment in March 2007 and 6 months later, am approved for surgery. There is no cost to have the bypass as Capital Health (Alberta Health) will bill your home province and it will be covered. However, no other province covers the cost of the Lap Band except Alberta. I tried numerous times., as have others to get Sask Health to cover it and they won't. You would need to pay out of pocket. I asked Capital Health for a quote on this and it is a ridulous amount, much like Ontario. It is about $7000.00 for the hospital stay and the operation. Then you must pay each doctor, anaesthesiologist, and specialist their rate (who knows what that would be?!) and the cost of the band itself is $5000.00. It is $16,000 at a private clinic in Toronto. You would be financially better off to go to Mexico but then there is the problem of finding a doc in your province to manage your care and do your fills. Good Luck! Tanya

Hello Arlene I am an R.N. in Saskatoon and I had lapband surgery in Mexico 3 years ago. Currently I do the lapband "fills" here for patients of the Toronto surgeons and the Mexican surgeons. I know that the surgeon in Toronto trained 2 surgeons in Calgary but they are only allowed to do 50 procedures per year and only for people living in Calgary. There is a surgeon in Edmonton but there is a 2 -3 years waiting list and I believe only takes Alberta residents. If you're interested in hearing about the Mexican surgeons, contact me at: [email protected]. The surgeons there and the facilities are top notch and hi-tech and the price is half what the Toronto surgeons charge.