North Dakota Bariatric Doctors

Hi Everyone, I am moving to ND next month and I have been looking into having WLS. I am having problems finding any doctors in ND that have a website. I would like to know who did your surgery and if you would reccomend them  for someone else. Thanks for your help in advance! Bobby

Welcome to North Dakota! Anyway my husband had surgery July 26th, 2006 and he has lost 180 pounds. I had my surgery 1 week ago the 21st. And we highly recommend Dr. Kavlie and his team. Heres a web site to some of his info.

http://www.middakotaclinic.com/find-doctor/doctor_bio.asp?DoctorID=82&Mode=Phy

Here is the one I am using: www.meritcare.com (Fargo) go under "specialties" S for surgery bariatric surgery My surgery is on Monday - Dr. Monson.  He has an extremely good reputation, as do the other surgeons at Meritcare.  I guess it depends on WHERE in ND you want to be.

Hey there nebraskafan,   I live in Fargo ,but am not a fan of Meritcare hospital and DR's.I went to Park Rapids, Mn and had my surgery done there. Dr. Smith and his staff have a special; wing just for WLS patients. Dr. Smith  is wonderful and his surgery and hospital staff have been given a "Quality of Excellence" award  several years ago My insurance would only quallitfy St. Joseph;s, Park  Rapids, MN  Meritcare jsut got their  Quality of Excellence award, this spring. Meritcare strings you along in the sytem for almost a year. With Dr. Daniel Smith, you attend his seminare and meet everyone you would have contact with and go on from there. They are wondeful! I had my done July 20, 06 , lost 98 pounds, and have had no complications. St. Jospeh's hospital and Dr. Smith are affilated with Innovis Hospital and Dakota Clinics.Im sure on this web site there are references to Dr. Smith, cause iI have put them there. You will not be sorry... Park Rapids is only 1 hour away from Fargo.         Post op can also be followed up at Park Rapids, or at Dakota  clinics with your own Dr. i personally go to Park Rapids, cause they CARE!  I am not alone with praising them, my 2 sisters, my brother and brother in law and neice all had gastric bypass surgery done by Dr. Smith. We were all very very overweight. Insurance approved me in 2 weeks. Not one of us have had problems and soon all of us will have been 1 year.  Peggy/Fargo   

hey bobby: where in ND are you moving to? I live in Minnesota but chose Fargo Meritcare because my PCP recommended them as the best. They do have a long program, usually driven by insurance, but they really try to educate you about the lifestyle changes you will have to make to continue to be successful. I don't know the Park Rapids doc, he is physically closer to me, but my PCP preferred the Fargo docs over him so I am very happy with Dr. Howell, the surgeon who did both me and my husband one year ago. All of the research I have done says find the surgeon with the fewest complications, most experience, etc. I did and so far have been very happy with the Fargo Meritcare group. I think most docs in this field genuinely want to help us. Being MO sucks. Good Luck finding a doc, your body, your decision.  Judi

Hi Bobby, I don't know where in ND you are moving to, but I live in Minot and I went to Bismarck for my surgery and had Dr. Brent Bruderer.  He and his staff were excellent and I would definitely recommend him.  I know of quite a few people in our area who have had him and have wonderful experiences with him.  I have had no complications whatsoever.   Kara

I had my surgery done with Dr. Monson at Meritcare in Fargo. I am 2 1/2 years out & doing good. He is a fantastic doctor! Heather

Omigosh, I know many who have went to Meritcare, and have switched to follow up with Dr Daniel Smith in Park Rapids, MN. They've had complications and the follow up at Meritcare is not good. I had mine done in Park Rapids, and highly recommend them. I started out with working with Meritcare, and I didn't like what I saw, nor the interaction with the staff. They did not answer my questions and left me on my own to do the research. I'm glad I did that, because it made the decision easy to go to Park Rapids. Some national information I found showed that the number of procedures Dr Smith did, and the positive outcomes were above and beyond what Meritcare had done and the related outcome of Meritcare patients. They received the Center of Excellence designation a few years ago and Meritcare had only earned it in December. Bigger is not always better, and I found some doctors only refer to Meritcare because they're obligation to do so due to the relationship of the referral network. Take the tour and attend the introductory program at Park Rapids, and do the same at Meritcare, and you'll quickly see the difference in programs. I'm from Fargo, and it is worth the drive for the piece of mind and confidence in the program for the level of commitment I'm making for life. Kati