Gateway in Clarksville, TN?Dr Hruska?

Has anyone had experience with Gateway Hospital in Clarksville, TN or Dr. Hruska? I am in the process of getting approval for gastric banding thru Tenn Care there and would like to hear of any interaction you may have had with this group. Thanks a ton to anyone *****sponds!

Hi. Dr. Hruska is my surgeon. I had my surgery August 11th. She is a wonderful surgeon. She is very caring and will answer all your questions. She seems to really care about her patients. She has a wonderful nurse - Judy. She is a sweetheart. They will take good care of you. The hospital is ok. When I was there I had two different nurses that weren't so nice to me. But everyone else was great. Email me if you want to ask questions about Dr. Hruska and I'll tell you more about her. Good luck with everything. Julie [email protected] -57 pounds

HI-Jack Hi Julie i have not seen you on here in some time.How are you doing great loss 57 lbs thats is wonderfull.I finally have a date for my lap band 29th of nov.i can't wait to be a losser.Take care Eva

I have a friend that had Lap Band surgery with her on Oct 8th. Her name is Elizabeth Gilbert. I am sure she would tell you about her experience. Nicky

Thanks for your response! I would love to hear from Elizabeth. My e-mail is [email protected]. Please ask her to contact me. Thanks!

I am having my surgery with Dr. Steely, who is Dr. Hruska's partner. He and his staff are very nice so I assume she is great too. I have had all of my pre-op tests done at Gateway and the nurses have gone over and above what they needed to do. I have read some bad things but so far they have been excellent! Make sure you check with Dr. Hruska on her TennCare policy. I know a lot of things are changing. I was in a meeting and one girl had gone through all the pre-op testing and then found out TennCare was not covered because she did not live in a surrounding county! Good luck to you. Jennifer Roby

That is correct due to the overwhelming amount of people with tenncare needing the surgery Gateway Medial has limited the area they are covering to the Clarksville area. But if you had started your profile before the limition started then you are ok and luckly that is were I fall into. But now Tenncare is in the process of dropping 400,000 people and limiting the services they offer to the bare min. so I am hoping I will get approved before that happens. I go for my first appt. on 11/16/04. Does anyone have any additional info about the tenncare reform

Dr Hruska ROCKS! Really, she is fabulous! Everyone in her office is fabulous! You won't regret going to Dr Hruska! Gateway Hospital DID NOT rock. My hospital stay was MISERABLE! I complained, to many people. Tenncare has been abolished. My sister is just about to start the process for WLS and Im worried now that she wont have the same chance i had. Rachel 270/159

I called the local TnCare office yesterday and they don't know diddly about what the Governor is planning on doing regarding the TnCare program. I live in Grainger County, My Dr. is in Blount County outside of Knoxville. I am worried that TnCare won't cover what Medicare doesn't pay. Also my meds run over a thousand dollars a month, I only get $800 a month. So I am trying to come up with a solution. TnCare did tell me that if I have to go out of state because I can't get the surgery here with a surrounding clinic, that I would not need approval, they automatically pay everything that Medicare doesn't pay. I may just have to go that route. UGH> Good luck to all TNCare patients. Kathy

I had Dr.Hruska and absolutely loved her. I live four hrs from clarksville and I ended up going into the OR before my mom got to the hospital. My baby sis did get there just as I was being wheeled to the OR. I was a bit upset about not getting to see my mom, but when I arrived to the OR Dr.Hruska and Judy were standing outside. Dr.Hruska came up to me put her hand on my arm and told me "we are going to take good care of you." Those words put me at such ease. The nurse's I had were awesome with the exception of one CNA. The main RN I had during my stay was Ester and I feel that she is one of those ppl that are definately in a job they were called to do. As far as the TNCare reform. All I know is it was supposed to be reviewed today. The governor has asked the medicaid ppl in washington to wait before imposing the new regulations on the program. If the governor does decide to pull the plug on it ppl can attempt to get on medicaid. However a lot of the ppl currently on TNCare wouldn't qualify for medicaid. If TNCare does get dropped I would suggest ppl going to thier local county hospital and see if they have an indigent patient program. I know here in hamilton co we do. They base co pays on income. With my income I would have to pay 7.00 per dr visit and 20 for specialist. My meds would be discounted as long as I used the pharmacy with the program. The Dr's you can go to is also limited since they have to be with the program. However it's better than nothing. *huggles*