Update on my situation with the WISH Center

Today is a great day! Yesterday Valley Medical told me that they have two check from Capital One for my surgery, these checks made up a large portion of the 14,500 loan I took out for my surgery, Valley said they would Fed-ex them back. Today Dr. Alperovich called and we had a great conversation, and guess what he had the final check sitting in front of him and is going to return it right away. I am no longer out any money...YEAH! Also Alperovich said that he hoped to be working again in the next week or two and hopefully independent of the Corporate party responsible for this mess. He was very nice and said he would call me when he got things going again. I believe that every side of this mess up has it's own story, and I might never know if any of the staff truly saw it coming or not. But, I honestly believe that no one at the office, knew that it was going to happen the way it did. I still do not understand why they submitted for my payment when they told me they wouldn't...but I am guessing that that was more an error than an intentional act. I have complete confidence in Dr. Alperovich and his staff and I will not hesitate to have my surgery through them...independent of WISH ACQUISITIONS, LLC.

Jennifer , That is great news . Congratulations . Kathy

What a relief! I am so glad that got straightened out.

Jennifer, I am sure you are on top of the world today. I know I would be. That is a lot of money and to have it all back is great. I also wanted to thank you for sharing your conversation with Dr. Alperovich. I am still a little disappointed in the way this whole thing went down. I think it makes everyone involved, Drs, nurses, office staff, etc, look bad and puts their professionalism in question. This may not be justified, but it does really look bad. It is even more disappointing as a patient currently under Drs care to have to experience the challenges that many of us have just to get a hold of someone to find out what the next step in your treatment process is going to be. Trust me, when you have an abcess the size of a grapefruit in your stomach, you don't want to delay treatment for a second. I am hopeful that Dr. A. is able to get things back up and running, on his own would be even better than if under the "corporate umbrella". He has always been a caring, responsive, professional individual and I hope he is able continue to help his patients. I think he and his staff are going to have a tough road ahead of them. I am sure there are a lot of people who are upset with the WISH center and it is going to take a while before people can get past that. One thing I am confused about is I read an article in the Seattle times or Puget Sound Business Journal that said Dr. Alperovich was the owner of WISH Aquisitions LLC. Is that the name of the new business or old business? If it was the old, wouldnt' that mean Dr. A was the one that closed his old business and now he is just starting a new one? Congratulations and thanks for sharing your info.

I believe that the Renton Wish center is sort of a franchise of the Corporate office in Chicago. Chicago does all the billing for all the offices. I am trying to sort out an insurance billing problem and dealing with the Chicago office. It has been 8 months since my wife's surgery and they are just getting around to billing the insurance for the first time. I was told by the Chicago office that they had outsourced the billing and it was a disaster. It has been since pulled back in house. I think some of the pieces are beginning to fall in place. Dr A's financial problems are not solely of his making and Chicago may have shut him down because they are having trouble paying him. So we all are watching what happens to medical services when big business gets involved.

Ronica - I can relate to the frustration you feel towards the WISH Center. I was an employee of the WISH Center in Ohio. Unfortunately, those of us that are/were employees in these outlying centers had no knowledge of any of our closures until they were happening. Imagine someone from your corporate office showing up one day and locking your office doors leaving you with no job. Luckily in Ohio, our hospital believed in our program and great staff and took on our program so we could continue to serve our patients. I can understand how upseting this situation is, but the surgeons, nurses, and other staff members should not be blamed. If any of us professionals had a choice in continuing care for our patients, there would be no question. In fact, when our center was being closed, my fellow employees and I were most concerned about the continued care of our patients more so than our pending unemployment.

I also am a patient of Dr. Alperovich and confidence in him. I had the surgery for Lap Band and now need fills. I have called and every week get the same answer: "I think we will be open in about one week". I have been one-weeked to death and want something done. Do you have any answers

Beverly, I don't have any answer, I myself am trying to be patient...but it is hard. Have you spoke to Dr Alperovich? If not call and have him paged. I guess you could always call another office and see if they will do one fill for you (while you are waiting)...if you can continue to wait. I am sorry this is just such a frustrating situation for all of us. But I truly believe that they will reopen in the not too distant future.