Abbott Northwestern Hospital Bariatric Center

He seemed nice, only meet once at the consult. He was straight forward and matter of fact about the info. Asked if my husband or I had questions. He joked around a little to try to break the ice. I need more time with him to be more acurate on what I think of him. He did say that his concern is doing the job right and had no problems opening me up versus the lap if it became necessary. It sounds to me he is one of the top docs in his field. His office staff have been very helpful and curtious over the phone, seemed nice and friendly in person. They recognized my name from all the phone calls I had made and made a joke about finally seeing the face behind the name.

He has a structured aftercare program and wants all his patients to keep in contact for life. This is to maintain how things are going for them as well as keeping stats on long term affects of this surgery. He filled me in on all the risks of surgery. At this point I feel he is a competent doc, a straight shooter who wants to do the best job he can. I'm not sure on his bedside manor yet, since I'v only met him once.

Had my surgery Oct 3rd-lap RNY. Dr. Schwartz's was real nice and understanding. He took the time to visit with me and my family during pre-op. He is very thorough. He made me feel comfortable before surgery. I feel pretty good, tired and a little sore, otherwise all is going well. I would highly recomend Dr. Schwartz. Most excellent work and care.

My first impression of Dr. Schwartz was very
positive. He is non-threatening, profes-
sional, competent and quite understanding.

Dr. Schwartz's staff is first rate. He and
Dr. Drew do open and lap RNY procedures and
Dr. Schwartz's wife, Judy (an RN), does a
lot of patient education and acts as a liason
with insurance carriers. She sort of runs
the show.

I think Dr. Schwartz and staff do an excel-
lent job of pre-op education and they know
how to get the job done relative to insurance
approval.

Surgical risks were well explained and I felt
very safe.

There was a lot of dietary coaching, but some
questions I still had revolved around exactly
how slowly to eat, exactly how long it takes
for stomach contents to clear so you know at
what rate to eat, and what kind and what
amount of pain is normal post-surgery. I'm
having more pain than I expected and find the
darvocet prescribed for home use is not in
the same league with morphine at the hospi-
tal. I felt great when I was discharged last
night, but at 4 this morning, I found out
how painful this business could be.

I am writing this 48 hours after my open RNY
procedure and still feel Dr. Schwartz, Judy
Schwartz, their staff and the staff at
Abbott Northwestern Hospital were the gold
standard.

Dr. Vance Rawlings
St. Paul

I meet the doctor today for the first time. The office staff is overworked and with this aspect of their vascular surgery practice growing at the rate it is they clearly need to hire more people to handle the load. We have a patient-run group which was started by one of Dr Drew's post-ops when she felt a need for more support. This group is open to everyone who has had or is interested in having WLS regardless of which operation, doctor, or hospital they had. I'll let you know more tomorrow after my appointment.

Okay, it's not tomorrow, it's thirteen months after my actual surgery which occurred on August 15, 2000. I am a 1%er who had numerous complications... this man did everything in his power, called upon a team of experts and saved my life eight times during the tumultuous weeks that followed his initial life saving efforts of doing my WLS. His compassion, concern and dedication are unparalled and he IS the man who has changed my life forever.

I got to know this man very well during my almost two months in the hospital and regular visits pot-operatively. Of course, I was in that coma for about a month, but I heard from family and friends about how my cool and collected surgeon could be found at all hours of the day/night pouring over my charts trying to determine what had gone wrong with me. I am, and will remain, his 'problem child'.

The office staff is overworked but very supportive and positive. Our local group OSSGMN just had their annual Gala and my doctor, his partner and four staff members attended in order to see the 'fruits of their labor' having fun and living 'normal' happy healthy lives.

I really can't think of a thing that I disliked about Dr Drew, he was very thorough in his medical information when he discussed the whys and wherefores of what I was going to have done. Afterwards when everything went downhill this man devoted untold hours to keeping my ass alive and although I now have problems stemming from the stroke, I am able to wake up every day, get out of bed without the pain of dragging 140# extra along with me and wear clothes that make the boys in the steelyard cry!

Know this, he may seem very reserved and businesslike, but he is a compassionate and caring man who does this to save and improve our lives. I cannot recommend him enough.

My mileage varied because of the amount of medical follow-up I require, but he and his partner fully support our patient run group and we meet in their building twice a month.

He addressed all the potential risks but I wasn't going to dwell on them... no one could have predicted what would happen to me but I do not regret having had my WLS, although I'd have preferred not to develop a leak or have a heart attack and stroke. Oh well... you should see me now!

I give the man a 10.

Yes... excellent on both counts although it took him a while to get used to my offhand, flippant, and irreverent sense of humor. Now he enjoys it after a year of putting up with my witty but sarcastic ways.

I will be meeting Dr. Schwartz at my consultation on July 12th, 2001. Never mind, my consult got moved to August 23rd, 2001. I met with Dr. Schwartz on Thursday, August 23rd. His office is extremely busy, and he was running about 45 minutes behind. It was worth it though. He was very nice, answered all our (me & DH) questions and didn't rush us at all. He was kind of funny sometimes, and his wife Judy is a nurse there so they were joking around together too. I felt very comfortable with everyone. I think Dr. Schwartz really knows what he is doing - between him and his partner Dr. Drew they have done almost 3500 LAP RNY's and Open RNY's. About 3000 Open and 400 + LAP's. They do about 10 each week. He was very reasurring that with my young age and my health, that everything should go great and that if I work at it, I will see great results. Post-op nutrition he was a bit vague on, just saying you can eat what you want in small amounts and you will see a dietician post op in the hospital. Good thing I already know so much from this great website! I will update more after my surgery which is on September 21st. 9/24/01 Dr. Schwartz was great, there were no complications. He checked on me the next day and said I have the cutest little stomach : ) I would not have wanted any other surgeon, he was excellent!

Dr. Schwartz was very reassuring. My initial impression was "kind." He seems to have a sense of humor, which I appreciate in anyone, and which put me at ease. That did not color his professional demeanor in any way. When discussing the surgery, risks, etc., he was all business. His staff has been great, also. I was originally scheduled for surgery on November 26th and they called me last week and moved it to October 16th. Hope it stays there!

I did a lot of research to choose a good doctor. I knew I wanted my surgery at Abbott Northwestern Hospital and I had heard good things about Dr. Drew. Once I met with him, he totally put me at ease. Not only did I feel he really understood me, but I felt like he actually cared about me and how this would effect my future. His staff is wonderful and very helpful. I had lots of questions and they were all very patient in answering everything. I believe Dr. Drew was very straight forward about the risks and I appreciated that. I would rather know what I am getting into before surgery than to be surprised afterwards. I would highly recommend that you consider him. The only negative thing is that my surgery date was pushed out pretty far because of the "almost strike" at the hospital.

Dr. Schwartz is very friendly and very eager to make you feel relaxed.
He has a very positive outlook and answered my questions thoroughly.

He was a very competent and confident man believing in what he is doing to help people in my situation.
It did not. He was wonderful before during and after surgery.
Helpful and encouraging
He is busy. Although he is very busy, he does take the time to explain the surgery and complications people may expect.
He is a gifted surgeon who believes in what he does. I was at the limit for having the surgery lap and he took two extra hours to perform my surgery lap. I am truly thankful.
They, the office staff, encourage follow-up with groups they lead and they continually encourage people to keep up on the aftercare and how important it is during and after weight loss.
He explained the risks of surgery simplely, fully without trying to scare people.
10 on a scale of 1 to 10
surgical competence......although he is pleasant and honest so bedside manner is not a problem, he is not a hold your hand pooh,pooh sort of doctor. He believes in what he does, understands the risks and complications and is very competent which reduces peoples fear.

I just had an informatin session where I met with Judy Schwartz. The meeting lasted about 2 1/2 hours and was pretty thorough. I was really tired at the meeting because I worked an overnight prior to the class and normally would be sleeping then but it was worth it.

The surgeons office staff were very polite and happy to help me out. I was impressed with how they try to work with people and around their issues.

A very gentle and kind man. The nurses had put my Teds on wrong, which was causing them to be like a tournequet. He was not happy, rolled them down and put them on right. I work in an emergency room of a major hospital and I can tell you first hand to find surgeons who are humble, who care beyond the surgery table is rare. He came highly recommended by other doctors, which tells me a lot. I wanted someone I could trust when I was out and not seeing/hearing what was going on as well as kind and respectful to me. I didn't want to settle just for a good surgeon, I wanted the best.

I think they need to find a person to manage just their paperwork in addition to the present staff. I tend to be a perfectionist and working in the health care field my expectations are pretty high. The staff is great - nurses Judy and Marilyn.

My rating is high. I know some other doctors cater more and seem to provide more, but overall he was the best for me. As far as what is better, surgical competence, bedside manner, or both - I'd say I'm paying for it and I should be able to have it all and Dr. Drew fit that bill.

Again my only negative thing was issues with lost paper work,which didn't delay my surgery in anyway, it was my own frustration. I know how hard it can be in an emergency room, but if it can be done there it sure should be able to be done in a doctors office. So even when I wasn't happy, very unhappy they still kept working with me and working with me to work it out.