Benefis Bariatric Institute Bariatric Center

I really like Dr Rohrer. He explained everything real well. No suprises. Surgery went well and went out of his way to let me out of hospital second day after surgery. Always takes time to answer questions even when he has 10 people in waiting room. Very impressed with him. Office staff answers most question you ask. Does not have a aftercare program. After the 6 week visit next visit is 6 months. Dr. Rohrer has a great bedside manner. I would rate him excellent.

Dr. Rohrer was very professional through out the entire time. He wasn't around too much to answer questions after the surgery. Lisa in his office is very nice but very busy too.I guess the only thing Dr. Rohrer could change is the amount of time for questions after surgery and before going home, but I think it has become such a routine for him. I haven't had my first appointment after surgery yet so I'll see how it goes. Risks of surgery was discussed in great detail before I even had a surgery date. I would rate him pretty good overall - surgical competence was probably better than bedside manner. The only thing so far that I am surprised about is the want for food. I liked to eat and so my first week home I want to eat - I'm probably not hungry but everything sounds good. Hopefully that gets better.

Met Dr. Rohrer and Lisa today 8/14/02. They are so very nice. He is cute! He was very serious, but kind. He wanted to make sure I understood what was going to be happening. My husband went with me he also told the Doctor that I have done a lot of research. 8/28/02 My insurance still has not approved. Lisa worked with me and we changed my date to next week the 6th of September. 11-15-02 Still doing wonderful with NO complications! Dr. Rohrer did a great job.
10/26/03 UDATE, over a year and I am doing great I am at 140 and getting kinda boney. I have had not one problem. The first 3 months I regreted every minute, today I have forgotten the pain and daily ill feeling. I just wish I would of done this 20 years ago. I don't have much skin hanging, not enough to do anything about. Glad for that. I just see more wrinkles, but I am almost 45 I think that is part of life. I have sent Dr. Rohrer many e-mails with updates and photos of my progress and I have not heard a word. I heard this would happen. I don't understand. I am just glad I have had no problems and didn't need them seriously. I have done everything Dr. Rohrer and Lisa has told me to do since surgery and I am sure that has a lot to do with my great weight loss and great health. Any minor problems that I have are from my own self distruction.Examples: If I throw up it is because I didn't chew well enough or I eat to fast. I can eat anything I want just very small amounts. Dr. Rohrer said for me to wait a year or so before drinking diet pepsi I just started drinking some last month. I am enjoying every part of life today being thinner, and I WILL NEVER FORGET WHERE I CAME FROM. God Bless

I just returned from meeting with Dr. Rorher and his staff and I was very impressed with both of them. His receptionist was friendly and welcoming. It was very easy to talk with both her and Dr. Rorher. Dr. Rohrer himself even saw me earlier than the appointment and spent over an hour talking with my family and myself. He was direct and no-nonsense, informed and kind. He made sure that he went through all the possible complications and effects of the surgery. He put me at ease, talked straight to me and didn't talk down to me.

He also spent a lot of time talking about what my role after the surgery would be. He made sure I understood that the surgery itself was a HELP and not a cure. He talked about the diet and his expectations of my weight loss and how important nutrition was especially.

I have not had surgery with Dr. Roher yet so I cannot comment on that but I was informed that he has done over 300 of these surgeries laproscopically.

There was no discussion, however, that I might not be a candidate for the surgery. I did fill out forms detailing my medical history, the problems i had because of my obesity and family history of medical problems, so perhaps he just knew from my answers there that I was a candidate. I am far over the 100 pounds overweight and my bmi is in the morbid obesity range. He didn't seem to have noticed that I had filled in that I had hypothyroidism as when I mentioned my medication for that he had to look it up in the forms I filled out.

Overall though it was a great visit. I felt very at ease with Dr. Rorher and his staff and I didn't feel embarassed at all about talking about things that are so personal. I would rate him very highly.

I had my first meeting with Dr. Rohrer on April 30, 2003. I brought my best friend with me for the 4 hour trip to Great Falls from my Laurel, MT home. The office staff was very friendly, smiling, and made me feel welcome. I was unable to meet Lisa, however, since she was away for the week on family matters. Dr. Rohrer impressed me right off the bat by having taken nearly 30 minutes to preread my medical chart (I brought a copy with me) before coming in to the exam room. He "knew" enough about my medical history to ask me questions and discuss things without my having to explain again. How refreshing! He was thorough in explaing pros, cons, benefits, risks, types of procedures, etc. to my satisfaction. He even took time to answer my friend's questions. I do like the structured aftercare but do wish they insisted on some preoperative counselling. I already do this but I feel that is important with this surgery. I also would have liked to get the information about the aftercare group newly started in Billings. I would like to attend a few of them prior to my surgery(I will call next week about this and indeed it may be possible for me to do this, I'll let you know here). However, overall I am 100% more confident and excited about my decision to go through with the surgery since meeting with Dr. Rohrer. His credentials and history to date with this type of surgery are excellent. I also didn't realize he does the RNY via laparoscopy, a definite plus in my book. I would rate surgical skill, experience, and bedside manner all very important with this type of procedure. The fact that he is quite handsome helps a lot too, lol!
Update postop 8/5/03: I still am quite pleased with Dr. Rohrer's care of me through surgery and postop problems. My infections and pain with eating were handled right away as soon as I called. However, it would've been great if office staff did some kind of weekly phone call checkup on me those first few weeks postop. Especially if one lives quite a distance from his office. The patient really needs to be the initiator in calling right away with any problems or questions. Also, the week I got the abscess, Dr. Rohrer was on vacation and I was not aware of this. When I called, I was told to call the other surgeon in town who does bariatrics, even though he is not a partner with my doctor. In my opinion, there should have been someone covering for Dr. Rohrer while he was on vacation (and I am sure he deserves a vacation like anybody else, lol). When I called and made followup appt with him the next week when he was back, the other doctor never phoned him with what happened to me the week he was gone! I was appalled at this lack of professional courtesy (my opinion here with all of this information). However, Dr. Rohrer got me in quickly that week and spent about 20 minutes with me making sure things were well and he diagnosed the stress ulcer at that time also. I will say that his hospital bedside manner is quite abrupt, clipped, and brief, no doubt because he is very busy. He is very different in his office visits, much more personable, approachable, and easy to talk with about everything. I am overall very pleased with my care and my surgery so far. I would do it again in a heartbeat and I would recommend Dr. Rohrer to my friends and family. The office staff, however, are too busy most of the time and are always hurried or on a phone. I also was never given aftercare information and had to ask for it on the phone and then didn't get the paperwork of information about it till 3 weeks postop at an appointment. While office staff are friendly, they are far too busy whenever I have called or been there for an appointment. One could say that must mean Dr. Rohrer is very good at what he does and is very popular. :) Dr. Rohrer has never asked me if I had gone to aftercare yet. You really need to be your own captain in steering your postop course on some of the finer details needed for successful WLS with this doctor and his office staff. But then one should be doing that anyway. Ultimate success depends on you! The surgeon gives you a tool for weightloss and you must train it and use it thereafter. This is all my personal opinion today.

I found Dr.Rohrer to be a patient and understanding doctor who has the ability to listen to is patients. He took the time to answer all of my questions, even when it made him late for his next appointment.
His office staff often seems to be rushed and too busy to talk to you when you call. I think that is annoying as hell, but at the same time, I understand it too.
One thing that I notice about medical people who support surgeons, such as nurses, aides, etc. is that this is an everyday, ho-hum thing to them. I think they need to realize that this is a once in a lifetime thing for people. We agonize over the decision for months, worry what may happen in the way of complications, etc. This is a life altering decision that can not be taken back. That can be really traumatic for people.

Dr. Rohrer appears to be a very talented and wonderful man. He is very knowledgeable concerning the procedure. He was sure to share both the positives and the negatives of having the surgery. Lisa, his nurse, is absolutely wonderful. I had my consult on a Tuesday and the next Tuesday, I already had approval. Dr. Rohrer has a very structured aftercare program in place for his patients to ensure success.

Haven't met with him yet, although I've only heard great things about him. His office staff was nice when I made the initial contact. My consult appointment is March 11, 2003.

My consult was yesterday and it went well. Dr. Rohrer is knowledgeable and kind.

I haven't met my doctor yet because I do not live in the US. His staff is wonderful, I am calling constantly, asking questions and getting information and they are always helpful.