Atrium Health Bariatric Center

I liked this office from the first time I called to get on the waiting list. Dr Bauman was very attentive to all my questions & was very upfront about all the pros & cons of the surgery. He has a very structured program to care for you before, during & after the surgery. The downside is having to wait so long to see the nutrionist. But, no world is perfect. Overall I give them 99%.

I found Dr. Bauman to be very nice and more than willing to answer any and all questions.

Aftercare is very important with Dr. Bauman. My first post op visit, he let me have it. I hadn't been drinking enough protein drinks. Believe me, I changed after that.

You also are required to attend a 1 yr. program with a diatitian. She has been very helpful also.

Surgical competence is more important to me, and I think this is his strong suit too.

The only negative I had was his office staff. He has since moved, and I think has some new office personnel. Hopefully things will get better now.

As you all know our program has developed over the last two years. We are here to help you through this journey. Our staff is committed to your healthcare. All of our patients are important to us and we are here to support you. Please do not hesitate to contact me at any time with your questions, comments, and concerns.

Dr. Bauman was very thorough and caring. I liked him very much and trust him. He is very honest and to the point. His staff is excellent. He told me my life would change forever and I would have to be disciplined. He emphasized aftercare very much. Yes he has a structured aftercare program. He told me up front that this is very serious surgery and could end in death or complications. Out of 1 to 10 I'd rate him a 20. Surgical competence and beside manner are both very important and I feel safe in his care.

Love, love, love Dr. B.! He is reserved like most surgeons but is very down to earth and grounded. He is not surgery happy and wants you to make the best decision for you. He belives that the best surgery is the one with the least amount of time on the table that will benifit you to use the tool he is providing you with most effeciently. His office staff might leave a bad impression with you but please please don't hold it against him. I think he knows how she is and is trying to deal with it the best way he can. Dr. B. beleives in a complete after care program and insists upon it. You meet with a nutritionist and an exercise physiologist afterwards to help ensure you are on the right track!

My first impression of Dr. Gersin... It wasn't too good, because the first time I was to meet him, I was put into a small room in his office, and then they forgot to tell him I was there. I fell asleep waiting for him, so after 3 hours, they remembered I was there. Not a good impression, though he is a friendly enough man.

Did my impression change over time... Well, no, not really. He seems to forget you even exist the moment you leave his office.

His staff... well, he has an LPN who isn't very bright. Her name is Joann, and she doesn't know how to listen to your heart beat. (She said I had an irregular hearbeat, and when I argue with her that I don't, she refused to believe me. And then she put on my chart I had an irregular heartbeat!)
Another staffer couldn't do simple math! I want to go see him after the surgery, and I KNEW I had lost 24 pounds, but his staffer did the math, and said I had only lost 17 pounds!

3 weeks after my surgery, I ended up with some horrible pain in my left side. I called Dr. Gersin, and he sent me back to the hospital. I was there for 3 days more, and then the following day I had an appt. with Dr. Gersin. He wanted to know why I had gone back to the hospital, who told me to go, and then couldn't remember seeing me while I was in there.

I am sure his surgical competence HAS to be better then his bedside manner. On a scale of 1 to 10, my overall rate for his is a 4.

My initial consult was with Dr Bauman in May 2003. Found him to be very complete in his information, risks, benefits, answering my questions. Being an operating room Nurse myself, I am very upfront with surgeons. His reaction when he found out I was an OR Nurse, with a big grin,he said, "She's one of them :)"

I have great reports about Dr Bauman from others that I work with who have worked with him in surgery and I am totally confident in him.

Can't wait til the approval comes!

Dr. Bauman is the best! He is very quiet but has no problem answering any questions and does take what he does very seriously. He does also have a sense of humor and treats people with great respect. He has a great aftercare program through a nutritionist which includeds a visit with an exercise instructor. He also makes you go to an endocrinclogist before and after surgery. There is also a support group for his patients run by the nutrtionist once a month. I would rate him a 10!

He is very quiet, but very smart and methodical. He called me one evening to help with some questions that I was having pre-op. He has been very supportive and reasssuring. I think that he is wonderful!

I was very impressed with Dr Bauman from our first meeting, but my experiences with his staff have been less than stellar. I was told that my request for surgery would be submitted to CIGNA the same afternoon (2/3), but when I checked with CIGNA later in the week, they had not received it. I called Sharon to verify she had sent it because I assumed that CIGNA was at fault, but Sharon said she was backed up and hadn't faxed it yet. She planned to do so over the weekend. I called CIGNA again Tuesday and still no paperwork. I left word for Sharon to call me, but she didn't return my call. I called again on Wednesday and she said that she planned to fax it either Friday or over the following weekend. CIGNA finally received the request on 2/18, but lost it and Sharon had to fax it all over again. 4/03 I have been denied and am waiting for the official letter so that I can appeal the decision. In the meantime, I have decided to go with the Lap Band procedure as soon as Dr Bauman is ready to start doing it.
5/03 I sent Sharon my appeal letter with some additional information. I wanted to ask if she thought that a letter from my regular Psych would help, but by the time I was able to catch her between patients the package was already in the mail to CIGNA. I'm not hopeful that this appeal will be successful anyway, so I'm just waiting for the Lap Band.
7/7 My experiences with the office staff have improved 200% lately. I don't know if they were just understaffed earlier in the year, but I am finding them to be very responsive and have now scheduled my Lap Band for 8/8. They don't always have all the answers I would like to get, but through no fault of their own, and they do try to get them for me. Dr Bauman is no longer accepting CIGNA, but I still consider him the best and it's worth it to me pay up front and gamble on reimbursement.