Center for Laparoscopic Surgery Bariatric Center

I love Dr. Hargroder and his staff (although one staff member is less than pleasant to work with, the others are a joy and make up the difference). I had surgery in December 2012 and could not be happier with my decision. Dr. Hargroder is caring, attentive, and thorough, just as previous reviews state. At the time of writing this review, Dr. Hargroder had just celebrated his 10th anniversary of performing the MGB.

Although he is no longer associated with CLOS or Dr. Rutledge, he has a vibrant practice in Joplin, MO. For more info about Dr. Hargroder and the MGB, here is a link to his website: http://mgb-surgery.com/ .

There is nothing negative or unsatisfactory that I can say about my surgeon, Dr. Rutledge. He is a very nice, caring and well-skilled surgeon, who carries himself in a professional manner, knows his job well, and does it with excellence. Plus, he has a great sense of humor and makes you feel comfortable in spite of all the technical and medical jargon you have to become familiar with.

His staff and the hospital care staff at St. Rose were all caring and did an excellent job. I would recommend this surgeon and his care team to anyone seeking this type WLS.

I met with a local bariatric surgeon on 11/10/1999. Although I felt he was proficient at the open, fobi pouch RNY, I was very dissapointed in no laparoscopic option.rnrnI continued to spend every free moment on the computer searching for options.rnrnOn 11/14 I met Dr. Rutledge on-line. He answered some of my immediate questions and introduced me to the [email protected] support group.rnHe was warm and gracious.rnrnDr. Rutledge performed my MGB on 12/27 in only 37 minutes. I was admitted at noon on the 27th and released by Dr. Rutledge at 6:45 AM on the 29th. (Only 43 hours in the hospital!)rnrnAt 3 days post-op I returned a few calls at the office. My surgery was done on a Monday and I returned to work, with full duties the following Monday. I would have been back sooner if not for the New Years holiday, causing our offices to be closed on Friday. I do work sitting down, mostly, in an office environment.rnrnExtremely structured aftercare.rnrnDetailed risks and all information on his website, www.clos.net.rnrnThe general staff of Regional Surgical Associates was always helpful and pleasant. His Administrative Assistant was extremly helpful, responsive, understanding, and kind.rnrnAt the time of surgery I rated his surgical competence at a 10 and bedside manner at 8.6.rnrnI think now, that his surgical skill is even greater than 10++.rnrnHe can come across a little terse sometimes, but I've always been taught that many surgeons question whether God created them, or they created God. He is no different in that regard.rnrnNo matter, I didn't choose or retain him to be my counselor or new best friend. He did exactly what he told me he would do. I have no reservations, even after almost a decade.

Scheduled for mgb on Oct 29, 2008

Asshole! Only concerned about his ratings and how many people he can get in and out, he acts like he cares but he dosent. All of his \"charming\" qualities are just to showboat. He pretty much only cares about his statistics, and not pre-ops, found that one out the hard way. Im GLAD Im not going to have him or his surgery.

Dr. Hargroder was awesome from day one. He is very caring and is always there for his patients. I couldn't have chosen a better surgeon or person to help me change my life.rnMy only negative would be that because he is so awesome and trys to be there for all of his patients he does get very busy and so therefore it might take a day or two for him to get back to you if you try to reach him. However, that being said, if it is an emergency he will call you back very quickly. He is the only doctor I know who gives his patients his personal cell phone number.

Great guy. Very knowlegable and caring. He knows what he is doing. Everyone around him is very supportive. One tip: he needs a bigger staff to handle the minutia of his growing practice.

I first heard about Dr. Hargroder when I was on the clos.net site. Part of the step in getting the mini bypass surgery is talking to people who have had the surgery and to get 10 people to use as a contact person. One of the gentlemen I received a contact letter from told me about Dr. H and It seemed more feasable and cost effective to drive to Joplin. Originally I had intended to have my surgery in Florida with Dr. P but weighed out my options and figured Dr. H and Joplin Missouri would be better because we wouldnt have to worry about airline tickets, renting a car etc.rnrnWhen we got to Joplin we checked in at the hotel (they provided a pretty nice discount for being Dr. H's patient) Then we went to his office which is in the tiny town of Seneca. Dr. H. had scheduled me to be his last patient of the day. I took a test prior to meeting with him and it basically asked questions about everything included in the packet, i.e. the do's and donts. Dr. H spent close to 4 hours with me, my mom, and my grandma and showed us actual tools that he uses in surgery. Dr. H had fake cloth stomachs and he showed us how the tool cut and sewed the stomach all in one motion. It was a very informative one on one session. rnrnHis after care surgery consists of, as always you can reach him by cell phone at ANY time. I called him 3 months out because I was under the impression I needed lab work drawn up and my primary care physician asked me to call Dr. H. and find out exactly what information he needed. Dr. H was in surgery and his nurse answered his cell phone. How cool is that? Dr. H. has a website that you can keep up with your stats by blogging daily, inputing your weight and measurements and blogging about whatever needs to be said about your progress.

-Well spokenrn-Has alot on his plate, very busyrn-Busy, focusedrn-Would have liked more 1 on 1 timern-You will be in a group setting so, if you want 1 on 1 time with him, you need to ask for it.rn-Alot!rn-Yesrn-Yesrn-Goodrn-Both

Dr. Rutledge is caring, nice, talks and makes you understand. He is funny, honest, straight forward. Him and his staff get a A+.