Minimally Invasive Surgery Center of Louisiana Bariatric Center

Love him. They make a great team. He comes across reserved and Stephanie is the more outgoing assertive one. The office staff is wonderful and if you have any questions about WLS his staff is the one to ask! Great program. Great caring bedside manner. Always felt safe and taken care of. I havent needed any help from him after surgery (and this is GOOD.) I have recommended him numerous times, and TWO coworkers are now going to have WLS b/c I have! Amazing what WLS and a great surgeon can do! Thanks Dr. Barnes!

I decided to pick him as my surgeon after reading a compassionate article he wrote for a local magazine. He is just as nice in person. I love him and his staff. I am doing great and have had no complications so far. I think that he is a great surgeon and has wonderful bedside manner. Both are important.

My first impression of Dr. Barnes was, "Wow, he's tall." I immediately felt at ease, he was talkative and friendly. My impression of him has only grown more positive over time, he's extremely competent and capable, he has a lovely wife, and has the magnificent taste to think my 2-year-old son is a cutie. His office staff are very personable. They don't make you wait long, they chat with you, and some have had the surgery and are very open and frank about their experiences. The only complaint I have about Dr. Barnes is that he is 2 hours away! He needs to move his office closer to Fort Polk! :) Future patients should know going in to be on time to appointments because he'll make plenty of time to sit with you and answer all your questions and since he doesn't waste our time we shouldn't waste his! (I witnessed a lot of tardy patients.) His aftercare program is very detailed. They have monthly meetings and you can call them for anything. You meet with their psychologist and their nutritionalist every once in awhile, in addition to meeting with Dr. Barnes. His office's emphasis about this surgery is that it is only as good as your aftercare! Dr. Barnes is quite honest and realistic about the risks of the surgery and will also inform you as to how they will do everything in their power to lower these risks significantly. Overall, I would give him a 10 on bedside manner. I haven't yet experienced him in a "patient undergoing surgery" sense, but when I do I'll let y'all know how his surgical competence is. As far as I know, he is one of the best in Louisiana. All the above statements are MY opinion and are a reflection of MY experience, so PLEASE-find out for yourself!

Dr. Barnes seems to be a very efficient and informative surgeon. I also like the fact that she and her husband work together. It was my first time to meet them both and they were both very polite and friendly. I also like how she got me scheduled for surgery as soon as she did. She was very open about the risk of the surgery and made sure that any questions I had (or could think of at the moment)were answered! I have not had the surgery yet, so I can't comment on her surgical competence, but it seems that her bedside manner will be fine! UPDATE - First of all, let me just say that Stephanie Barnes was supposed to be my surgeon, but she had a c-section right before my surgery, so Jim Barnes became my surgeon. Well, after about a month after surgery, the Barnes' left the clinic they were with, and now my surgeon is Dr. Merriman. I met him at my six week appt. and he is wonderful!!! He is very thorough and stresses the importance of aftercare. I wish that he would have been my surgeon all along as the Barnes' only care about the actual surgery ... they never even sent me a letter stating that they moved and asking me to come see them there. Seems they only want the money!!

--KUDOS to Dr. Merriman!!--

Update -- I guess Dr. Barnes or someone in his office saw what I wrote about them. Dr. Barnes called me himself and explained the situation to me and told me that they were not allowed access to my file when they left the practice. I appologize completely for jumping to conclusions!! I would also like to thank Dr. Barnes for calling to explain the situation, it made me feel a lot better!! Thanks!