MultiCare Rockwood Clinic Bariatric Center

Dr. Rawlins was great, I'd recomend him to anybody.

Dr. Rawlins is a very nice man, he seemed like he cared a lot about me. He says he has done only 45 Open RNY on his own, he has been working with Dr. Bright in Spokane. They assist one another with all surgeries. I have only met with him the one time, he answered all of my questions, but after using this site I did not have a whole lot, but my mother felt much more at ease about the entire idea after speaking with him.

His office staff that I have dealt with have been very nice and helpful. I went in with a full approval from my insurance company so it went much smoother then I had anticipated after reading the stories of others.

I really liked the fact that he was so pleasant and was very tactful with my feelings. He is extremely young, but very nice.

I think others should be willing to give him a try. I will keep you all posted regarding his bedside manner later.

He has a structured aftercare program which I should be getting in the mail within the next day or two. I meet with the nutrition specialist prior to surgery and after surgery. He addressed the risks well, he has not had any complications as of yet. Lets keep our fingers crossed that I am not the first one. Overall he is a nice guy and I am looking forward to him seeing "a lot less" of me. :)

He is an angel. I am so impressed with Dr. Bright. He handled all of my concerns easily with out any fuss. I was concerned about having to sit on small commode, no problem. We discussed how to handle my history of blood clots & everything was addressed. Due to my history of asthma, I had breathing treatments every 4 hours. Nothing is left to chance. I was very impressed with everything about this young man. He is almost 3 years younger than I am, yet I would recommend him very highly to anyone. PS he is single....

Dr Bright's office staff seems to leave quite a bit to be desired. I called on 2/18 to check on info regarding day of surgery. When Marjorie had FINALLY given me the date of 3/13, she did not tell me what time to be there! Lo & behold when I talk to her on 2/18 she tells me that surgery needs to be rescheduled!!! She doesn't know when, but she will let me know "today". Guess what? no call. So I call back on 2/19, she cannot give me a date because Dr. Brights assist. is not in & he is the one who is unavailable for the surgery on 3/13. So on 2/19 I call, yet AGAIN, and Marjorie is on another line, I wait & Patty comes back & tells me the information is being mailed to me!!! I ask her if I can at least get the date. Back on hold. Patty comes back & says 3/28 for surgery & appt w/the doc on 3/14. Another 2 weeks!!! Why an appt? Dr Bright said it wasn't needed. Then she gets patronizing. Marjorie is trying to keep track of 14 diff people for surgery, excuse me. That is her job & if she can't do it, maybe some one else could!! Going to see Dr. Bright on 14th. I plan on telling him about how I was treated. I hope no one else has to go through all of this!!!

I met Dr. Bright today! He is a very nice man, and took his time expliaing things and was very patient with all my questions :) & my "black" humor. He is working on switching some other patients around, so I can have surgery ASAP! Maybe as soon as 2/13/02!!

I have now scheduled an appointment with Dr. Bright for 1/16/02. I hope this will go well. I wish Dr. Peniings was open to waiting for reimbursment, but I have to put my concerns first. I have heard good things about Dr. Bright & I will be back to post more after I meet him.

Dr. Pennings is the BEST in my book. He is very honest & straight forward. He treats me like a person not a case or a patient. Dr. Pennings is newer to this procedure, but he does RNY with the scope. Much better in my estimation. He goes over everthing and want his patients to be well informed. He has pre/post op support groups, has helped set up an exercise program for bariatric patients, including warm water pool! Dr Pennings also did hemmoroid surgery & removed a cyst on my leg. I love him & his office staff and would recommend them to anyone.
Dr Pennings requires his fees as well as the anethesiologist to be paid upfront. I am determined to have surgery, even if it means a different Dr.

He was very nice and wanted to know everything about me.
Not at all i really like him. His office staff have been nice. There was not anything I did not like about him. He is very nice and carring he made me feel really comfortable and he seemed to care.

I met with Dr. Bright and I was very impressed with him. I am a RN. and I had researched this type of surgery very well. I found him to be Extremely Knowleable, and he spent over an hour with me, talking about the surgery, his pain control methods, which is using an epidural ( great idea!! ), he drew pictures, gave me an exam, and so forth. He has a great reputation in the Medical Community. I am traveling 275 miles so he can do my surgery, as he is that good. I felt very at ease. His office staff is delightful. He also has a new Surgeon joining him soon to assist in his surgeries. He arranges for private rooms for his patients, and has Barri Beds for them. My son will be able to stay in the room with me.Do not let his young appearence worry you! I feel he knows what he is talking about. So far, I am quite pleased in my dealings with him. His office is right next to the hospital, Sacred Heart in Spokane. He has many patients who come from a distance to see him, and he will work with you on follow up care. I had had all of my needed testing done through my PCP before my appointment, and he booked my surgery right after my consultation!! Anyone with further questions can contact me at [email protected].

Since my sister went to Dr. Bright, I was exstatic when I found out he took my insurance. I met with him on April 24, 2002
and he took the time and sat down with me and went over everything with me. Even drew a picture. Both my sisters have had this surgery, one with diabetes. Never did I feel rushed and he answered all my questions. His mannerism was greatly appreciated.

He was so nice.. He spent over an hour with me going over my family history and medical problems. I feel so confident in him. He has been doing the surgery for 3 years with no major complications. The staff was friendly but we are still geting authorization.
2/17/02 Well I have had my pre op check up and doctor says everything is fine. He was great about my fear of epidurals. Also he says he will take my gallbladder at my request. I have so much confidence in Dr Bright. I am counting the days.
5/25/02 Now that I am on the other side I wanted to say Dr Bright is a wonderful man and I owe my new life to him. I have no complications and would do it again in a heart beat. I give this man a 10 out of 10!

DR. SPITZ IS AWESOME! HE IS VERY FRIENDLY, HE TAKES TIME TO EXPLAIN EVERYTHING, HE MADE ME FEEL VERY COMFORTABLE.HE IS WITH CENTRAL DUPAGE HOSPITAL BARIATRIC GROUP IN WINFIELD IL.THE PROGRAM IS VERY STRUCTURED WITH BEFORE DURING AND AFTER CARE. I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND HIM.

I went to my DH appointment w/Dr Bright yesterday 4/23/02. My hubby is MO & will be having RNY hopefully this June. Both of us liked the Dr. He was very thorough & easy to follow.

My first impression of Dr. Bright was that he was too skinny to appreciate the challenges of being obese - it's funny, but those of us who are obese think we're the only sensitive ones.

As we spoke, however, I realized he wasn't judging me at all - in fact, he was actually offering me a way to join the ranks of others who have fought the battle of the bulge before, and won (or should I say lost?). He asked a lot of questions, and complimented me on the fact that I had done a lot of research on my own before coming to see him.

His nurse, on the other hand, seemed rather confused...like she wasn't quite sure what to do with me. She thought she would weigh me on the Dr. scales, but I told her that it didn't go high enough. This seemed to embarrass her. I thought that was strange, since I was the one who should have been embarrassed by that. And, Dr. Bright seemed to have a lot of confidence in the person who does the insurance paperwork. However, when I called in a couple weeks after my initial visit, I was told that my insurance carrier ALWAYS denies so she wasn't going to submit the paperwork. As it turned out, I decided to go to another insurance carrier, so it was a mout point. However, I thought it rather brazen of her to take it upon herself not to submit the papers so I could at least get started on some kind of appeal, if that was the route I wanted to take. Oh well, as I said, mout point now.

I was particularly impressed with the Dr.'s track record...Zero complications, Zero deaths. That really put my mind to ease. I think the fact that Dr. Bright is a general surgeon, not just one that specializes in WLS, is good in that he doesn't become rote in his surgical skills. There is enough variety to keep his mind sharp.

Since I have yet to have the surgery, I have to go by what others say about his surgical competence and bedside manner....and bottom line is, they seem more than satified with the care he gives them.