Rocky Mountain Associated Physicians Bariatric Center

As I am an out of state patient I have not met with Dr Simper as yet. I meet him the day before my surgery.

His office staff was very helpful in sending me the paperwork, and when my insurance came back to them and wanting me to go see a dietician and psychiatrist, the contacted me immediately.

I have sent them all the paperwork now, and when I called to speak to the person in charge of my 'file', she did not sound like she remembered me, and I felt kinda 'brushed off'. I hope she got the paperwork and has faxed it to my insurance as promised.

He was nice. I didn't see much of him. He did a good job on my surgery, but I never seen him enough to know anymore.

Staff was nice. Nurse that you give info to never returned one of my calls and I have not called back.

He is not in my after care. I have not talked to the office since about 2 months post op.

He does emphasize after care a lot. The after care program is structured and you receive a binder with information on it that is very usefull.

He gives you the statistics of surgery and is straight forward with you.

I liked him a lot and he did a wonderful job on my surgery. I did not see him but once after surgery and he had a good bedside manner and a great surgeon.

Dr Simper was younger than I expected but seemed to understand and really believe in everything he was telling me.

He is fast, through and friendly. He doesn't mince words. He said, "Go slow, Drink lots of water, and stay off the carbs!" That is about all he said when I left the hospital.

I got an incisional infection. He was very concerned about that but it was cleared up fast with antibiotics and not opened back up or anything.

I would reccommend him to anyone. I have heard and seen nothing but good from him.

He really emphasizes aftercare. They have a great followup program and lots of peer support groups plus their own website with quick answers. He expects regular visits over the first year but because I had an extra one due to the infection and because I live an hour away he adjusted my schedule so I wouldn't have to make an extra trip. I appreciated that!

He pulled no punches about the risks of surgery except before surgery it was a "less than 1% chance of dying" and after surgery it was "about one in every one hundred die from this surgery"... guess that is the same but has a different ring to it. I would still have done it though...

Both surgical competence and bedside manner were GREAT!!!

My first impression of Dr. Simper was very straight forward. Concern about his patients long term life. My impressions have not changed.
The office staff is very nice, and helpful.
What did I like least? He is not an overly warm doctor. He is straight and to the point.
His office requires an aftercare program for the first year.
Dr. Simper did discuss the risks of surgery.

I would rate Dr. Simper on a scale of 1 to 10 with a 9. I am not looking for someone to reassure me that everything is great. I want a doctor to tell me straight up what is going on now and what will happen in the future. It is more important for surgical competence than bedside manner. I expect great bedside manner from the nurses.

I chose Dr. Simper because I had heard good things about him. In my consultation, he was very informative and willing to answer any and all questions. After surgery he came to see me each day. During my first post-op appointment he was very friendly and helpful. Good surgeon. Good bedside manner. I'd recommend him to anyone, really.

Dr Simper was very friendly and made me feel at ease. He was not rushed and made sure my questions were answered. He talked to me about lifestyle changes, the removal of my gall bladder and complications of WLS. Dr Simper performed my sister in law's surgery last year and is very pleased with him.

10/30/02 - I'm now officially a 'post-op' patient of Dr. Simper's so I thought I'd update this again. Dr. Simper didn't spend a lot of time with me in the hospital, but he did check in everyday and see how I was doing. And, of course, the most important part . . . I can't say enough good things about his surgical skills. The surgery went great, without a hitch. My surgery (Lap RNY) lasted just about 2 hours, and I was out of recovery and in my hospital room only 45 minutes after that. I've had very, very, very little pain, and only mild discomfort . . . I can't not even put into words how shocked I am at how great I feel!

10/07/02 - I have the pre-surgical orientation at Rocky Mountain Associated Physicians today -- from what I understand this is a 2 hour or so meeting where they talk about lifestyle changes, restrictions, the chewing thing, no gulping water, weight loss expectations, recovery time, I think you also weigh in and measure or something like that. I'm really excited about it!

10/04/02 - Well, I met Dr. Simper yesterday, and I really did like him. I found that I really trust him, and I feel super comfortable about having the surgery Lap now. The office staff was really nice, and I especially liked Gwen, the lady who schedules the surgeries . . . she was so cheerful and funny. I'm feeling so good about my decision to do this! I liked how confident Simper was about the Lap surgery . . . he said "If you ask me which one's best, I'd say Lap . . . if you asked Dr. Halverson, he'd say open. And we're both right, you want your surgeon to be doing the surgery he's most confident in and comfortable with." So, anyway, it will be Lap surgery, and I'm really happy about that!


9/17/02 - I haven't met with Dr. Simper yet, but I've been to the "Surgical Solutions" orientation meeting, and dealt a little with his staff. The staff seems genuinely helpful and compassionate, but really hard to get information from in a timely matter. Everyone I've talked to there seems really nice, but it's hard to get a person on the phone who can actually help answer your questions. I know they're REALLY busy, but it seems to be compounded by the fact they're a little disorganized or something . . . they had my paperwork for exactly 5 weeks before anything was turned into my insurance company . . . and all my insurance company requires is a phone call to start the approval process! Anyway, besides the time issues, the Rocky Mountain Associate Physicians seems like a great place to get the surgery done. After care (and pre-care for that matter) seem really thorough and well planned . . . and I've heard nothing but good about all the doctors there. I'll update this when I get further along.

I went in and met my surgeon for the first time. He was very nice, he spend plenty of time with me, answered all my questions and put my mind at ease. I was very happy with him, as well as his office staff

I chose Dr. Simper based on a photograph and a written profile. He had kind eyes and a cool mustache. He seemed very Down-Home-ish, and I have had previous good experiences with sweet, homey Doc's, so I chose him. I couldn't have been more right! He was amazing. I could go on and on and on about how knowlegable and kind he is. The office requires a $500.00 program fee for the Bariatric Support Center next door. This is even if your insurance pays 100% for the surgery. The reason it is beyond what the insurance pays is because it isn't medical aftercare, it's LIFE aftercare.

First impression is that he is competent, and responsive to questions, particularly those I had as to how to minimize the risks of leaks (be in the best possible condition, with plenty of protein, try not to gain more weight). Office staff is great. Aftercare at the Bariatric Support Center seems to be extremely well organized, and I plan to participate in every bit of it, as I know that influences the outcome.

I am now 1 month post-op. I can't say enough good about Dr. Simper. I've recovered with no complications. We were told to expect the lap RNY to take 3 hours, but it was done in two. His post-op visits to my room were lightning fast, but he spent considerably more time on my discharge day, advising me not to push advancing the diet, but to give myself plenty of time to heal. He also said that the difference between just enough food and too much is half a bite. THAT is TRUE.

If I had this to do over again (thank G-d I don't!), I'd choose Dr. Simper again.