St. Agnes Hospital Bariatric Center

I really liked him...professional and able to answer all of my questions. He also was very interested in answering my questions and making sure I asked everything that was on my mind. I've only had one visit with him thus far, so I have nothing negative to say at this point. Aftercare was emphasized, as was individual commitment to the program afterwards. Results vary by patient, and I know this as I've seen different success rates from friends who have undergone surgery. There is a structured aftercare program built around the support group. The risks of surgery were discussed at the seminar, so I didn't have but a few questions. Despite the very straight to the point personality, I managed to make him smile--so he was able to show his human side, and that's always good. Surgical competence is of utmost importance to me, however good bedside manner is also great.

Dr.Averbach was amazing. I am so grateful to him for doing my surgery. I had insurance approval for Dr.Magnuson but he would not do my surgery after many months of testing and years of fighting with insurance to get approval. I lost my insurance but Dr.Averbach took all the possible precautions as I was a higher risk being a revision and my health problems and he did my surgery and it was a sucess.The first couple days was tough especially day one as they had a very hard time controlling my pain since I am a chronic pain patient and have taken meds for a long time and had an interthecal pump put in a couple weeks before surgery. I got throug that and now I am walking further than I could before surgery and it has only been 4 wks.Now I must take it from here with the Dr and his staff's support.All is going well.rnrn July 28,2007- I am almost a year out. I am down 182 lbs from my highest weight ever.I am at 248lbs, my highest wt. was 430. I had lost 40 or so before surgery. My life has changed so much. Before surgery I was basically bedridden getting up very seldom.Since I was 9 wks post-op I started swimming and I swim 5 days a week and love it. I have gotten my life back. I am out of bed. I drive, I shop for my family again, I love life. I have gone from 6-7x to a size 20 pants and 18/20 tops and 1x .It is amazing. My medications have gone from over 20 to 2. My health problems have improved. I just had 2 sleep studies and I am waiting to see how much my sleep apnea has improved but I know it has. Everything has improved, every day I can do something new and I see some improvement in my life. It is wonderful. I am not healthy but I never dreamed my life would even get this good post-op and I still have a way to go. I love life and my surgeon and his staff.

Dr. Averbach is very serious about his work, yet still approachable and caring. I've heard nothing but good things about him from some of his patients and I trust that I am in capable hands. Also, his bariatric team and office staff are wonderful.

I really liked Dr Averbach from the beginning. He is very serious and upfront about the surgery and what needs to be done on my part to make it successful. In the hospital, he checked on me each day and took the time to answer my questions.

'Dr Averbach is a wonderful doctor. He's very to-the-point and realistic. Some might see him as stand-offish

I met Dr. Averbach, first, at a Lap-Band seminar held at St. Agnes Hospital. He was very informative and answered questions quite patiently. The next time I saw him was for my consult. He was very direct and wanted to make sure I understood the surgery and aftercare. He asked me questions, too. I sort of felt it was more like a job interview than a consult, but I suppose he wanted to be sure I knew what I was getting into. He also seemed to have a pretty good sense of humor. I would say, so far, Dr. Averbach is both competent and personable.

Very businesslike, very professional. Office staff was wonderful. After talking to him I immediately knew I had made the right decision to go with him. Strong emphasis on aftercare. Risks were all spelled out at the surgical consult visit. To ensure success at my size he had his partner surgeon Dr. Singh assist in my surgery. I would recommend Dr. Averbach to anyone. (My wife is now planning to get the surgery and wants him as her surgeon.) He is both competent and approachable.

When I first met Dr. Averbach I thought he was overly serious. Then I considered what I was going to undertake and I realized he was interested in me understanding what a undertaking this surgery would be. Upon meeting him the second time I found him to be quite witty and has a great personality. The office staff are extremely caring. The patient cordinator has had WLS and is a wealth of information. There is nothing I didn't like about the doctor or office staff. I would recommend this office to anyone considering WLS. Aftercare starts with pre-surgical programs and continues with monthly meetings. Everyone is encouraged to attend. This office is a "Center of Excellence". Dr. Averbach's surgical competence is excellent as is his bedside manner. If you are looking for true quality care this is the office to seek out!

From the get-go I like Dr. Averbach. He is very matter of fact and straight forward in his mannerisms. I don't need to be cradled, I want the information to be spelled out as well as expectations and then to move on. This is what I got from day one. He is a great surgeon, and does give praise when it is well deserved. I love the entire office staff they make me feel welcomed and like I personally know each one and I've only been to the office 3 times.
The aftercare program is exceptional and anyone looking to make sure they are well cared for should definitely look into having their surgery through this program. St. Agnes is a normal operating hospital but everyone their was great and were very helpful.
Surgical competence is what I would rate being a more qualified trait.
It is difficult for me to be negative when talking about a surgery that I sought out, when choosing a physician and a practice you need to choose one that is going to fit your needs, not the needs of someone else. My experience thus far has had little in the way for me to say that any part of it has been negative. I went in to this with a positive attitude trying to do the best for myself both prior to surgery and afterwards. Your going to get out of it what your expectations are. If you expect the worst you'll get it, so if anyone feels that I have been anything less than honest in my opinions of my surgeon, than I apologize in advance. I have a medical background and have met many physicians over time and worked closely with them. Alot of them are top notch surgeons and I feel that after meeting Dr. Averbach that I now can include him in this classification.

I could defenitly tell that my surgeon was well educated, and had a lot of experience with WLS. However he lacked in the personaltiy department.

my impression has not changed about my doctor, i know that he is the best, and is very confident and smart.

the office and staff are very welcoming, they greet you by name, and try to get to knoe you personally. i really appreciated that.
i would have liked for my surgeon to be more friendly, out of the whole office he was the most timid.
He is defenetly The Best Surgeon
The aftercare program is exceptional, you will have all the information about after, during, and post surgery, weeks before the actual surgery.
from a scale of 1- 10 one being the lowest, i would rate him an 9, because i would rather have a timid surgeon than a Doctor who isnt as educated.