Surgical Bariatrics Northwest Bariatric Center

Dr Pennings is a very caring person and listens closely to you. He and his staff will help you in every aspect and do it with a smile. My impression has not changed of Dr P. He always answers my calls even after 3+ years post-op. He doesn't push you aside to go on to the next person. He makes the time to be there for you. I have to say that there has not been one thing that I found offensive or irritating about Dr P. or his staff.

Any future patient should ask plenty of questions and know that he or his staff will help in any way possible to inform, reassure, and lead the way. Dr P. and his staff encourage all patients to be fully involved in their aftercare. Workshops, support group and follow up visits are available and patients are sure to gain the strength and support of staff, Dr P. and former patients.

Dr. Pennings let me know up front through workshops, office visits, and straight forward conversations that this surgery had risks and not to be fooled by the weight loss. The weight would come off but I would need sound nutritional advice, and possibly emotional and mental help to help change my self image.

Being diabetic has made it harder, I think, to go through the program. But in looking back, I know that everything Dr Pennings nad I did to make this life better for me has certainly worked and he has my undying gratitude for showing me the way.

Dr Pennings is a great surgeon and because he has obesity in his family he understands the highs and lows involved. He believes in what he does and he gives back to his patients, not only in time spent but in his overall guidance and caring attitude.

Bedside manner is wonderful when you're in pain or feeling sorry for yourself, but give me that great surgeon with a good helping of bedside manner and you get the best available from both worlds. Dr. Pennings is the BEST!

My first impression of Dr Pennings was GREAT. He is a wonderful, caring and compassionate man and surgeon. He cares for his patients and their health and overall well being. His program is very comprehensive, he makes sure all aspects of the weight loss process are taken care of. He addresses the multiple issues of the surgery including mental health evaluations, a nutrition counselor, a physical therapy team and a wonderful office staff. His aftercare support group meetings are a tremendous and valuable resource for support, ideas, and a wonderful opportunity to get questions answered from trained staff and even other patients.
I would recommend Dr. Pennings in a heartbeat to anybody considering the surgery.

Dr. Pennings and his entire staff have been awesome. Heather really works to get things moving and I really appreciate all she has done so far. They are all very caring and concerned about all their patients. They have a great pre op and post op program to get you prepared not only physically, but mentally.

Dr. Pennings is extremely professional. He's
been a skilled laproscopic surgeon for many
years and began doing RNY in April of 2001.
I met with him first in June of 2001 and
was impressed with the fact that he made
it known that this is a serious surgery
and that I had to be aware that I could die
from it. He's strict about having his
patients go through several tests, attend
mandatory support groups and follow a
structured diet plan.
In the beginning I was a bit concerned about
his lack of experience with RNY, but after
meeting his other patients and seeing their
results and hearing their comments about
how much they adore him, my mind is at ease.
His staff is wonderful, caring and
considerate. Dr. Pennings is very caring
and has a great bedside manner. I will
update this after I have my surgery. My
surgery is scheduled for Feb. 11, 2002.

UPDATE 2/16/02 - My lap RNY surgery was performed
on 2/11/02. The surgery took 4 hours and was
a success. Dr. Pennings is absolutely
wonderful. I adore him and am so thankful
for the new life he's given me. He is
very concerned, professional and sensitive.
UPATE 1/28/04 - It's hard to believe that
it's been almost 2 years since I had my
surgery. I am now a size 2 from a size 24.
I have grown to admire Dr. Pennings even more
as time goes on. He truly cares about his
patients and their success. He has performed
many more successful surgeries and has
many happy patients. I would recommend him
to anyone serious about wanting to live a
healthy life, free from obesity.

Dr. Pennings is truely a very nice man. He made me feel very confortable in talking with him. His program is great. Overall very excited that I choose to go with him.

Dr. Pennings has always seemed to be a great doctor and my impression of him has not changed at all. His staff is awesome, they worked very hard with me to get the insurance all worked out.
You all should know he does require his fees paid up front. We used a very low intrest credit card. He is very into after care which I think is great. He is also into the Pre op care which I didn't think was that necessary but now that I am post op I can understand

Dr. Pennings and the staff are wonderful. They do not let you slip through the cracks and are very supportive.Dr. Pennings is very knowlegable and thurough with this process. He has a wonderful team to work with from the dietican, physical therapist, and psychologist. I am lookking forward to working with him on my future and feel very blessed to have found him.

Dr. Pennings is very sympathetic with the obese person. He's very busy, though, and I sometimes felt rushed through his office. When I had internal bleeding after surgery, he was right there trying to fix the problem. Thankfully, he was able to. He's dedicated to helping obese people and his rates are very reasonable.

I was very impress with Dr Pennings. I have heard very good things about him and my impression over time has stayed the same. His office staff is very supportive. There was nothing I like least about Dr Pennings and his office staff. What future patients should know about Dr Pennings is that he has develop a great program to help with weight lose surgery. I'm still pre op, waiting for a surgery date, but from what I have heard has been very good. That is one of the best things about seeing Dr Pennings is the structured aftercare program. Everything was explain in great detail about the risks of having this surgery. I would rate Dr Pennings as being very accomplished in his practice and what he does for the weight loss surgery. I'm still pre op, waiting for a surgery date, but from what I have seen and witness from his patients I would say great for both surgical competence and beside manner.

Dr Pennings reflects professionalism, compassion and integrity. I felt comfortable talking to him and felt he was open and honest with me. His staff is easy to work with. I am a Group Health member and Dr Pennings just completed a contract with Group Health and things are still being worked out. Group Health informed me that the $1000 program fee that I had to pay covered the post op support group and GH covers the rest. In reality the program fee covers the pre op Mental evaluation along with two pre op support group meetings, and the post op support group meetings along with the post op office visits. I understand that the contract was new and not everyone was totally informed of what was what, My hope is that they will now have the correct information to tell GH patients as it has been frustrating to understand it one and then be told at a pretty late date that it is being handled a difference way.