Aviv Ben-Meir Bariatric Surgeon MD, FACS

First impression ~ great, knowledgeable, personable kind of guy.

Lasting impression ~ great, knowledgeable, personable kind of guy...an excellent, experienced surgeon that I would recommend to everyone ~ he saved my life!

He is the greatest. He has shown great consideration, he has more follow-up visits than other surgeons. Everyone at St Vincent's (Cleveland Center for Baratric Surgery) is great. He takes the time to explain everything in great detail, and to answer any questions in plain terms that anyone can understand.

I thought Dr. Patterson was very nice and informative. She is professional but personable, we laughed a little and she answered all of my questions. I took my mother with me and Dr. Patterson made sure she answered both of our questions. The office staff was very friendly. They make sure you understand that you know what they are doing every step of the way. They advised what they were doing and what to expect next. Dr. Patterson explains the program, and what will happen after surgery. She gives the statistic for the surgery and lets you know what to expect. She addresses the risks of surgery as any surgeon I have had in the past has. She gives the statistics and explains what the risk are and what the greast risk is, which is a hernia. She tells what they will do in the event of each situation or what you should do. I would rate her as very professional, very well educated and confident. I think she was great.

I met with Dr. Aviv Ben-Meir on Septemeber 5, 2003. I have changed surgeons because I really want the lap procedure so I can return to work sooner. I have also had lap surgery to remove my gallbladder and for endometriosis, so I know what to expect for pain and recovery. Dr. Ben-Meir requires all of his patients to view a patient information video at the office before seeing him as well as attending the centers information meeting. He was friendly, and professional. He is very confident but not cocky. His office is the same as Dr. Patterson's, so the staff is very friendly. I have a new administrative assistant, Latonya Riley, she is very nice and seems like she will be very efficient. All the staff jokes and is friendly. Patients should know that Dr. Ben Meir is professional and will answer any of your questions, he will do an examination of your stomach before he excepts you and told me if I had any questions later to call Latonya and she would take a message and he would call me back. Dr. Ben-Meir emphasize aftercare, and what precautions need to be taken before and after surgery. Dr. Ben-Meir went over all the risk and compared the lap procedure with the open, and his personal percentages. I am a health professional and feel very satisfied and am glad I was able to change my procedure type. Overall I would give him a great rating and recommend him to anyone who asked. Surgical competence is of course better, but a bedside manner is also need to make me feel at ease.

My first impression of him was very high, he let me ask a full list of questions during our consultation and did not seem to be rushed by others waiting to see him. I felt that he wanted to make sure I had all of the information that I needed to make an informed decision. My impression has not changed.

The office staff is very caring and understanding. They are willing to take the necessary time with you in order to help you understand, or feel more comfortable.

Future patients should know that he seems to be very thorough and is very skilled at the surgery.

Aftercare is emphasized a great deal. The aftercare program seems to be very structured in order the assist the patient.

The risks of surgery was dealt with up-front and straight forward. This one of the things that I really liked about Dr. Ben-Meir, there was not any of the beating around the bush.

Overall, I would give Dr. Ben-Meir and his staff very high ratings.

In my opion, both surgical competence and bedside manner are very important. After all, this is life change that we are dealing with, not just a simple slice and dice surgery, you have deal with the emotional aspect as well.

I really like Dr. Ben-Meir and the staff at CCBS.

He has a sense of humor, but still remains professional and knowledgeable. He covered all the aspects of the surgery and explained them to me, both the good and the bad. I have heard from my aunt, who is a nurse there, that he is very involved and caring about his patients.

He is in a group of a number of skilled and well respected surgeons, and the office staff is great, though very very busy.

If anything I would say that I would like to have more time with the surgeon to discuss the surgery before it happens.

In the hospital, he was great. He stopped by every day and answered all of the questions we had. He's very soft spoken and gentle, but also very very good at what he does.

After discovering that Dr. Kligman's surgery schedule is out to November of 2003, I decided to check with my friend (who's had the surgery) for another referral. She recommended Dr. Dietrick, who although has done only approx. 20 surgeries, has performed laproscopies for 13 years. He also teaches lap at St. V's, and trained under Dr. Richards.
So, I met him today.
At first he seemed very formal, but I realized it was only to relay the seriousness of the operation. He then became very warm, understanding and answered all of my questions. I'm looking forward to working with him through this process.

I've finally chose Dr. Ben Meir at the Cleveland Center for Bariatric Surgery. I had my consulation last week, and respect him very much. He's kind with a good sense of humor and very thorough.










My first impression was that Dr. Kligman is very professional and intelligent. I've only seen him at my very first seminar, and others have told me he'd seem not very warm. However, I disagree. I'm looking forward to the program with him.
Dr. Kligman was very specific and thorough in his presentation; he didn't try to talk you into anything -- just the facts.

Dr. Ben-Meir strikes me a being a very kind and gentle person. At my consultation, he let me ask all the questions I had and provided me with information. I have contacted other patients of Dr. Ben-Meir and have heard no negative feedback. Everyone talks about how wonderful he is and that he is a perfectionst.

My first impression of Dr. Ben-Meir was great! He had been joking with me in the waiting room because he kept thinking that I was next. He took all of the tension out of speaking with a stranger. He is both a wonderful surgeon and most compassionate person. He was there 100% for me and for my family. I cannot think of anyone else I would have rather gone to. I am so pleased with him that he is going to do a hernia repair for me. The hernia is not from this surgery it is an old one that has been repaired twice already and when he performed my surgery he saw that it is ruptured again. He promised me a repair job that will stay!!! Now that makes me happy!! His aftercare program is great. You know exactly what is expected of you. Afterall he has done the 60% as we were told.. now I am responsible for the 40%. That is why St. Vincent's and Dr. Ben-Meir are so succesful. All risks were made perfectly clear in his initial meeting with me in a frank but not frightening way. When I walked out of that meeting with him I knew that I had the best. His surgical competence and bedside manner are both tops!

Dr.Ben-Meir is a great surgeon he talks to you his staff is very helpful. I would not have surgery anywhere else. He is very caring and knows what he is doing He tells you that he will take good care of you and he will! At the Cleveland Center for Bariatric Surgery was a great experience for such an important time in my life.

My first impression was that he was very competent and easy to talk to. He reviewed the procedure completely and stressed that this is a tool to lose weight and not a total solution to the weight problem. He also discussed the risks and complications.

At the end of my visit though he had me talk to a member of his staff that had had the gastric bypass. She was very discouraging. She discussed that I looked like a good candidate on paper but I might not be a good candidate in reality. She encouraged me to look into other methods of weight loss. I felt bad, and eventually became mad. They were my last hope and I had already tried everything else. Why would some other method work? All of the other staff had been so nice and helpful and then this total turnaround. The doctor wanted me to have a psychological exam, not required by my insurance company. I was upset at the implication that my weight problem was caused by a mental problem. I'm convinced it is not.

I thought about it for a couple of weeks and then decided not to give up so easily so I scheduled a psychological exam.

The exam went very well. They psychologist was very nice and easy to talk to. I voiced my concern about the need for a psych exam. I didn't understand what I had said to indicate it. She discussed it with the surgeon and found that he was concerned about my current eating habits. The psychologist found that it was not an ongoing problem.

So the surgeon was being cautious and I now see this as a good thing.

If you do see him go ahead and ask all of your questions. He will make sure you understand and take the time. I needed to ask a couple of more questions and it would have saved me my anger and delay in my process to schedule a surgery date.

The do have a very good structured aftercare program. There are support groups and people available to answer your questions.