Donald Hess Bariatric Surgeon MD, FACS

I recently underwent a Lap band procedure at Center for Nutrition and Weight Management at the Boston Medical Center. I was under the care of Dr. Donald Hess he is the best, and I have nothing but great thing to say about him. The first time we spoke I had a very bad experience trying to have the Lap band surgery done at one of the other major hospitals in Boston, they said I was not a good candadate for the surgery after looking at ALL of the tests Dr. Hess said I don't agree. I trusted him and he was correct. After the surgery, I was up and around 1 1/2 hours later and home a day later. I have since lost 20 lbs and am going for my first fill this week. Dr Hess was kind, very responsive to all of my questions and made me feel like I was his only patience. His nurse, Tony expedited the insurance process and helped tornensure I was able to focus on what I needed to focus on: myself. In closing I HIGHLY recommend both this facility and Dr. Hess my experience was everything I could have ever hoped for. I would also like to thank Dr.Istfan at the Boston Medical Center for all of his efforts over the years. JOB WELL DONE.

I have known of Dr. Hess from working at the same hospital as him. I've seen the quality of his work for a couple years. When i was thinking of having the lap-band procedure there was no question who I would have do it.rnI also had to have another procedure done at the same time. He helped coordinate the surgeries and also took into consideration some possible complications. He is very compassionate man and excellent surgeon.rnI have nothing negative to say about him. The staff at BMC where excellent. They met my every need. By the way, he's much cuter in person. His picture dosen't do him justice.rn

I have not met him yet, but I will soon on May 16, 2005.rnUPDATE Jan 9, 2007: I have an update since May 2005. I ended up meeting him @ QMC because his consults there were a shorter wait. I saw him April 8th instead, he was really warm and explained everything to me, he put me in the surgical program and I started doing my testing in September. I found out I was 6 weeks pregnant @ my xray appt, so I had to put a hault on everything. Now I had my baby in April of 2006, and I am now back on the program, so once again I had a 2nd consult with him this was on December 18th 2006. So now I'm back on!!rnUPDATE May 22, 2007: I had my consult with him, and he remembered me from April 2005, and since I had most of my testing done on Sept 2, 2005. Dr. hess allowed me o skip all that and just take the phyc test in Feb, then I got an initial date for May 22, 2007, but then him nurse Tony changed my date to May 8th, 2007. Dr. hess is awesome! He answered all of my questions. He's the best, I couldn't say anything more about him. His personality is so soothing. He made me feel special and comfortable on the day of my surgery, he said he was soo excited on the day of the surgery, adn that took some of the tension and off for me.rn

Excellant Bedside Manner!!! I'm thrilled to have him on my team!

My first meeting with Dr. Hess was yesterday April 5, 07. Let me just say it is so wonderful to meet such a wonderful doctor. He seems to put you right to ease. He isn't judgemental and is understanding of the things we overweight people go through. The nurse Tony that helps you scheduale appts. and makes sure you are on track is AMAZING! Let's just say he is very funny and again puts you at ease!rnrnIt was an overall rewarding trip!

My friend told me that I'd love him, but I had no idea he would be so nice! Most surgeons have little if any bed-side manner, but Dr Hess is so full of personality and a smile that immediately put me at ease. My consult was more like visiting a close friend. He seemed to know what I was going to ask even before I knew! Even when I ran into him in the hallway on a visit to the nutritionist, he remembered my name and asked how my pre-op diet was going. This man genuinely cares about his patients and understands our pain, a rare quality, especially in a (very thin) surgeon. According to the support group, he hasn't lost a patient, yet. I also spoke with someone who had experienced complications, but was completely confident in his plan for corrective surgery and said she wouldn't hesitate to do it all over again. His enthusiasm for helping us carries over to the members of his staff who are always willing to talk to us and answer our concerns. They went out of their way to get my paperwork in to Tufts so that I would not fall victim to their newly-imposed, arbitrary one year waiting period, intended to save the company money, as the expense of our health & well-being.

Dr Hess is the best! My surgery was in 2002 and he remains supportive and helpful. I would recommend him withouth reservation!

My first impression of Dr. Hess was that he was a very sweet man, who genuinely cared about the well being of his patients. He took the time to answer all my questions, as well as calm my husbands fear of mortality with surgery.rnrnMy impression of Dr. Hess has yet to change. He's still the careing doctor I entrusted with my life. My only problem was I ran out of pain medication 2 days after I came home, and I called in for more, but Dr. Hess wasn't available to sign a prescription for a few days. By the time he was available, I no longer needed the medication.rnrnDr. Hess' office staff are really on the ball with things. I think I've had one problem of not being able to get a phone call back, and it was explained later that the person I was trying to reach, actually wasn't in the office that day.rnrnFuture patients should know that if you're looking for a kind, caring top knotch doctor, then Dr. Hess is highly recommended by me.rnrnDr. Hess always told me that having surgery was the easy part, and the aftercare is the hard part. Taking care of yourself becomes a priority, and it becomes your #1 priority.rnrnThey certainly do have a structured aftercare program. It's required by their office that you follow up with them for a year after your surgery. The first follow up appointment is about 2 weeks after surgery, then a month following that, and I believe it's every 3 months after that... rnrnDr. Hess showed me documentation that stated what the risks of the surgery were, he also showed me that staying at my pre-op weight had a higher risk of death than actually following through with surgery.rnrnI would give Dr. Hess and his team an 11 out of 10. I would go higher, but I feel that states what it should.rnrnBoth surgican comepetence, and bedside manner are a must, and Dr. Hess has both. He's a magical doctor to me. I've never ever been so comfortable with making such a decision.

I cannot say enough postive things about Dr. Hess from Boston Medical Center. My weight was 450 lbs when I first started to investigate the surgery and laparoscopic surgery was very important to me since I knew it would make my recovery easier. Another well known Boston hospital told me that laparoscopic surgery was impossible because of my size and I would need to be at least 380 lbs to consider it. I switched programs and started with Dr. Hess who has done laparoscopic gastric bypass surgeries on people well over my weight.rnrnI was required to lose 50 lbs before surgery. This was very hard and I did not actually lose that much (I lost 30 lbs) but it showed the staff (Wendy - Nutritionist and Tony - RN Program Coordinator) that I was serious. I had at least 5 to 7 appointments before my surgery was scheduled. My first surgery date was cancelled due to a possible medical complication and although at the time it was difficult it shows how careful the program is.rnrnThere is a very structured aftercare program and lots of follow up with both Dr. Hess and Wendy Anderson who is the nutrionist. Wendy is very helpful and resposive to phone calls and I have relied on her guidence as I make my way through the different diet stages.rnrnMy surgery went very well. I have five small incisions which have completely healed. I was in the hospital for three nights and have had no complications.rnrnI cannot recommend Dr. Hess and his staff highly enough. I have 100% confidence in him.

'From the minute I met Dr. Hess I knew he was going to be my surgeon. From the get go he is an absolute professional