Kelvin Higa Bariatric Surgeon M.D.,F.A.C.S. F.A.S.M.B.S.

Surgeon Info:
Surgeon: Kelvin D. Higa M.D.
I met Dr. Higa on April 7th 2004. I was nervous and anxious because I had to drive 2 1/2 hours to see him. My insurance company would only authorize a consult with this office. The front office staff seemed over busy and sometimes abrupt and even rude to the patients. I was questioning my options and praying that the doctor and nurse were differant then the front office staff. Once I was called back I realized my prayers were answered. Doctor Higa's nurse was so sweet and caring. She really put my anxities and nervousness at ease. Then I met Dr. Higa. He is a wonderful man!!! Very patient and kind. He answered all my questions. I know that he has many patients but when he was in the room with me I felt as though I was his only one! I've made the right choice!! I'm anxiously waiting authorization for my surgery. Christine at Dr. Higa's office is so awesome!! She is very patient and answers all my questions.

I met Dr. Higa on April 7th 2004. I was nervous and anxious because I had to drive 2 1/2 hours to see him. My insurance company would only authorize a consult with this office. The front office staff seemed over busy and sometimes abrupt and even rude to the patients. I was questioning my options and praying that the doctor and nurse were differant then the front office staff. Once I was called back I realized my prayers were answered. Doctor Higa's nurse was so sweet and caring. She really put my anxities and nervousness at ease. Then I met Dr. Higa. He is a wonderful man!!! Very patient and kind. He answered all my questions. I know that he has many patients but when he was in the room with me I felt as though I was his only one! I've made the right choice!! I'm anxiously waiting authorization for my surgery. One other note about the office staff, it takes them a long time to get back to your phone messages. I'm sure they are busy but they should try to get back to the patients within 2 to 3 days, it usually takes them about 5 to 7 days.

Dr Higa is the BEST! i traveled 2 hours from home for the surgery based on my dr's referral. i couldn't be happier with him. i also met with dr. boone from the same office and is also very nice and extremely helpful. definitley would refer him to anyone, anytime.

I liked Dr. Higa, he had a great sense of humor and maid me feel very at ease. He was very honest and wanted to make sure I understood he was giving me a tool not a cure.

His office is very busy and I have always had to wait to get in. This is probably the only area I think they need improvment in.

The staff is great and his NP Alice is awesome.

Aftercare is critical. They give you the tools and information to help yourself but they are available to you. They schedule follow-up appointments for one week one month 3 months and 6 months, one year and then once a year after that.

They have monthly meetings for post ops to go to for aftercare and learning.

He was clear about the potential risks of the surgery. I had no problems and continue to do well. I would rate him as excellent and recommend him to anyone concidering this surgery. I had a Lap RNY and can not say enough great things about Dr. Higa and his surgical staff.

I had no doubts about his competence but what sold me was his compassion and bedside manner. I think the combination made my experience all the more bearable. If you are anywhere near Fresno California I would suggest having Dr. Higa perform your surgery.

I am being honest about this I waited 5 years to have this surgery and did a great deal of research before I made my choice of surgeons. I even changed insurance companies so Dr. Higa would be covered.

I met with Dr. Higa on 1/14/04. He was very laid back and very nice. He was honest about the surgery and took the time to hear my questions and concerns. He was very upbeat and made me feel very relaxed and comfortable to have him as my surgeon. He basically told me that it was better for me to start planning now for my eating changes. What more can I say. I feel like I'm genuinely in good hands.

I meet him on 1/08/04

Dr. Higa was well imformed and presented well during my initial consult. I was impressed with his source of knowledge and confidence with regards to WLS. Great sense of humor and bedside mannerism. It appeared that Dr. Higa was motivated, honest, and supportive about my descision to seek WLS. Dr. Higa provided me with a referral to psychologist in town and was really honest about the following steps (i.e., psych. eval, insurance approval/denial, risk to the WLS,etc.).

Dr. Higa has a rare combination of warm bedside manner and superior technical skills. I was impressed with his knowledge, breadth of experience, and deep personal interest in the field. His office staff are friendly, sometimes harried, and waiting room times can be 45 to 90 minutes, which is a real downside. The pre-op education is limited to a booklet on the procedure, and they give you post-op diet instructions only a week before the surgery. In my opinion, this is insufficient in comparison to other bariatric education programs I have seen offered by other surgery practices. However, Dr. Higa's excellent surgical competence far outweighs the minor pitfalls in his practice. I would highly recommend him.

My first impression of Dr. Higa was that he is extremely personable, funny, sincere, honest & hard working! He has proven to be all of the above and then some. I truly admire his dedication to his patients and how he made me feel like I was the only one he was caring for. I never felt like he was too busy for my questions. And Alice, what a Godsend! She's his right hand and I just love her. I even had a weekend panic and the oncall doctor, Dr. Bruce, was very accomodating & met me at the office on a Sunday after noon to clean out an infected incision & prescribe a heavy duty antibiotic. I got two calls from the office on Monday to see how I was feeling..... This group of doctors and nurses truly are 'caregivers'.

He was wonderful. He was so patient in answering all of my pre-op/post-op questions. And, he was very patient with my Mom who also had her list of questions. I am 2 1/2 years post op. I feel like I have been re-born. I have had no post-op complications. I have lost 152 lbs. to date. I am now waiting to start down the plastic surgery path - with my tummy tuck scheduled for 1 Dec 2003. My WLS date was 5/15/01. This is now my "re-birthday".