Samuel Szomstein Bariatric Surgeon M.D.

My first impression was that he was very inteligent and well informed he seemed to care a great deal... Asured me that all will turn out fine.. Everything turned out Great!
His office staff is very disorganized but maybe they are too busy! My advice is for Patients just keep on them they will never return your call unless you are a pest and about the insurance get involved yourself they don't help much with that! Keep on it.. Fight for what u want~!!!!
Good Luck To All!!

Extremely knowledgeable

It didn't

Very kind and helpful

Do not always see him. See his residents

He's very busy.

Encourages it greatly

Yes

Matter of factly

10

Both are important

Dr. Szomstein was very nice and to the point. He took the time to answer all my questions and explained all the risks of this surgery. His staff is wonderful very organized and willing to help. Aftercare is something that the staff at CCF emnphasize very much at all times. Right now I would rate Dr. Szomstein a 10.

Dr. Szomstein was great, he spent enough time with me to explain all I needed to know, but come prepared with questions. I can see how I might feel rushed if I wasn't prepared. The orientation I took was helpful, but like everything else once you get home there are many questions that come up. As silly as it sounds take the time to write them down and bring them with you.

His office staff was helpful and professional. They were not trying to sell me on the surgery, and made both the benefits and risks of the surgery clear to me and my family.

My husband and I are both going for WLS approval. Dr. Szomstein saw us together since our problems and stats were so similar. He talks very quickly, so pay attention. He said we are what is called, "Super Morbidly Obese, but there is nothing 'super' about it." OH ha ha. :-) He said we are both excellent candidates, all we have to do is the pre-op tests and get approval from Aetna. He asked if we wanted to go under the knife that same day or split it up. We both going under September 21, 2004. I have to give a shout out to Lori Rick from Cleveland Clinic. SHE IS THE BEST!! Hint people: Email Anita and Lori, much preferred over phone calls!

He looks very nice and that he has a lot of experiense.

I saw him only one time.

His office staff is Excelent.

He seems like a nice person

and very professional.

I had a good feeling about meeting and having my surgery with Dr. Szomstein. The whole Clevland Clinic staff is friendly and helpful. I had never been in the hospital before so it was like a field trip! Every single person that helped me was sincere and kind. I did have a complication and Dr. Szomstein wanted me in ICU for an extra day. My blood pressure and heart rate were really high and it was because of the pain I was experiencing. As soon as we figured out what the problem was, I was so much better. So note, if youre in a lot of pain, tell them! The do not want to see you in pain.
The aftercare is extremly important. The nutritionist wants to see you every month and they schedule blood work to be done. They also hand out a booklet/notebook for you to use. It's a good tool to have, lots of information.
I had surgery on July 15, 2004 and just went back for my 2 week check up this week and lost 20 pounds. I'm feeling great, people cannot believe that i had surgery two weeks ago and im so alert and okay!

I felt that Dr. Szomstein moved quite fast and I am not use to that. He was very knowledgeable about the Insurance and Surgery, positive and straight to the point.

I've only met with Dr. Szomstein once. My next appointment with him is August 4th so then I will be able to elaborate more about his personality. I hope this time we can sit and chat ;)

I am very impressed with the Bariatric Staff. They are really busy and sometimes they can get overwhelmed. But they are great, Nurse Karen was very helpful and Anita was supportive, I guess that comes with the territory. But they are great and Cleveland Clinic is a number one facility. Everything is there, all you have to do is get there and no matter how many different specialist you may have to see please know that Cleveland Clinic has it. I couldn't have picked a better facility.

Aftercare is very important to the Bariatric Staff at Cleveland Clinic and they didn't sugar coat what would happen to you if you didn't follow their recommendations pertaining to Aftercare.

I'll rate them at a 9. Which most likely would increase after my 2nd Appointment with Dr. Szomstein ;)

7/21/04
He has a good sense of humor and was kind to me. Another doctor was with me at first that is there for a fellowship and when Dr. Szomstein came in he said that he sends the other doctor in first because he is better looking to warm us up. He didn't spend much time with me because I didn't have many questions. The staff set me up with all of my appointments over 2 days so that I would be able to get it done as quickly as possible with as little disruption to my work schedule since I drive about 120 miles to get there. They were very accommodating and I was setup to see the Nutritionist (mandatory) for that afternoon. I will be done with all my pre-cert appointments by August 10th, 2004. The Cleveland Clinic seems to have everything streamlined and under control and tells you exactly what you need to do as well, since it is not entirely in their hands to get approval. They stress aftercare and give you all the positive and negative information so an informed decision could be made. I feel very confident that I will be taken care of and I am in very good hands with the surgeon and his staff. It appears that he has great bedside manner in addition to surgical excellence.

I think Dr. Szomstein and the entire staff at Cleveland Clinic Hospital-Weston are the best! I always get prompt replies to my e-mails or phone calls and everyone seems to genuinely care about what the patients are going through. The professionalism of the program, moral support, and written material is incredible. I highly recommend Dr. Szomstein and trust him explicitly!

Thank you, Dr. Szomstein!!!!!!!