AdventHealth Bariatric Surgery & Metabolic Medicine at Celebration Hospital

First impression: Quiet, caring, thorough. Office staff was helpful, and friendly. Dr Smith explained that the only surgery my insurance, BCBS, will cover is the RNY (lap) which is what I wanted. He answered all my questions. I did not feel rushed at all. Donna, his insurance coordinator was very helpful. They have a packet of information prepared that gives you all the necessary steps to getting insurance approval.

Dr. Dennis Smith Jr. Is the most gentle man I have ever met. He really cares about about quality of patient care and takes as much time as you need to explain everthing in detail, pros and cons. My impression of him has only gotten better with the more research I do on him. His office staff is very busy and a little shorthanded, but all considering, they do the best they can with the staff they have. They are friendly, but a little slow returning calls. There is absolutely nothing I dislike about Dr. Smith. However, he does need more office staff. He is a very skilled bariatric surgeon, he does Rny's and Biliopancreatic Deversion with Duodenal Switch, Open and Laproscopically. He has also taught others how to do the laproscopic pocedure. Aftercare is very important to Dr. Smith, even if you are an out of state patient, he still would like you to have your 3,6,9 and 12 month follow up appointments with him if at all possible. If you can't travel to see him, he will be conversing with your PCP in your home town, to find out the results of your blood work and other tests. In my opinion, I would rate Dr. Smith the BEST of the BEST!!! Dr. Smith's bedside manner and surgical competence are both great, there is none better!!! Thanks, Rita Mueller

So far, I had the pre-visit to view the surgeon's video tape and recorded slide show presentation on the types of surgery, processes, risks and his experiences. I felt the slide show with his voice over was honest and open. I also felt it was worthwhile even though I had performed considerable research prior to choosing WLS.

My initial consult with Dr. Smith went very well. I had visited one other surgeon and felt like I was in a WLS factory where my initial consult lasted 2 minutes. My visit with Dr. Smith was quite the opposite. Heh did a thorough review of my history and we discussed all the issues and questions I had.

I chose Dr. Smith to do my WLS surgery for a number of reasons. First, I preferred to have laproscopic surgery and he specializes in this type of surgery. I also checked out his credentials and am impressed with those as well as his aftercare program. I spoke with a current 8mo post op patient in the waiting room while I was waiting for my initial consult as well as reviewed considerable feedback on the WEB from other former patients. What I've found when reading feedback is that 99.9% of post op's swear by their surgeon, whom ever they are. Very few ever have anything bad to say. How can we not be happy with the person that restores us to normalacy in the world's eyes. I hope to be there one day soon too.

The office staff is very helpful and pleasant. Dr. Smith recently opened this new office dedicated solely to WLS. I'd heard stories of long waiting room waits at his previous location but saw nothing like that at his new location. The waiting room is comfortable with chairs suited for the large people the come to his office. You would expect this from someone who specializes in WLS, but I didn't necessarily see that with the other surgeon I visited.

Which is better surgical compentence, bedside manner or both? For me, surgical competence takes top priority and bedside manner is a plus if you get it.

Denise called me for my first consult visit. She was very patient with me{a newcomer} and my 100 questions. This was my first impression of the office so I like what I see so far.

Skilled lap surgeon. Very detail oriented. Kinda quiet, not overly outgoing, but caring and knows what he's doing. Aftercare is stressed as an important part of his practice.

I met with Dr. Smith on 7-22-02, I was extremely impressed with him and his staff! They were wonderful and sure knew their business! I'm so happy I switched from my old surgeon. My other surgeon does not have much of a follow up after surgery, nor does he have any support group! My old "choice" in surgeons was good, but Dr. Smith is excellent! He does all the labs ect for follow up! I'm very pleased and impressed with him!

UPDATE 01-14-2003 Dr. Smith is just wonderful! His follow up care is the best! Plus his office staff is the most wondeful people you could ever meet! I'm so glad I switched surgeons and went to Dr. Smith! He truly cares about each and every patient! He will do anything you need done to ensure your health! When I kept complaining to him about my problems with the nausea after the "healing process" he immediately got me into a doctor to do a scope test so we would know what was going on, and sure enough I have ulcers, so he was right on target with what he thought could be the problem, this is one very talented Doctor! My advise,, Have Dr. Smith JR as your surgeon,, you won't be sorry and the wait is sure worth it!

Dr. Smith seems to be a very through and intelligent individual. I appreciate the fact that surgery date was not scheduled until all lab and ex-rays were clear. This made me feel that he pays attention to each case individually. The office staff seems to be limited. Donna the nurse seeems to handle paperwork as well as see patients with him. This probably makes process longer. Overall rate Dr. Smith 8 out 10.

Called Dr. Smith's office on 11-7-02 to schedule a consult appointment. I was placed on the waiting list for June 2003. Oh well, I will just have to wait because it is not to many doctors performing duodenal switch.

They were wonderful and have continued to be every time I go back

He has been great. I am an out of state patient, and they are very aware of my specific challenges. He is understanding and makes you feel great. Oh, and the staff, they are just wonderful. One has had the DS and one the RNY. Both are so willing to share their experiences. I did have problems with my insurance approval process and if it wasn't for Donna's encouragement, I might have given up. They also have an on-line support group where a nurse from the office is a moderator, so that can answer a lot of questions as they come up (kind of like this site on a smaller level).