Northwest Medical Center Hospital

I drove over 2 hours to see Dr. Wizman and it was well worth it. His staff was wonderful, they all made me feel very welcomed. All I can say is after meeting Dr. Wizman and his staff, I am very pleased and excited to know that they will be taking care of me!

My first impression of Dr. Wizman once one of immediate confidence. He tells it like it is, and pulls no punches. We didn't get to spend much time together on my first visit, but he got his point across and made my husband & I feel very comfortable and secure in our choice.

Over time I have found Dr. Wizman to be an extremely caring doctor. His main concern is his patient's welfare and well being. He makes himself available to his patients 24/7 and will go out of his way to alliviate any problem you may have.

His office staff is just as dedicated to caring for the patient as Dr. Wizman is himself. I have never seen either Kendra or Leslie in a bad mood or unresponsive to a patient's needs & questions, no matter how busy they are. They make each patient feel extra special.

There isn't much to criticize about Dr. Wizman or his staff. Except, purhaps, his habit of being never being on time. But that is something one learns to live with.

I have personally recommended 2 patients to him (one has already completed surgery) and my PCP has referred at least 3 more. A new patient needs to understand that they are putting their lives in the hands of a fabulous individual, who has a gift that he shares with others. They need to know that Dr. Wizman feels that by doing Bariatric Surgery he is fulfilling a need and raising the quality of his patient's lives. This is not being egotistic, it is being altruistic.

His emphasis on aftercare is paramount. The support group that is run out of his practice is informative and fun. His office staff make sure that at each meeting there is a specialist, i.e. Plastic Surgeion, Dietician, Psychologist, invited in to speak to those present. We have even started a clothing exchange to help defray the cost of all those new clothes we need.

Dr. Wizman's information and pre-op classes/meetings address every possible risk to the surgery. He and his staff are available to answer any questions the patient may have. He takes great care to point out all the risks and makes sure that patient understands them and is comfortable with them.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best, I would rate Dr. Wizman a least a 12. His surgical competence and bedside manner are terrific.

He is a doctor who is not afraid to admit that he doesn't know everything. In my past experiences, that is a rare animal and one to be looked on with admiration.

I found Dr. Wizman to be very organized and accurate. My impression hasnt changed much of him. His staff is THE BEST. They dont even seem to mind that I call all the time for stupid questions. Dr. Wizman is a fellow Canadien so therefor a great guy. The aftercare is so important that not only does he charge, but he wont do the procedure if you dont pay adn promice to go to support. The aftercare is very well structured. The risk are gone over and we have to take a pre op test. I love hime and his staff for giving me a chance at a new way of life. I cant wait. He seems to have both down to an art, what he might miss down the road his staff amkes up for.

He has a great since of humor but at the same time can be very serious and stern, you always know where you stand with him. His office staff is very friendly and efficient, some of them have been through the procedure so they will tell you exactly what your are gong to need. I can say anything negative about Dr Wizman or his staff, they are just great people. That he is a very honest person with a great since of humor, but again, very very serious and stern when it comes to the surgury. He emphazies aftercare ALOT ALOT ALOT, for your postop seminars, you must pay 500,00 for this, he never used to charge and people did not ever show up, so he figures if you are dedicated like you say you are then you will be there, I have to agree 500.00 is nothing compared to my health, I;d give double if thats what it took.. He has a very structured before and aftercare program. He lets you know everything about the surgery, the good and the bad, so your prepared. At this point, I rate Dr Wizman very excellent, an all and all great person and surgeon.

My first impression with Dr.Wizman that he was concerned about the problem of morbid obesity and he wanted to help me. His staff encouraged me to fight might insurance company for approval. If they had not done this I do not think I would have fought. Since I have not had the surgery I can only say that he is extremely concerned with after care and wants to know immediately if there is a problem 24/7. According to the info book he gave me, a structured aftercare program is in place. the Risks according to Dr. Wizman are 1 in 200 that someone will not make it.I will give an update as it happens.

Overall I had a good experience. The private room was a very nice luxury. The hospital allowed visitors after hours as long as I said it was ok.

Only less than positive thing I can say is that some of the visitor chairs in the facility, meeting rooms, and patient rooms are thin sized. But they had adequate sized gowns, beds, and recliners for the patients. Over all, a WONDERFUL experience.

the first night was great. the nurses were very helpful but after that it was awful. the nurses forgot to give me my meds for gas pains and when i asked for them, they told me i had nothing. it took me 12 hours of insisting along with my wife for them to check whether i had something for it and then the nurse admitted i did. after that she told me i had receive it already but the previous nurse never bothered to hook it up to my iv and just left it there. the nurse became a bit more apologetic after that but the next one i had wasn't much better and made me wait for 1 1/2 hours for my pain meds. i would not reccommend this hospital

After much work and changing Dr. to Dr. to Dr......I logged on here and found an in-network Dr. in the Margate (Ft Lauderdale) which is about 45 minutes from me. The Dr. is Dr. Wizman. He has been a surgeon for over 10 years, but only doing Bariatric surgery for a short amount of time. I was nervous by that, but called, explained my situation, and JoAnn (his receptionist) was F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C!!! She understood, and was unsure of how quickly I could be seen, but scheduled me for the group session the following week (Tuesday Oct 22). She called me back in about ten minutes and booked my appointment with Dr. Wizman for Wednesday Oct 23. I called my contact at UHC and gave her Dr. Wizman's info and Northwest Medical Center's information. She confirmed that both are in-network and updated my approval! I went to the group meeting, and after about 4 minutes I fell head over heals for Dr. Wizman. Smart, charming, humorous, concerned, and has the right personality for the job. AWESOME!

I saw Dr. Wizman on Wednesday and he too thinks I am a great candidate. He took as much time as was needed and made absoulute sure that I have no questions. His nurse had the surgery (by another surgeon). I met with his administrator that handles his schedule and affairs. She was a phenom! With things scheduled in my life, I need to have the surgery and be recovered by a few dates, so booking the day was a challenge, but she fit me in for November 8, 2002! She said it would be a miricle to get all of my labs, medical clearance, nutrition visit, sleep study and Psych eval done and results in time for surgery. I was up to the challenge. I then met with Faye, his insurance co-ordinator. I have worked in the medical field before and have a good feel for medical professionals. I don't know how Dr. Wizman managed to get such a winning office staff, it is AMAZING! I explained that I already had approval, gave her the name an number of my contact at UHC, and I think she wanted to give me a great big hug! (Dealing with the insurance comapnies on our behalf can NOT BE EASY!)

I left Dr. Wizman's office and went directly to his Nutritionists office (Carolyn Flynn) and they had just gotten a call to cancel an appointment on Friday Oct 25, (today) so they booked me! I came home very satisfied. Yesterday I called UHC and updated them with my surgery date. Called United Behavioural Health and got the names of a few Psych's in my area. None of them called me back, so I logged on and found one myself! He fit me in for today. Dr. David Boltson. I met with him and the nutritionist today...... I called my old boss at the hospital where I used to work and she made a call and my sleep study is Friday! IT LOOKS LIKE IT MAY HAPPEN!!!!!!! WAAAAHHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Ok, worn out, fingers dead. Love to all!

I was not pleased in general with the nursing staff. There were maybe 1 or 2 good ones, and the rest did not seem to care.