UVAHealth Bariatrics Hospital

Months before my visit I was sent a booklet explaining everything involved in this surgery. I found that to be very helpful and it answered a lot of questions I wanted to ask as well as one I had never thought to ask. I was so excited about my visit I was an hour early for my appointment. His nurse, Anna Miller, was delightful, helpful, and informative. I met with an intern before meeting with Dr. Schrimer. The intern asked all the questions concerning my health and entire well being. He consulted with Dr. Schrimer and then they both came back into the room. I am glad my appointment was early in the morning because the waiting room was packed full waiting to see him. He asked very little questions but I am guessing because he had consulted with the intern. He told me things would be finished up with in a week and he would send out all the info to Cigna then. I asked Dr. Schrimer if he thought there would be any reason I could be denied and he said no since VA has laws now protecting obese people against insurance companies. After four weeks and no word I called and spoke with Dr. Schrimer's secretary. The first time I had spoken with her she was nice and let me know that the paperwork had not been sent yet. She was somewhat rude to me during the second call when I was trying to get the denial info faxed to my doctor (PCP). During that call she was a little short with me. I wasn't sure if she had had a bad day so I was polite even though she was rude to me. I hope it was just a bad day and she doesn't speak to all patients like that. I asked that she fax the info to my PCP and she flat out refused. She told me that they had the info and she wasn't going to send it again. I asked her what number she was sending the info to and it was the wrong number. She said that she would call his office and tell them that the info would be on it's way. Of course she did not. She did however locate the correct number and sent it to my PCP.(UPDATE: Since then, Dr. Schrimer's secretary has been wonderful to speak with. I am glad that we are now on better terms.) It has taken alot to get things where they need to be. Dr. Schrimer has a three to four month wait for the surgery since he is the only doctor who is able to do this surgery in my area. After getting approved I will have to wait months before having my surgery. I did email Dr.Schrimer and let him know that I was fighting this and would be seeing him soon. He emailed me back to wish me good luck. That made an impression on me since he's such a busy man. I am thankful that in the very near future Dr. Schrimer will be the one person who can help me lead a healthier life.

12/21/01
During these last six months I have gotten to know a whole new "family" at my doctor's office. After our Xmas party last week it was wonderful to see how much Dr. S changes the lives of some many people. I am so glad that my PCP, Dr. Slawson, was so wonderful to me and cared so much about my health that he helped me to get this surgery done. 2002 I will have a whole new outlook on life because of some very kind doctors and their staff members who are helping to change the life of so many obese people. Thank you all!!!!

Dr. Schirmer is a no nonsense person. He really cares about his patients and its not just about surgery. He takes his time answering even the dumbest questions. He is very interested in his patients in the long term and requires a yearly visit with him after the first year. In the first year you will see him at 2 weeks, 8 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year. His office staff is pretty reasonable too. His nurse Anna Miller is very kind and makes you feel really special. She held my hand when I was nervous about a test I needed to take. She is wonderful. I would recommend Dr. Schirmer to anyone looking into this surgery. My incision by the way looks wonderful, like a plastic surgeon put me back together

Dr Schirmer, was very kind and helpful on our first meeting. I will be seeing him again when i go through my pre-op procedures. He answered every question I ask and his interns are very informative. The office staff are very kind and help as much as they can with all of your questions. I will add more as i know more.
I have now seen Dr Schirmer 3 times and my surgery is scheduled for Auguast 27, 2001. Dr Schirmer has a great bed side manner. He answers all the questions you ask him and explains the procedures you do not understand. His staff are all very helpful and you feel very important each time you are seen in his office. Even though it is a very busy office.

Only meeting Dr. Schirmer and his staff last Monday, I was very impressed with their professionalism and organization. Dr. Schirmer was very easy to speak wwith, answered any questions and spent as much time with me as I needed. I was invited to attend the support group which was meeting that day, but needed to get to work.
I am very excited about the whole process, and the beginning of my new life.
Dr. Schirmer was very honest when I asked him about the surgical risks and the mortality risks.More will be added as my surgical date approaches. I'm scheduled to have the psych. evaluation AOn May 2.

I was impressed with Dr. Schirmer on my first visit, he seemed interested in helping me and was very willing to answer my questions as well as the people supporting me. My impression is still that he is a caring, but very busy man and sometimes unavailable when complications arise. Anna Miller is his nurse and Amy Radigan is his Nutritionist, both are excellent and would do anything for you if they thought it was going to benefit you. I don't enjoy the residents and interns changing every month and since you see them on every visit, you somewhat have to start at the beginning and tell them everything. They offer a support group and hand out a package of information in the beginning to help prepare you for after the surgery. All the risks of surgery were well presented except the possible need for a feeding tube, which did happen to me, but knowing this ahead of time would not have changed my mind. I do not regret the surgery at all. I would receommend Dr. Schirmer and his staff very highly, his surgical competence is excellent and his bedside manner is good.

i thought dr. schirmer and all of his staff were wonderful. they answered all of my questions and i was surprised to find out that the dr. himself sometimes comes to the support meetings. the only advice i would give to anyone going to see him is to take a book. there seems to be an hour or two delay in appointments. his office is very busy. i'm not upset by this fact, but several people in the waiting area seemed to be surprised at the wait.(my husband brought a gameboy to keep from getting bored ;) )

I THOUGHT DR SHIRMER WAS VERY INFORMATIVE SINCERE AND VERYT CARCARING MY IMPRESSION OF HIM ONLY GOT BETTER AND HIS STAFF I GREATI HAVE NO COMPLAINT ABOUT HIM OR HIS STAFFHE IS VERY THOUROUGH IN WHAT TO DO POST OP AND DURING RECOVERY NAD AND HE DID TALK ABOUT WHAT COULD HAPPEN AND THE STATISTICS OF SIDE EFFECTSOON A SCALE OF 1-10 HE IS DEFINITELY A 10......AND AS FAR AS BEDSIDE MANNER AND SURGICAL COMPATENCE BOTH ARE SUPERIOR

He seems to be a qualified surgeon and has lots of help. I only saw him for a few minutes but his reputation is good.

His office staff are very friendly and are always most helpful, even when I sometimes get frustrated because things seem to take so long. He has qualified staff who do their best to answer any questions and make you feel free to ask them no matter how stupid you might feel asking it. The doctor involves many components with his surgery. You are required to do psychological exams, nutrition education, support group participation, and what to expect after the surgery.

The Dr. depends on staff to develop needed information and education. A packet of information was sent with frequently asked questions, after care, and changes for the rest of your life.

I have every confidence in the doctor and his team.

My first impression was that he was very busy, but caring. My impression of Dr. Schirmer only improved with each visit. He treats his patients with the utmost respect and not like many physicians of morbidly obese patients. His sectretary was helpful about keeping me informed of the next step and about times and places of appointments. His RN, Anna Miller is a God send and is a true angel in every sense of the word. She was not only there to hold my hand for pre op procedures/tests, but there for my family supporting them as well. I like everything about Dr. Schirmer, however, if I had to say one thing I would change, that would be the redundant questions from his residents/interns,etc... In a teaching facility you say many interns/residents and it becomes an annoyance to say the least. Future patients should be very aware that their appointment will be an all day event. Don't plan on doing anything else that day, bring a book, bring a walkman, bring a friend, but plan on spending the entire day as clinic is very busy and always running behind. Dr. Schirmer places a huge emphasis on aftercare and has a multi disciplinary team made up of nutritionists, mental health specialists, physical activity planning, a huge support group. He and his staff make the risks and/or complications very clear upfront. Overall, I would highly recommend him to anyone considering weight loss surgery and I have heard many people say they had to wait too long to be seen or whatever, I looked at it like this, I have been this size, close to 400 pounds, for this long, I can certainly wait another two months to get the best possible care available. I owe that to myself. If I had to say which is better, surgical competence or bedside manner, I would have to say surgical competence which is FINE with me as I am having surgery and less than two weeks and the bedside I can certainly live without, the competence I can't.

Dr. Schirmer was the first person to treat me as a pperson not a "fat person"
He is distinguished, caring, and very professional.
His office staff were also caring and were very honest about the procedure
and all risks of the surgery and beyond.
He came to see me every day that I was in the hospital.

The only regret was that the surgery was done in a teaching institution
in which there were lots of residents and interns.

They stressed proper nutrition and exercise after the surgery. They do have a program at
UVA but it was too far for me to travel, so
I devised my own. I went to a professional
trainer and developed my own exercise program.
I started out in the pool at 2 weeks postop.

Dr. Schirmer is great, I would recommend him to anyone considering
the surgery. He has both great bedside manner, and surgical
competence, and he is nice to look at.