AdventHealth Med Group Bariatrics at Tampa Organization

Dr Gonzalvo is one of the nicest doctors you will find. Him or those in his office unless every issue and question has addressed.

My surgeon was very nice, direct and informative. Over time I was more impressed with his knowledge and sensitivity for his patients and the problems that go along with obesity. The office staff was amazing, they brought me step by step thru the whole process so I could get approved by my insurance. I would recommend him hands down over the other people that are in his group. When I went into the surgery, there were no surprises, he let me know everything to expect. Any questions I had he answered fully.
I don't think I could have found anyone better then Dr. Gonzalvo. I say that because I went to 2 others and kept moving on until I found someone that I felt was there for me, for the long haul. He is and will be. Thank you Dr Gonzalvo, your awesome!!!

I was pleased with my surgeon. He always allowed me the time to ask any questions that I had and I never felt rushed or that he was in a rush. My husband was able to ask him questions as well and Dr. Dietrich took the extra time out with my husband to speak to him as well.

Love my surgeon! Quiet in demeanor but very pleasant! What I like best about him is that he is very thorough! Your visit is not over until all of your questions are answered!!! All risks concerned were addressed. Aftercare stressed and plan given to you in a forward manner. Bedside manner is impeccable! Michelle

He is the best surgeon with an exceptional bedside manner.

having rny was the biggest mistake of my life. i am 8 yrs out and am in horrible shape.
before surgery nothing was said about some of the post op problems that i have encountered. i have a permenant neurological disease, constantly have to have iron infusions, need to take 50,000IU of Vitamin D every week.
his program had no form of postop support except for seeing him and then seeing him was only on rare occassions. when i would call with problems related to the surgery
i would be referred back to my primary care dr.
when i started to regain weight he sent me to a dr he works with where i was put on diet pills and a pwder supplement. this whole program was a joke-it was $75 a visit and your appointments lasted only 20 min and you started with weekly appointments and then went to every other week. of course the only place you could get the pills or the powder drink mix was at the office. it was a real scam going on. i quit going to that program when the gain cont. to happen. i wrote a letter to the dr in charge of the program and no one ever called or responded to it. I now weigh more then i weighed as a preop.
I WOULD NEVER REFER ANYONE TO DR MURR OR TO THE SPECTRA PROGRAM.



UPDATE 2/13/2003
I am now 10 months post-op with Dr Murr and loving every minute of it. I feel like I've been given a whole new life. I have lost almost 140 pounds, wearing clothes I never thought I could wear and finding out what fun means in life.
I cant belive that someone called Martha, his coordinator, a B---- and had the nerve to post it here. Things like that need to be said in private. Yes I have called her wacky but that doesnt make her any less of a professional. She always takes time before Support Group Meetings to chat with the post op patients who show up to help her with the group.
I cant wait for my one year appointment at the end of March to get an offical weight loss for a year. I'm excited.
A big THANK YOU to Dr Murr and his staff for giving me a new lease on life.


I liked his directness. I have only seen him once. His coordinator is a bit wacky, but very helpful.(6-25-02 Martha, his Coordinator. is a very professional person. My first impression was one of being wacky, but having worked with her now as both a pre-op and a post-op, I have come to realize thats just her personality. She is very quick to answer emails and always has something nice to say. Dr. Murr could not function without her.)

3-18-2002
Office staff doesnt always level with you where things are concerned. I have been actively seeking approval for 10 weeks now, or so I thought, only to find out my paperwork was not submitted until 2/18/02 unlike 1/9/02 as I had been told. His coordinator has been telling me all along that sometimes things take longer, but she knew the real truth. When I asked about it at a Support Group Meeting on Feb 26th, she did not mention anything even though she knew the papers had just been resubmitted.

I am sure there will be more to come.

3-22-02
Approval received today. I had called CIGNA on 3-21-02 and was told that they had NO INFORMATION on me. No file, no nothing. well apparently they were wrong since Dr Murrs coordinator called me today with my approval. we set my date for 4/9/02. OMG thats barely 2 weeks away.

4-4-02
Pre-op testing done today along with registration. Where do I start???? I arrived at Tampa General and went to get registered and the lady told me that I did not exist in the computer--sound familiar-talk about a nightmare. We found out that they had misspelled my last name in the computer-phewwww talk about a relief. the Pre-op Ctr at the hospital is nice--everything is in one place. It did not help that they had a huge plate of muffins and doughnuts in the waiting room. My only complaint was that I had to wait 1 1/2 hours to be seen by Dr Murrs resident. They had done all of my pre-op tests and evaluations, but the wait was horrible. I know I had to be seen by a member of his team, but to have to wait 1 1/2 hours in a freezing cold room was horrible.
Now the real countdown starts. I have such a list of things I have to do by Monday, but I will get them done.

4-23-02 2 WEEKS POST OP
They discovered I had a UTI during my pre-op testing the week before and I would have expected them to call me and start me on some anti-biotics instead of waiting until I am in the OR to tell me. What a way to start my surgery day.
Where do I start? I only saw Dr Murr once the whole 4 days I was in the hospital. I did not see him the day of surgery, I only saw him the next evening when I spiked a fever after the Leak Test and I guess he decided he needed to check up on me. He let all his residetns and med students do the rounds. I didnt even see him on discharge day. I'm sorry that I dont have anything really positive to say atthis time, but maybe later.
Feel free to email me if you desire more detailed information.

6-25-02 11 weeks Post Today
Wow, what a difference a few weeks can make in ones perspective. I'm down 62 pounds since discharge, back to work fulltime and my energy increases each and every day. My Diabetes Type 2 have disappeared, my GERD is a thing of the past and I feel like I have a whole new lease on life thanks to this surgery. I'm continuing to work on my eating and getting my protein in first and joining the gym at work next week. Now that I have the energy back, its time to put it to use on EXERCISE. We had support group tonight and before it started Martha and I had a chance to talk and she was able to better explain the "problems" I had experienced with my insurance. It ended up not really being a problem, it was more of my not being able to have surgery until after Easter that caused all of the delays. My only wish is that Dr Murr had a Support Group for Post Op patients.

Great bedside manner so far! I really liked him and his entire staff!

I chose Tampa General Hospital and Dr. Murr because I had a friend who initially had some complications with a different surgeon/practice that went on for months. Dr. Murr was able to fix those mistakes and she now praises him for saving her life. She had such wonderful things about him. After attending their monthly seminar I knew Dr. Murr was the best in the area and decided to go with him. My surgery was a success and I have had no complications still to this day. I feel he is the best and am very happy with my results. He was a very nice man for the 10 minutes I've spent with him and that was at my initial multi-disciplinary appt. I did not see him at my pre-op appt, nor the morning of my surgery. He didn't speak to my family after surgery, leaving them to wonder how everything went. Finally the evening of my surgery he did come to my room on his rounds. He stayed long enough to tell me everything went great and that was the last I've seen of him. I met with a \"very new\" resident for my post-op appt, which I wasn't thrilled with. I have great confidence in Dr. Murr as a surgeon, but he is not very accessible. This practice is EXTREMELY busy and it's difficult to get things done without having to ask more than once. I just want to be honest so those interested know what to expect. I feel they are very knowledgeable but the support system from the staff is not really there. They expect you to rely on fellow patient's to talk about your experiences. They are a Center of Excellence and highly respected, but if you need a lot of hand holding beware it's tough to get.

He is great , I loved him and the staff at the surgical weight loss center. Office is great and comfortable. Very caring. I give him a 10

I've met with Dr. Murr once, and at that time he was very informative and cordial. I understand why most of his patients find him easy on the eyes! I can't really say much more about his 'bedside manner' as others have, since I haven't experienced it, but for all those out there that have dissed him for being too business-like, all I want to add is that I wasn't looking for the most friendly surgeon, I was looking for THE BEST QUALIFIED. I believe I have that in Dr. Murr, but only at post-op can I be sure. All I've heard from med professionals, friends and acquaintances that DO know him has been very positive. rnrnWell, here it is, five years post surgery. I can honestly say that Dr. Murr did fine by me, but since I have no experience with other bariatric surgeons, is he the best?? WHO KNOWS? I had problems. Pneumonia two days after surgery, but that's one of the risks. I was also given sugar in the hospital so had my first experience with dumping, which was AWFUL, but oh well, all I could do was complain about it, which I did. I do feel that Tampa General can do alot better as far as cleanliness goes. I found the bathrooms to be gross, especially when you have to share them. It was wonderful when they put me in ICU after developing pneumonia, because I had a room and bathroom all to myself and it was CLEAN. The nurses were mostly top notch. Dr. Murr's partner was not the nicest guy, but I can't even remember his name now, so it's not like it was that big of a deal. I do feel the Dr. Murr can make improvements with his follow-up care of patients not just weeks, but years after surgery. I went to him due to bone loss, and for whatever reason, it's as if he didn't care that I was having that trouble and that nothing I have now was caused by the surgery. He also will not bill insurance any other way than by saying it's for obesity, and if your insurance is like mine, it won't cover obesity visits, especially five years down the road. Wouldn't Dr. Murr want to follow his patients progress years down the road as a way to chart anything that might come up that's relative or shows a correlation to the surgery??? Maybe he doesn't think a certain problem is being caused by the surgery, but what about if he sees the same thing in 20% of his post-op patients 5, 10, 15 years later? Wouldn't he want to include that in his surgery information to anyone thinking about getting it done?