Baptist Health South Florida Organization

The Miami Hope Center Staff is great. They are all very helpful and they treat you nice. Dr. Gonzalez is very nice and up front about everything that you might need or go through. He is a very good listener. He will answer all your questions. He addresses the risks of surgery very much into detail. he knows very well, what you want to hear and know about. When i told him about a fee that a psy was charging for an evaluation and how ridiculous it was he recommended other psy and he was so nice in agreeing that it was too much what they were asking for. He makes you feel comfortable. He is not like those doctors that just ramble on and talk. He asks you questions and lets you express yourself. I give him a 9 1/2 out of 10. We will see after surgery how good he is in keeping up with his patients!

Dr Whittwell is great. I knew that from the first time that I met him at our initial consult, and he is fortunate to have a great staff. These ladies are awesome, they even came to visit me at the hospital. Dr.Whittwell was totally honest with me from the start, he told me that the open procedure would be best for me, I went there with lap on my mind. Dr. whittwell told me all the facts in relation to open vs lap. I live in Key West and Dr. Whittwell is in Miami, which I thought might be a problem with the aftercare. No problem, Dr. Whittwell explained all the do's and don't's very clearly, and his staff accomodate my visits very nicely..
I highly recommend Dr Whittwell and his great staff to all.

I saw Dr Rabaza in August. Was impressed with him. His level of knowledge and his manner. Made my appointment for the initial consultation after the first group meeting. But somehow missed this appointment and had to reschedule, Well this had to be 7 months later. So being the impatient person that I am I went to see anoher surgeon. Did all of the preop requirements but had some problems with the doctor. Did not feel comfortable with her way of doing things so since I hadn't cancelled my appointment with Dr. Rabaza, I waited for him on 3/18/03, Then, I got a call on 3/17 stating that my appointment was canceled and had to reschedule. Now the new appointment was 4/1/03. Well it finally came around. I saw Dr. Rabaza and he thought that I would do well for a Lap. RNY. Oh the joy. I could have kissed him. Now I am waiting for insurance approval.

Dr. Rabaza was very knowledgeable. He knows his business. He explained everything and even drew a diagram on the board. I first contacted his office in July 2002. I received an appointment on Nov 14, 2002. This was a group meeting. My next appt. was scheduled for March 25, 2003. The office called me on April 2, 2003 and said the insurance company wanted a copy of my thyroid test. I faxed it to Dr. Rabaza's office on April 4, 2003. Within 1hr of receiving the fax Dr. Rabaza's office notified me that I had been approved by the insurance company. Now I'm looking forward to setting a surgery date! Many people at the group meeting had nothing but nice things to say about Dr. Rabaza. Many of thier friends and family members had surgery with him also. I picked Dr. Rabaza because of his qualifications. I researched him and I am very impressed.

He was GREAT and a very nice staff!!

My first impression with Dr.
Gonzalez was great, he took the time to explain everithing about the surgery and was very clear.

I was recommended by my primary physician to speak with Dr. Gonzalez and from the moment I spoke with him I knew that I liked him. He was honest and upfront about the pro's and con's of the surgery. His office staff is wonderful I was calling them alot while waiting for the insurance to approve and they were always very helpful and assuring to me. I have recommended several of my friends to him but unfortunately he is so busy that they were told he didn't have any appointments until July of this year. If he would not have been my surgeon I don't think I would have had this surgery. To me surgical competence is the most important.

He is the best surgeon I have ever met. He is very empathetic to you and knows what he is doing. His staff is horrible, but he is the only reason for putting up with it. I have referred everyone to him including my sister.

My first impression of Dr. Rabaza was that he is very shy. I felt I was pulling words out of his mouth. However, I do know that he is highly respected in his field and that is more important to me than his personality.

The staff is very nice, slightly disorganized but very nice.

We did not discuss aftercare, I guess that should have been brought up, but it wasn't. I was so nervous, I regret not taking someone with me to help me with my questions.

I did ask about the risk of surgery. He told me that he only had 1 person in over 600 that had died. That made me feel a little better.

THE MAN IS A GOD. tHE STAFF IS OK, AND HE IS NOT VERY FRIENDLY SNF QUITE SERIOUS. HOWEVER, HE IS NOT THERE TO BE MY BEST FRIEND HE IS THERE TO PERFORM A JOB. THIS SURGERY HAS CHANGED MY LIFE. I WILL BE FOREVER GREATFUL TO HIM. HE IS A VERY BUSY MAN AND HIS OFFICE IS ALWAYS PACKED BUT IT IS WELL WORTH THE WAIT. HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING HE IS NICE BLUNT AND HONEST. THE MORNING OF THE SURGERY HE MADE ME FEEL VERY COMFORTABLE . HE WAS VERY NICE AND CALMING. I DIDN'T EXPECT IT. HE PERFROMS SURGERY WITH GOD RIGHT NEXT TO HIM. HE IS TRULY GIFTED!