Sentara Comprehensive Weight Loss Solutions Organization

Dr. Wohlgemuth is without a doubt the most caring and understanding physician that I have ever been to. He is very WLS friendly and never once made be feel bad about my weight and making this decision. He was very empathetic and very supportive. He requires that you have insurance approval and have attended at least one of their support group meetings before surgery is scheduled. His secretary is just as caring and their entire office runs like a well-oiled machine.

I feel very lucky to have found this group and especially this doctor.

This group is just starting to have all of their doctors do the same after care across the board. Up to this point, they were each doing something different. They also have one WLS nurse who will field all the WLS calls. She's actually had the surgery herself and has done great.

The support group meets on the second Tuesday of each month in their Kempsville office waiting room. All are welcome. Post op, pre op and even "just thinking".

The only thing that I can think of as negative is the fact that they only have the one WLS nurse...sometimes she pretty hard to get ahold of and at early post op...EVERYTHING is an emergency to you and want answers yesterday.

Dr. Fontana is not only thorough in his review of the surgery at the first appointment, but he is understanding and caring in his approach to his patients. Not only did he describe the surgery by drawing it out for me, but also explained about the risks. He was understanding and patient will my "list" of many questions. He answered every single question and was available when I had additional questions.

I was nervous about taking the "big" step to say that yes I needed wanted to proceed with surgery. Dr. Fontana put me at ease at our first meeting. I continue to feel this way. Because of a mix up at my insurance company, my original surgery date in September 2005 was cancelled. However, Dr. Fontana and his staff were able to reschedule my surgery for less than two weeks after my original date. I was heartbroken because of the delay, but Dr. Fontana and his staff went above and beyond to fit me in - even performing surgery on a normal office day and not a surgery day.

I am three months out today - I had surgery on October 4, 2005 and he and his staff have been nothing but supportive, understanding and great cheerleaders.

I would and have highly recommended Dr. Fontana to people that have asked about my surgery. The NSG program is thorough and excellent. I have two friends that did have surgery through a doctor in Virginia Beach and didn't have the pre-op care that I did. The exercise physiologist, dietician, psychologist, surgery coordinators and support groups are all excellent.

Dr. Fontana's surgical competence and bedside manner are excellent. Again, I would highly recommend him.

Overall, I would rate Dr. Fontana and Norfolk Surgical Group as excellent.

AT MY FIRST VISIT HE TOLD ME ABOUT THE SURGERY, HOW LONG HE HAS BEEN DURING THE SURGERY, WHAT TO EXPECT , I FELT VERY COMFORTIBLE WITH HIM AND THE STAFF OF NSG IS VERY GREEEEEEEEEEAT, AND INFORMATIVE.

Dr. Fontana is wonderful. He was very informative and kind. He was also professional. He gave info thoroughly and answered all questions. He made me feel comfortable and confident that all would be well. He never made me feel uncomfortable. The staff at Norfolk Surgical Group is the tops. They take great pains to make sure everything is explained. I have spoken to many people that have delt with him and all have the highest praise for him.The program for bariatric surgery is excellent. I truly don't have any negative comments. Except that it took so long to complete the process, but that is needed for preparation. He and the Group get an A+++ from me.

My first impression was excellent. I met Dr. Wohlgemuth at an information session. He was using a computerized presentation explaining the procedure to the audience and followed up with a question and answer session. I was so impressed it was "love at first sight". I told my husband that Dr. Wohlgemuth will be my surgeon.

My impression of him did change once I had my first consultation. My appreciation for him as a skilled surgeon continued to grow! He is very friendly. He has a wonderful sense of humor. Both my husband and I laughed a lot during my first visit with Dr. Wohlgemuth.

His staff is awesome. They take professionalism to another level. They make sure to follow up on any questions and they return calls promptly. The staff kept me fully aware of every step of the insurance process. The staff made sure to call my insurance company to obtain what is required for approval BEFORE my first visit.

Future patients of Dr. Wohlgemuth need to be aware that he is very skilled and he is not afraid of a challenge. As a Jehovah's Witness and a suffer of Von Willenbrand Disease, Dr. Wohlgemuth treated me with respect and agreed to have me as his patient. In fact, he explained the possible consequences of refusing a blood transfusion and the possible complications of having a bleeding disorder while having a gastric bypass. Although, the blood issue was serious from a surgeon's standpoint, he realized I was serious about maintaining my religious stand. In response, Dr. Wohlgemuth immediately drew up an excellent game plan by coordinating my operation with my hematologist and family doctor to ensure the safest surgery possible. On 8/8/05, my surgery was a success!

Dr. Wohlgemuth is the director of the Bariatric Program. He strongly emphasizes aftercare. In fact, Norfolk Surgical Group works with Sentara Health, coordinated a program with YMCA, and has monthly support groups with guest speakers.

I would rate Dr. Wohlgemuth as an A-Class Surgeon. Both his surgical competence and bedside manner was outstanding.

Please note: This is my personal impression of my own personal experience. I am not making any statements about what other people may experience.

Thank you

So far, I have only had one consult with Doctor Wogelmuth, and was extremly impressed with this person. Looked me in the eyes when he spoke to me . Seemed so caring . Wanted to get the surgery ball rolling for me right away. His coordinators are very good and they call me to see how I am doing. On a scale from 1 to 10 this doctor gets a 20 for first impressions! Oh yes, they are very concerned for you before and after surgery. They have wonderful programs for you to go to exercize classes, support groups and dietary sessions. They have the most complete program I have seen. He also made sure that I was very aware of the risks. He has a local T.V. show about gastro. surgerys and has been interviewed in several popular magazines! After I meet with him, all I could think was WOW !!! Amazing! Never met a doc. like him. He was great! Can't say enough good about him, really! Hoping the surgery goes just as well as my first impressions were.

I am impressed with the number of lap RNY procedures he has done. I liked what he had to say at the informational seminar I attended with my husband. I will actually be meeting with Dr. Fontana on Friday the 10th of June and will add more info at that time.

I met with Dr. Fontana and he is awesome! He explained everything to us and made sure we had all our questions answered!

I am very comfortable with their whole program at NSG (Norfolk Surgical Group) -

My husband saw Dr. Boustany for a different issue and we liked him. We had worked with two different bariatric surgeons and one moved and one quit doing the surgery so we had to find a new surgeon. We liked his bedside manor and decided to give him a go.

The office staff is great once you have insurance approval but they don't get involved in the approval process. It was up to us and our PCP to fight a 4-year battle. The policy of Norfolk Surgical Group is that you have to get pre-authorization from your insurance before they want to see you and they tell you this at the information meeting. Once you are approved they have a great staff in their bariatric program.

Dr. Boustany is a stickler for pre-op diet and aftercare. He requires a 30 day liquid semi-startvation diet (that is what he calls it) before surgery along with weekly weigh-ins at his office. He has two different support groups that he encoruages participation in before and after surgery that are run by his nutritionist.

Dr. Boustany was very open and professional about addressing the risks.

I haven't had surgery yet but I feel very comfortable with his skill and bedside manor.

Awesome Doctor! Put me at ease at first visit, explaining in depth the procedure and what to expect.

Care while in the hospital was first class. Dr. Fontana checked on me regularly, and did a wonderful job of my surgery. Seven months later, no complications and great results!

I highly recommend Dr. Fontana for anyone that has a chance to go to him.

Awesome!!