does it matter where you go??

I am new so if this has been answered before im sorry I did search a bit...

It seems to me some people are waiting more then a year and others are in and out in like 7-9 months.  Does it matter what surgeon you go with??  I am based out of Toronto.  Well actually I live in Mississauga but my family Dr. is out of North York. 

Trying to guage how long it will take from beginning to end.

Juls

 I got my family Dr. to refer me to the Bariatric Clinic (cause my dad had it done Feb 2011) so I knew what info they needed and sent everything right from the beginning to speed things along.  My Dr. sent it in June 2011 and I got my paper work sent to me around November 2011.  And i went for my first info session in January 2012.  I was told that my surgeon they set me up with had a short waiting list.  I was given Dr. Huynh but I was just recently told that he wasn't able to preform my surgery on the date given and they found another surgeon who could do it the next day.  So now I have Dr. Starr doing my surgery May 24th.  I know a few people have waited a lot longer then I did so I guess I just got lucky.  

Amanda

I am not sure but I have wondered why myself.
I lived in Muskoka when I was referred end of October and just had my surgery end of April.
I hate to say this, but, I have met other people while waiting for appts at the clinic/hospital who are MUCH bigger than me and who I think would benefit more than me by having the surgery and they have been waiting for 2 years.
These people have other health complications that are weight related and the surgery would reverse most of them. I almost feel guilty when I think that I "got taken" before them.
Anyone else have any ideas?

Perhaps those people are chosen later because of their health issues; i.e. they're higher risk and therefore fewer surgeons are willing to take them on? Just a wild guess here.

Each center has it's own wait time issues. From reading the board & my own experience I think Humber has the shortest wait times. Since you're in Mississauga you may be referred to Humber. From orientation to surgery it only took me 5 months.

5 months is fantastic.... I want it done sooner then later but not sure what information I need to take with me so that the ball gets rolling sooner...

I don't have any comorbidities...YET.  So I shouldn't be held back for that ....

Do I just ask my GP to send me to a specific place?  Like Humber???

I want to do this the right way....

Julia

You have to get your GP to refer you through the www.bariatricregistry.com and the registry assigns you to a centre based on your postal code.  You can't just have them assign you to a specific centre anymore.  You'll be called or sent a letter from whatever centre you are assigned to.  Best of luck to you. :)

 My step-mother gave me the fax number to send the referral but I can't seem to find it.  But if your Dr. knows it or you can find it somewhere your Dr. can fax a refferral over to them at Humber.  I did look online and it says there is a new refferal process but it was already in place when I was refered and they accepted mine.  Or you can just do the refferal the RIGHT WAY!

I agree the wait times make no sense. I do believe the wait times in Ontario are reasonable compared to some provinces.

I moved quickly through Ottawa and if I was to guess why it might be I was a patient of the clinic almost ten years ago.