"I can only review Dr.Portenier for those things I've experienced. My surgery went very well overall so I can give him props for the "cut/paste" since it was supposedly under his hand. I met the Dr. one time - but luckily met his surgical intern the same day. Dr.Portenier spoke loudly enough that I actually wondered about HIS hearing. He was friendly enough and seemed to know his business - was able to answer most of my questions as long as they applied to the surgery and not the more overall services. However, I did not see him - nor did my family - at ALL the day of my surgery. He called for me to come up to the OR early and then still did not take me until after my scheduled time. Even though I was then running a little late - they did not tell my family that so my family thought I'd been in surgery for hours when I really had just gotten into the OR. After the surgery, instead of meeting with my folks, the doctor asked them (via a nurse) to call the OR so that he could speak to them. My mother believed the worst and was in tears. In reality, Dr.Portenier had just moved on to the next patient - I can only hope that he/she was not open on the surgical table waiting as he spoke with my family over the phone! I was not able to see Dr.Portenier at the 3week follow up either as he was unavailable. All of the other staff members at the Duke Weight Loss Center have been great - but Dr.Portenier has not yet earned my stars. I mentioned this to his nurse and she suggested that we schedule my next appointment on a day that he was sure to be around and she would make a point of pulling him into our appointment. That sounds good, but isn't it a shame that such needs to be done in order for a doctor to actually see his own patient!"
