"Dr. Ken MacDonald in Greenville, NC is one of the best surgeons out there if you are considering WLS. He is extremely knowledgeable and will go to great lengths to insure the safety of his patients. It was very evident that patient safety was his first concern as we went through the first doctor/patient consult. He told me and my wife all of the risks involved with WLS and explained in great detail his planned approach to aid in mitigating the risks. rnrnMy first impression was here is a doctor who knows his business. Over time, I realized just how great of a doctor he is as he would recount personal information about my particular case with ease and without referencing any of his notes. Given the number of patients he sees, I was very impressed. rnrnDr. MacDonald and his entire staff, especially Bobby Lou, are very caring, especially during the aftercare phase. They are always willing to discuss issues or answer questions you might have. They constantly stress that you should contact the office if you ever have any concerns whatsoever. rnrnOverall, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rank him a 9. No one ranks as a 10 in my opinion, but Dr. MacDonald does come close. One piece of advice, don't be put off by his down to business bedside manner. He warms up over time as you build the doctor/patient relationship. As for his surgical ability, he can't be beat. If you are considering WLS, do yourself a favor and schedule an appointment with Southern Surgical and Dr. MacDonald. The only negative I can think of, they are an extremely busy office. Appointments sometimes are weeks out and they do run behind schedule at times. On the flip side, once you make it through all of your preops, you will be amazed at how quickly you will get a surgical date. "
"My only comments were related to the post op patient room. It was near the helipad and was either extremely cold or too hot. A little noisy, seemed like a med helicopter was landing every 30 minutes. The room was also near the boiler room so unless you set the thermostat to 60 degrees, it was extremely hot."
"I was scheduled for surgery on November 10 and found out on November 7 that WakeMed had issued an immediate moratorium banning any future gastric bypass surgeries at any of its facilities. They issued this statement privately to all of the doctors with bariatric priveleges at their institution. They did not even bother to call any of the patients who were scheduled for upcoming surgery. My doctor was abale to notify me shortly after WakeMed made this stunning decision. Now my surgery is in limbo untit my Dr. can regroup and reschedule procedures at another local facility. I certainly hope Rexx treats their patients better than WakeMed. Apparently this decision was made solely by the current hospital CEO (William Atkinson) and has not been endorsed by the hospital board. I can't believe a decision could be made like this without approval of the hospital board. I can only hope that the board will review this and reverse the decision. Even so, I think I will be having my surgery elsewhere and will never use WakeMed for any reason ever again."
