"The hospital was generally one of the best I have ever dealt with, medically speaking. I am a former R.N., with some 40 years of experience with hospitals.
The hospital staff was generally quite good at anticipating needs, and doing everything possible to make your stay as pleasant as possible. They were responsive to all requests for medications, etc. with ONE EXCEPTION.
ONE NIGHT NURSE WAS HORRIBLE! She made negative comments about fat people, was very slow to provide pain medication, and was generally very unprofessional.
ALL of the other staff were great. Their equipment was generally well set up for overweight patients, and the staff were very supportive and caring.
The hospital was undergoing a massive building project, and during the day, the noise of construction was very obvious. The room I was in was old, and the toilet was NOT rated to hold anyone over 300 pounds (it was a wall mounted toilet). The portable potty chair was far too high for most patients to use it comfortably. (I used the regular toilet anyway, without any problems.)
The program staff with the Center for Weight Loss Surgery were simply outstanding. They were always helpful, friendly and caring in their attitudes. Form the first contact, right through all follow-up visits, they were nothing less than supurb.
The surgeon I had, David Barret Williams, M.D. was one of the nicest and most professional physicians I have ever dealt with (I have over 40 years of professional experience with hospitals and physicians).
My one real complaint was with the Vanderbilt Medical Center billing office. They simply could NOT understand that they were dealing with the Veterans Administration, instead of an insurance company. They could not figure out that this was a different billing procedure, and they screwed things up repeatedly. 100% of my costs pre-surgically, for the surgery and hospital stay, and post-operative follow-up were to be billed to the VA, but they kept trying to get money directly from me. They even tried to bill to Medicare (which I had NEVER authorized them to do.)
I was amoung the first group of VA patients referred to this facility, and they were obviously NOT used to the VA billing procedures.
Other than that, I would strongly recomend the Vanderbilt Center for Weight Loss Surgery, and Vanderbilt Medical Center to anyone."
"Excellent technical surgeon, very caring and very much interested in educating his patients.rnrnHe spent as much time with me as I wanted him to. He answered ALL questions, and the few he couldn't, he called in another person to answer.rnrnI have dealt with physicians for over 40 years as a Registered Nurse, and as a Rehabilitation Counselor. I have to say, he was among the best I have ever had contact with.rnrnI am NOT impressed by most physicians and medical clinics. I have to say, the Center for Weight Loss Surgery at Vanderbilt University impressed me a great deal!rnrnBy the way, this list has him under two different names. His name is David Barret Williams, and he is listed under both his first and his middle name."
