"Its wonderful! Every experience I have had at this hospital has been as positive as it could be. I have never met one person at the hospital who had a poor attitude with patients or a poor outlook in regards to their job. "
"The surgeon that I have contacted for bariatric surgery is Dr.Roy Smoot in Havre de Grace, Maryland. His office is called Upper Chesapeake Bariatric Center. They are right next to Harford Memorial Hospital. Its my understanding that they are a year into setting up a complete Bariatric Center in Harford Memorial.
My first impression of Dr.Smoot office was a good one. The office is in an old, art deco building on the second floor. The staff person you first meet is Melissa who handles the desk and submitting insurance information. She is personable and a Bariatric Bypass patient herself *3 years ago I believe*.Chris is Dr.Smoot's nurse, and she handles giving basic education on the process, follow-up, eating, etc. There is a nutritionist whose name I don't recall but I haven't met her yet. I will update this part after I meet her.
The consult took several hours, and in the beginning is done in a conference room format with several people at the same time. Chris presents all the basic information, then Dr.Smoot comes in and introduces himself. He then gives a presentation about the surgery, how the surgery is done, risks, possible complications, his experience, how he handles everything, etc. He is open to questions at any time during all of this!
Following this he talks to each person privately and individually, asks if you have any questions or concerns, asks basic questions to find out what possible issues you may have that may require tests *for sleep apnea, gall bladder, etc.*. Following this, with a smile he sends you back to Melissa who gives you all the pertinent contact information and scripts for tests, answers and final filing questions, and you are done until the tests are completed and you are called to schedule a second pre-op appointment.
My first and lasting impression of Dr.Smoot is that he is personable and down to earth, friendly, caring, committed to his selected specialty and the patients. I left feeling really good about everything and expect my opinion will only go up from here! I could easily see Dr.Smoot as someone that I would enjoy having over to dinner with his wife and kids on Memorial Day to talk about fishing and the latest things in the news.
One thing I didn't know about until the orientation meeting was that the whole process does have a $1000 follow-up program fee that must be paid prior to surgery. This is something that insurance companies will not pay for, and Dr.Smoot is VERY big on follow-up, support group, nutrition counseling, etc. While initially rattled by this I was comforted by the fact that they want patients to go through the ENTIRE process...not just the surgery and immediate care. "
