"During my first consultation with Dr. Hoeltgen, he seemed a little hyper and fidgety. Aside from this, he allowed me as much time as needed to discuss the entire wls procedure, from getting approval from insurance all the way through the post op diets and nutritional requirements. He went over all the risks thoroughly and made sure I understood them. At every step of the process he kept me will informed of what to expect. As an example, the day of surgery he saw me before surgery and explained to myself and family how long the surgery was expected to take, how long I'd be in recovery, what kind of room I'd find myself in when moved from recovery, and even went through how many tubes I'd have and what they were for. It was comforting to know this information beforehand.
His office staff is great. They are enouraging and helpful with questions and paperwork that needs to be completed.
The only thing that made me uneasy about Dr. Hoeltgen was his age. For some reason I tend to equate respect, authority and skill with someone older than myself. I keep getting older and older, so I'm going to have to use a different measurement.
For post op support, Dr. Hoetlgen will refer you to the program at Good Shepherd Hospital. I am a great distance away from there, so he suggested I do research and find a support group close to me. However, when I was discharged from the hospital, the nutritionist that visited me gave me a list of groups and contact names with phone numbers for me to use to locate a group close to me.
Overall, I am extremely satisfied with Dr. Hoeltgen. I think he excels in his surgical competence over the bedside manner, but I have no complaints about either. During my second pre-op visit, Dr. Hoeltgen even told me that he would be out of town for a day after surgery and one of his associates would visit me in the hospital instead. Dr Hoeltgen stopped to see me in the hospital the evening he returned."
"I have been to many other hospitals either as a patient or family member of a patient. I was a patient in the stepdown unit here. While other reviewers of this hospital have made negative comments on the privacy of this unit, they should remember that the unit is structured specifically to provide the post-op patients with the extra care and monitoring they need. They succeed at this very well with their unit setup by keeping the patients together and allowing the nursing staff one central area to cover. When needed there was always a nurse only a few seconds away."
