Center for Laparoscopic Surgery Bariatric Center

My first impression of Dr. Rutledge was that he was very caring, and super nice. Dr. Rutledge is still the most caring doctor I have ever seen. He always responds to my email almost instantly. His office staff is very nice, but extremely busy. I have no complaints with Dr. Rutledge or his staff. Dr. Rutledge makes each patient complete a very detailed packet to make sure they understand the surgery, its risks, and benefits. He requires you to have a pcp that will do follow up care, but he is always available to answer questions. Dr. Rutledge went into great detail about the risks. I feel he didnt leave anything out. I chose Dr. Rutledge because he is an excellent surgeon, however his bedside manner is awesome.

I was amazed with Dr. Rutledge. I expected him to be more conservative, in reality he is pretty laid back. That is not to say that in order to get the surgery done by him was easy. It was not by far. Dr. Rutledge requires an extensive amount of writing and research on the patients part. That is why it makes it so worth while. I have met Dr. Rutledge and he truely is an extraordinary man and professional. He is genuinely concerned for his patients and is not one of the money hungry type. He is a ham, but do NOT get the wrong impression. When it comes to The Mini Gastric Bypass he is a rock that will not budge. He wants you to be very honest with him and yourself, and does not take the surgery litely. I have truely been blessed to find him and his life saving surgery. If you are from out of town, that is more than a 2 1/2 hour drive from Durham, plan to stay a week at least to make sure everything goes okay and then Dr. Rutledge can take your staples out at clinic. His clinics are now being held on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1pm. For more information go to http://www.clos.net

Dr. Rutledge is a very caring person. He understands the emotional as well as physical problems associated with obesity. His office staff is very helpful. I called them anytime I had a question. He is very concerned about his patients after they go home from surgery and requests that everyone keeps in contact and lets him know how they are doing. He was a trana surgeon for 20 yrs. before becoming a bariatric surgeon. He is friendly, cheerful, has a good sense of humor, but most of all is knowledgeable. I trusted him completely.

My first impression was very good of Dr. Rutledge. I went for an evaluation back in March 2000, and saw a film and saw patients who had just had the surgery, as well as people desiring the surgery like me.

I did not see the doctor any more before my surgery six months later. However, I conversed with him through e-mails, and got answers to questions I had that way.

My impression has not changed over time; I still find Dr. Rutledge to be highly professional as he was the first time I met him.

The office is very nice; however, they are extremely busy and hard to get sometimes.

Future patients should know that his bedside manner is great, and he treats the obese patient with respect and dignity.

He highly emphasizes aftercare, and return visits.

Yes, he does have a structured aftercare program.

Regarding risks of this surgery, he spells it out, and tells that you can die from this surgery, and is very thorough in this.

I would rate Dr. Rutledge as a 10+++++, and am so thankful I went ahead and had this surgery.

In surgical competence, bedside manner, I would still rate him equally a 10+++++ on both.

Very concerned

He was always very willing to return calls and responded well to questions.

Office staff were very helpful

Dr. R. requires that you have follow-up with a PCP from your local area, and you must have a letter of recommendation stating that he will follow you when you return home.

You have to thoroughly search information regarding the surgery, the possible complications and side effects of it and you must state them in your own words in a 10 page letter.

I would rate him as a 10 on a scale of 1-10!!

Surgical competence!! For the most part his bedside manner is also great!!

I met Dr R on 10-10-00, he is a caring doctor which is hard to find. He requires updates in follow up care. He explains all the risk of surgery. His staff is very helpful and very busy.

Dr. Rutledge is a superior surgeon and educator. He forces you to be informed regarding the bariatric procedure he performs. He prepares your for the best and the worst of surgery. His staff is understaffed and difficult to get in touch with. Occasionally emails are not answered and calls go unanswered. He has difficulty keeping up with the flood of new inquiries.
Rutlede places a very high empahasis on after care, both medicinally and nutritionally. I give Rutledge very high marks for surgical competence and bedside manner. His care and compassion for the obese is unparalleled.

I can not say enough about Dr.Rutledge. He is the most informed,caring,skilled doctor I have ever met. He made it clear that this was not a miricle cure for my morbid obesity this is a tool. He requires an extensiive evaluation, family support, your acknowledgement to the dangers and expected outcomes. He is always available for me. He also contacts me thru e=mail to "just checking in". He has made available to all his post and pre op patients a support network on the internet. I would highly recomend him to anybody who wants 5 little scars instead of a 12 inch incision, to return to work with in 7 days. to leave the hospital in 24 hrs if you are ready and if you have to pay like I did spend less than $11,000. Dr.Rutledge is always thinking of what is in the best interest of his patients and I feel honored to be one. He has made this Mini Gastric Bypass available to those of us who chose to meet his requirements it took me 2 months to get a psych. evaluation,get letters of support from my family members who also were required to read the manual, then write a letter stating that I understood what I was risking. I can not think of one negative thing about Dr.Rutledge!

I first met him at the clinic on June 13th. I think he is everything I thought he would be. A very kind, compassionate, caring individual. He knows exactly what he is doing and he makes sure that we are also knowledgable of what he will be doing for us. I had to really work to get the information packet together that he requires. And it must be exactly as he says in the Patient Manual. If it is not, he will not accept it. He makes sure we understand what he will be doing, how he will do and the benefits of what he has done.

We have to write a paper that proves to him that we understand the reason we are having the surgery, the complications, and even the follow-up. To me and many others like me, he is a GOD-SEND. I feel that he is an angel that has been sent to rescue me from this miserable life of obesity and for that I will always be grateful.

I cannot rate him because I don't feel like there is a scale with a range large enough to do so. UPDATE**************091800*****
I had surgery 090600. Durham Regional Hospital is the best in my book. They care. When I came out of surgery and was being awakened, for some reason, I could not breathe. I had to have support in order to breathe. I remember Dr. Rutledge was always there. Sometimes he would wake me up, and sometimes he would just come to see how I was doing. I just remember him always being there.

Once you meet him you ask yourself, is he a doctor? He is like no other physician that I have ever known. I feel so fortunate that he was my surgeon. When I was in ICU, and I would hear his voice, I felt very secure knowing he was there, because he cares about his patients. If you are a patient of his you can tell that he is the most caring, compassionate, empathetic doctor there is. To him I will always be thankful for what he has done for me. He restored my hope in myself and gave me the opportunity to have the life I never, ever, had before. I will be in his debt for the rest of my life, because I know that if it were not for God using him, I would not have a life.

As I said when I first posted, I cannot rate Dr. Rutledge on a scale, because I don't think there is one with a range high enough.

I thought him to be a competent surgeon with a big pracitce. I find that he responds to questions very promptly. His office staff is competent but very busy.

I like his ease of contact. Of course, his competence as a surgeon is my top rating of him. There are many good surgeons that are technically good but hard to get through to. Just Email Dr. R. a pertinent question and he will answer within a day usually, or sooner.

He has much emphasis on aftercare. The program is structured.

He let you know, without a shdow of a doubt, that this surgery has risk of death.

Scale of 1----10 he is a 10.

Surgical competence is number one and a bedside maner is good to have, but not necessary. He has both.