Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin Bariatric Surgery Program Bariatric Center

I was very impressed with Dr. Gould on my initial consultation. I was a little less impressed with the surgery center office staff, as they let me sit in a room waiting for Dr. Gould for over 45 minutes. Dr. Gould apologized and made me feel very comfortable right from the start. Dr. Gould was very thorough with all of the information that he shared with me. I have only met with him the one time and that was back in April '04. My initial impression is that he is great!

I was very impressed with Dr. Gould at my first meeting, he was straight forward and very comfortable to talk to. Dr. Gould and Dr. Garren always preform their surgeries together and they are a great team, you can see it in the way they speak about one another and in how they interact. I feel a bit like I have struck a surgeon gold mine as these men obviously do their research and have very warm and welcoming styles that sacrifice none of the professionalism needed. I have also been very pleased with the office staff I have encountered as well. Both doctors attended a recent support group meeting and actively participated...I think that is amazing and really says they care about aftercare! I have spoken to other healthcare professionals, nurses, radiologists etc. who have worked with these gentlemen and from the inside all have nothing but great things to say!

I was referred to Dr. Gould for reflux/hiatal hernia surgery. When I went to my appt. Dr. Gould immediately suggested Bariatric surgery. The Dr. and his staff have been wonderful. There are a lot of new people working there, they have done a great job at making me feel at ease.

Dr. Gould and Dr. Garren work at a team. Dr. Gould is affiliated with UW-Madison Hospital and Dr. Garren with Meriter Hospital. Both of these men are incredible. They are truly interested in what happens with their patients both pre and post op. Both have wonderful "bedside" manner. I initally met with Dr. Gould. He allowed me all the time I needed to ask quesitons. I never felt rushed. The only person on their team to watch out for is the receptionist Debbie. Not exactly sure what her problem is, but she comes off as being inefficent and uncaring. If you have to work with Debbie, you will find that persistence pays off. Keep calling her. It seems that once she is sufficiently annoyed she does what she is suppose to, even if for no other reason than to get you to quit calling.

Dr.Gould was awesome! Any doctor that tells me upon meeting him that he looked at my chart and went over my health history BEFORE walking into the office already has me impressed!
He was very upfront about my particular type of insurance not covering this surgery, but did however tell me that he feels my GERD should be taken care of surgically. He also told me that GERD surgery is NOT as successful with obese patients and he will try to convince my insurance that a lap RNY will take care of everything.
He inforemd me that if I am approved I will need nutritional counseling, and that I should view the regimented diet online.
He told me he has done 300 lap RNY's with a very good success rate, and no deaths.
The risks of surgery were discussed at length.
I would rate him very highly. He gave me hope and he seemed very genuinely interested in my health problems. Dr. Gould told me I am an excellent candidate for surgery and he will do his best to help.
Dr.Gould has been supportive all during the appeals process with Unity. He has kept in contact with me during these months of frustration. Hopefully someday soon I will be able to use his surgical skills to improve my health.

When I met with Dr. Gould, he was kind and patient. He took the time to answer all of my questions. I didn't feel rushed. He seems very kind and caring. I am still waiting to have surgery (4/22/03), so will have to report more later.

My first impression of Dr. Gould was very positive. He was very informative, answered all questions, never appeared to be rushed, had a great sense of humor, and was genuinely interested in determining what was best for me. The risks and benefits were discussed at length. I have, at this point, only seen him once. Since I just got my insurance approval today and will be scheduling my surgery sometime this week, I am sure I will have more to add here later. So far I would rate him as a 10 out of 10. UPDATE: I have now had mu surgery and would give Dr. Gould an 11 out of a possible 10. He is very competent, kind, and informative. He listens well and has a great sense of humor. I am very pleased with my experience with him.

His secretary, Debbie, was less than helpful. It took her literally 3 weeks to fax my information to my insurance company and it required about 8 phone calls. I finally got the files myself, reviewed them, write a cover letter, and faxed it myself. I am sure that she is competent, perhaps just overworked. We'll see how this goes from here. When I called her today to inform her of my acceptance she was genuinely happy for me.

Jon is a very nice young man and very informative. The staff at UW are very helpful and they actually sit and answer all your questions. He stresses the aftercare as being a part of the whole program. I would rate him highly and I think he is best in his office.

Update: I have since had an email reply from Dr. Gould. He has performed 50 Lap RNY's since he started at the UW and a few hundred more at his privous location. I appreciated him taking the time to follow up with me.

I met with Dr. Gould back in October of 2002. He was very nice, young and seemed very positive about my chance at lossing with the Lap R&Y. Dr. Gould and his assitant Debi were very quick to get letters of to my personal Dr. and the insurance company. My insurance co. requested several other additional records and Debi was very good at following up and getting the proper information out the door. I got insurance approval on Jan. 28th and just today March 5th have finally set a surgery date after a lot of persistance on my part with Debi. She is super friendly and in the end explained why it has taken her so long to follow up with me. Something about Dr. Gould being new to the UW and not having scheduled surgery times and having to wait for vactions, etc. to book a time for him. I was frustrated with this process and would have understood if this was only explained to me sooner. Otherwise she has been excellent. I still have a ways to go prior to making specific judgements regarding Dr. Gould's care. I'm a little concerned about how NEW he is. I've requested names of others that he has done this surgery for and have yet to get that information. I've also asked for the total number of R&Y's he's done, his leak rate and death count. Kind of silly questions but hey, even if he's nice I don't know the guy. So far good reports. Will follow up as I continue with this.

Dr. Gould is a very kind man. The office staff is very open and nurturing. Please know that this is a very busy office, that takes the individual time with every patient.