Marvin E. Kuehner M.D. Bariatrics Bariatric Center

Had my "informational" meeting w/ Dr. Kuehner and some of his staff this morning. Initial impression of his staff is OK, not great, not awful, just OK. Dr. Kuehner on the other hand was, in my opinion, very impressive. Very "take-charge", nice sense of humor, patient, exuded competency. Did not sugar-coat the procedure. Spent almost an hour describing the procedure, risks, potential benefits, our role in the outcome, answering questions. Available to meet one-on-one with candidates for the surgery, unfortunately my schedule did not allow for this today. Made me feel I would be in very capable hands.

My first impression of Dr. Kuehner was much like the other posts here, very matter of fact. After working for 15 years in a major hosptial, I can honestly say he knows his stuff on the surgery, but lacks social skills with his patients. During our group orientation, he bragged about talking with a post-op that had gained some weight and calling her a "cow" to her face for gaining. During my pre-op appointment, he asked me what my goal weight would be. I told him my goal was 145, which in the past would put me in a size 8. He said that sounds like a realitic goal for someone fat like me, but that a size 4 would look a whole lot better since that is the size his wife is. I thought he was a condescending clod who is secretly ambivilent towards fat people. He may be a good surgeon, but I will not be going back to him after the surgery.
He ahs surgical competency, but NO bedside manners whatsoever.

My first expreience with Dr. Kuehner was a group orientation session. There were approx. 12 others interested in the surgery at the same time. He went through the proceedure step by step and answered any questions we had. He seemed very business like, and joked occasionally with his staff, but had a very serious tone with us. I personally like a sense of humor, but if he saves his strong points for the operating room, I'll be satified with that. We received a packet of general information at this orientation of what to expect afterwards, but am assuming I'll be given more.

I've only me Dr. Kuehner in the group consultation. I found him to be very straight forward during his lecture. I did not meet with him individually following the lecture but have since learned that he tries to keep the entire afternoon open following each lecture to meet with potential candidtates. Office staff, assistance and patient insurance coordinator were all great.

No nonsense kind of guy, concerned, efficient, smart.
My impression of him has not changed
His staff are Efficient,and friendly. What I did not like about him is That you can't get a hold of him in an emergency. he's not always available, he must go to other locations, or he always on vacation.
He has an after care program, but I got ticked off at him and the emergency room doctors at St. Joseph's and haven't been back to see anyone. I see my family physican, I probably will go back. Just not yet. Because I haven;t been to see him or his staff, I am not really sure about his after care program.
He addressed the surgery and risks, but I must not have been paying attention about the hair loss part of it. I was shocked at how much i lost and the poor quality it is now.
on a scale of 1-10, 10 being high I'd give him a 9.5
The most important is Surgical competence, beside manner only makes the hospital stay a little better, it doesn't save your life.
Although I am still angry with him, without his being there, I know my life would be over. Now it is just starting over, its rough, but I wouldn't want to ever go back to the way I was.

At the informational group, I thought the Dr. was very straight forward and came away with the impression that he was not telling us we NEEDED this surgery. It is a definite last resort and should NOT be done on a whim...he's right. He is a no nonsense person and does not have time for foolishness. He only wants to talk business. He did joke around a bit at the group and made me feel at ease. He was very honest about the risks. After surgery, dietary had given me too much food (you have to watch the dietary people at St. Joseph's...they will let you have toooo much food) and he got MAD!!! He will do that if he thinks he's wasted his time...he doesn't want to have to re-do the surgery. I know someone who had to have it redone...and I don't plan on following in his footsteps. Since getting out of hospital I have not seen Dr. Kuehner...my first appointment with him is my 6 week follow-up on 4/17/01. I have been to see his PA, Jerry Gould because of a wound infection and he is like Santa in scrubs. Very jolly! Makes you feel very at ease and spends as much time as you need to discuss "things". The MA who works with Dr. K is also fantastic. I had a few complications after surgery, not directly related to the RNY, so my road has been bumpy, but overall I have been satisfied with my surgery. The only complaint I would have is that the Dr. tells you not to follow the diet plan the hospital gives you, but to follow his instead, but I did not receive a written diet plan from him so I have been sort of lost on what, when, how much, to eat and progress. Thankfully, I know the MA and she answers questions for me and the PA spent lots of time with me at my last wound check-up discussing food. GET A DIET PLAN FROM THE DOCTOR BEFORE SURGERY HOWEVER YOU CAN!!!

My impression going in was based, in part, on previous posts here. I was expecting someone rather cold or somewhat indifferent.

My only meeting so far has been the informational group session. The Dr. Kuehner I met was joking with his assistants, very open to questions, and explained everything using anecdotal examples and chalkboard drawings.

The nurses were very informed and very helpful. They made it clear that, although Dr. Kuehner understands why people feel the need to do this, it is not a necessary surgery. By this he means it's not emergency surgery. He does, however, have patients who do require immediate emergency surgery and the bariatric surgeries are some of the first to be bumped. Rather that taking this as a snub, I feel this shows concern for his patients. I'm sure there were others who felt otherwise.

He spent a lot of time talking about risks and after care. He stressed the need to adhere to the food plan for long term success and didn't avoid talking about the fact that death does occur with these surgeries

So far, my impression is of a knowledgeable, competent surgeon with a caring, informed staff.

Dr Kuehner is a straight forward no frills person
He tells it like it is and is a very good doctor
and surgeon. His staff is wonderful as is the
patient assistance center at the clinic, they
coordinate the approvals. Dr Kueher said that
he has tried unsuccessfully to do lap surgery
(I was one of his first lap gallbladder's 10 years
ago) but he is using some of the techniques in lap
surgery in the gastric bypass.

8/14 - I met with the surgeon one on one last week. He was very thourough, we discussed the options and selected the type of surgery I will be having. He was very patient as I asked about a million questions, and encouraged me to call his office if I have any more. Right now he is going through rotating assistants, that's a little annoying, but that happens. Hopefully by time my date gets here he'll have hired another one. (His left to work for someone else). Anyway, all is going well so far.
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I have to agree with the earlier posting. He is very direct, but seems to know his stuff and shows some sense of humor. I'll live without the warm fuzzies. I would have to say his staff is wonderful. His Medical Assistant just changed jobs, but both the gal that is filling in and the gal who worked with me and insurance company, were both wonderful.

I have been through his informational session, and have called with a number of questions that were very quickly answered. From what my insurance company tells me he has an excellent post surgery program. During the informational session he spent a lot of time covering the history of the surgery, his procedure, the risks, etc. I thought he was very informative.

At this point I have appts scheduled for pre-op testing and a meeting with him...then I'll get a date for surgery.

So far I would rate them great! I think both competence and manner are important, although I'll take his competence and his staff's wonderful manner any day.

My first impression of Dr. Kuehner was that of a very honest but blunt surgeon. My impression has not changed at this point.

Dr. Kuehner's staff has been extremely helpful. They have been available for every question I have asked. If they did not immediately have the answer, they researched my question and promptly gave the information to me.

During Dr. Kuehner's consultation presentation he stated that the aftercare was extremely important for long term success with the "enforced diet". Dr. Kuehner and his associates do have a very structured aftercare program.

Dr. Kuehner's staff presented literature that explained the risks. The literature lists all types of risks and the percentages of each risk. When Dr. Kuehner made his presentation, he emphasized that this is a major surgical procedure. He went through all of the risks, even those that are considered very rare, he compared the local hospital's statistics with those nationally.

I would give Dr. Kuehner a very high rating at this point in the process.

Surgical competence is the most important qualification I am interested in. I don't care if he has the worst bedside manner of all surgeons as long as he performs each procedure he does with competence.