David Lourie Bariatric Surgeon M.D., F.A.C.S.

I have to say that Dr. Lourie made me feel instantly comfortable. I did not feel there was anything I could not ask him. He didn't even blink when I whipped out my bat wing to get his opinion on what state my skin would be in after surgery. His office staff could not be better, and Debbie Gold, the surgery coordinator at CSS could not be more personable, or helpful, or knowledegeable.
I also have to commend them on the informational packet they give to prospective patients, it is full of information that is helpful pre-op, and will be invaluable post-op.

6/29/01-very impressed with the confident professionalism of Dr. Lourie. I understand that he is an expert in the Lap procedure--brought it to the LA area. Answered and clarified all my questions. Nice comfortable office, my 3:30 appointment started on time. He is very knowledgable and I am quite comfortable in his care.
9/17/01--all the pre-ops are done. However, Pacificare, through my medical group ARCADIA HEALTH CITIES, wants my surgeon to ask again for authorization for the surgery itself. Which they did.
10/01/01---Pacifcare, through the medical group ARCADIA HEALTH CITIES, says they have no record of my request for auth for the surgery. It was faxed again.
10/15/01--GUESS WHAT!!-Pacifcare, through the medical group ARCADIA HEALTH CITIES, says they have no record of my request for auth for the surgery. It was faxed again.
And yes, I am still waiting....

I first went to a seminar this surgical group presents monthly to meet all the surgeons in the group and get an overall explaination of the surgery and recovery. The group also has weekly support meetings with a member of the nursing staff and one of the surgeons in the group. This was very important to me. I met the doctor soon after the seminar. He was friendly, professional and empathatic. It was a very positive meeting. After the exam and interview, I expressed how excited I am about the surgery. He told me that it is very rewarding that he can assist someone gain control of their life again. The staff was very friendly and informative. I have started getting the pre-op tests needed before surgery.

I had initially selected a different physician and the consultation went extremely well.In the approval process, something changed for me, call it "gut instint" or whatever, it really does not matter. I did not feel supported, and kind of felt the staff did not really have time for me.
I met Dr Lourie at a support group meeting, and knew instantly this was the surgeon for me. Dr Lourie is an awesome surgeon, with a great reputation and excellent success rate. I must speak to the office staff because Debbie is "the bomb". She knows her job, and exceeds all expecations I had (even proior to meeting her). she will get things going, and knows how to move the process along, and follows through immediately. To this point I have had no negative interactions or dissappointments with this group.
Being in the healthcare field myself, my expectations are extremely high, and this Physician, and staff can, will, and do meet and exceed even my rigid standards.
They are extremely through, and leave no stones unturned prior to surgery. Dr Lourie, and Debbie (as well as some of the other surgeons in this group) attend the support groups, even after extremely long, and challenging days. Their commitment to the bariatric patients is commendable to say the least.
I certainly feel supported, and know that I am in one of the best surgical groups in medicine today. I highly reccomend this Physician, and staff, and feel that anyone considering this surgery would be very happy if they decided to go with this physician.
Surgical competence is most important to me, but I also need to feel comfortable, and need to be able to communicate openly with my physician. Dr Lourie has both to offer.
My overall rating at this point is a 10+. My surgery is scheduled for Sept 10th, If my opinion changes I will certainly update this.

Dr. Lourie and his office staff are first rate, excellent! I found Dr. Lourie to be highly professional yet also warm and concerned. My wife (the emotional side of the family) says he has an excellent bedside manner. He spent plenty of time with me during visits and I never felt he was rushed or too busy to be with me. He clearly explained the procedure, its risks and the expected results. He answered my rather direct questions clearly and with like directness. On surgery day I was terrified as this was my first hospitalization, but I was calmed during this pre-op visit by his confident and reassuring aspect. In my initial visit he indicated he had performed ~70 bypasses, I would be the largest person he had done so far and he gave me a 50/50 chance of being able to complete the procedure laproscopically. By surgery day, he had performed ~120 bypasses and he said my chances of a lap procedure were up to 90% (I was still the largest person he'd worked on). I'm happy to report he completed the surgery laproscopically and after less than a week I've had no side effects or pain. I was able to return to work after 3 days - amazing!

His office staff, in particular Debbie, is also excellent. She handled all the insurance issues. She told me up front what would happen with the insurance, how long it would take, etc. And it happened just as she said. I didn't have to deal with the insurance at all, which was great! I pushed to get the surgery done as quickly as possible, so she contacted the pre-op checkout doctors to get them to schedule appointments earlier than they were willing to do for me, and also followed up to get their reports turned in more quickly than I think they would have if left on their own. Debbie has a terrific, positive and reassuring personality. She's very involved and concerned for the patients - she even came by to see me right after surgery to see how I was doing.

Dr. Lourie has a support group that meets weekly. I have only attended one so far (per-op) but that meeting is a substantial reason that I was able to overcome my fear of the hospital and have the surgery. The meeting was well attended and I was pleased to see that even a few men were in attendance! His group also puts on a monthly seminar on the surgery that was also very informative, especially to hear the questions/answers from the other prospective patients in the audience.

I can't recommend Dr. Lourie highly enough in all respects. I am in awe of what he has accomplished for me with his surgical skill and I am grateful for his quiet, calm and confident demenor. I am also grateful to Debbie for all her effort and concern.

Very Impressive, knowledgable, personable.

I liked him even more after meeting with him.

Staff was very helpful!

So far, there's nothing that causes concern. Sorry!

From the first moment I saw him - He stood out from the rest. Another great thing is he talks to you not down to you - he's very respectful and that's very important!

Aftercare is extremely important - lifelong medical commitment, diet, support groups, etc...

Yes, aftercare is structured as far as office visit follow-ups & weekly support groups.

Very seriously, there is a risk, as in any surgery, but it is less than 1%. He & his staff do everything they can to avoid all conceivable situations.

He seems very nice, professional & personable. I am very pleased with him.

At this stage, I think he is very surgically competent - I have not experienced his bedside manner yet, but I would hope it will be good!

I first met Dr. Lourie after receiving a referral from my primary medical group and Michelle Holland-Goossen, the best damn PA in the business. He seemed very professional and likeable. He was very explicit in the pros and cons of the surgery and did a preliminary examination to see if I would be a possible candidate for a laparascopic procedure, it does appear so, but we'll see what happens on the table. The office staff concerned me at first, but Debbie really went all out to get me approved with my insurance and scheduled with the hospital. It has been great so far.

Dr. Lourie was very kind and caring. He treated me with respect as an intellegent adult. Very positive impression. The administrator, Debbie has been great. We are still working on the insurence, and they have both been a big help. The doctor went over the before and after, what to expect. He answered all my questions(and I had a lot!) I feel I could call anytime if I have more questions.