George Fortier Bariatric Surgeon M.D., F.A.C.S.

I attended a seminar first with Dr. Fortier as the main presenter. I thought he seemed somewhat hurried, but when I met him at my first appointment, he came off as a very down-to-earth person who spoke in clear terms. He believes strongly in what he's doing (using the Lap Band to treat morbid obesity) and has an excellent program before and after surgery that he expects his patients to follow. If you are expecting gastric bypass, then he's not the surgeon for you as he is a proponent of the Adjustable Gastric Band (commonly called the lap band). His staff has been very kind and professional, never speaking in judgmental terms, but always helpful and concerned. He used the Advanced Platform Band (AP-S for small or AP-L for large); the size used will depend on the patient's anatomy. He and his program are part of a group of surgeons in a study for Allergan (Inamed) testing these newer bands that are filled slightly the day of surgery, so the banded patient leaves the operating table with some saline in the band, and therefore, some restriction right from the first day. He falls in the category of being a very experienced Lap Band surgeon and told us at the seminar that he has placed well over 200 bands in patients as of August 2007. His first year follow up visit schedule is pretty stringent (appointments every 4 weeks for the first year) and he expects his patients to adhere to his plan's schedule. Second year post op appointments can be spaced farther apart. I've never taken part in the support groups, but I know they are available monthly. Prior to surgery, I was given full disclosure of the risks involved with this type of surgery and the staff where the surgery was performed did all they could to see to my comfort and well-being before I was sent home. (Surgery was done as an outpatient procedure, which is standard for Dr. Fortier's lap banding program unless there is a medical reason to keep you overnight.) I would have to rate his surgical skill to treat morbid obesity and his follow-up program very highly even though the surgery was done at a very small rural hospital and his office setting for follow up visits is the emergency room area of this hospital (somewhat unorthodox). His bedside manner is not super warm and fuzzy, but certainly appropriately concerned and professional, with a down-to-earth approach to people. He seems to be a very experienced general surgeon with many credentials and degrees which should assure nervous patients that they are in good hands. His downfall, if I had to come up with one, is that his appointments run behind and he appears a little over-rushed at times at my monthly appointments. All in all, I would highly recommend him and his lap banding program to anyone who is serious about doing the work they need to do using this tool/aid in their weight loss battle against morbid obesity. If you are seriously committed to making the life-altering changes necessary to achieve and maintain permanent weight loss, then Dr. Fortier seems as seriously committed to assisting you, in fact, I believe seriously committed patients are precisely what he's looking for to become part of his program.

My first impression of Dr. Fortier was that he looked just like Chuck Norris. He was very straight forward with all the information he provided. He basically made me aware that I was the only one responsible for my weight loss success or failure after getting my Lap Band. It kind of made me think, \"What am I getting myself into?\". Now I'm happy I chose the band instead of a bypass. A friend recently told me that he nearly died from complications after his bypass. Dr. Fortier's office manager Sherry, was just great and did all the necessary insurance paperwork and made my appointments for my various pre-op exams (dietician,psychiatrist etc). The overall experience with Dr. Fortier has been very rewarding so far. I would highly recommend him to any one who is considering getting a Lap-Band.