Paul Stanish Bariatric Surgeon M.D.,F.A.C.S.

After my first consult(may 25, 2004):
My first impression of Dr Stanish is that he is very professional. He has a way of doing things. i had a list of questions i wanted answered and he answered all of them. he first went over what he said he normally goes over then allowed time for questions. A discouraging part was that i had to wait over an hour to see him in the waiting room. But my friend and her baby were with me to keep me company. I found him to be a bit arrogant, but i think that is good in a surgeon. he said he has not lost a patient and has done over 200 weight loss surgeries over the past 2+ years. I feel confident going to him. He was straigt forward with all the risks and made sure i understood what was going on and what risks were possible. The office staff were also nice. One big positive is that they scheduled the surgery while i was there in the office. so far, he has high ratings with me.

After my three month check-up (October 13, 2004)--Dr. Stanish is wonderful!! he did a great job on my surgery. his arrogance is getting better. he spends more time with me during visits. he answers all questions and makes sure i am doing good. he has become personable. i am very confident with his work and his ability as a surgeon. The office staff is also wonderful. i see the same nurse every time i see him. she is GREAT!! she complemented me today on my weightloss. she is always kind and helpful. Dr. Stanish still rates high with me and i would recommend him to anyone.

My first impression of Dr. Stanish was that he was kind of cocky. My impression has changed to that of him being confident in his abilities. My surgery was relatively painless and the recovery has been unbelievably easy. I attribute this to Dr. Stanish's skill. My wife was impressed with him. She said he spent a great deal of time with her after surgery explaining the procedure, how it went, and answering any questions she had. She felt that he had a very relaxed manner about him and showed concern that she understand everything that had just happened.
Dr. Stanish's office staff is very polite and caring. They will try to answer any questions you may have. Their demeanor is a relaxed professionalism. I feel very comfortable in their office setting.
Dr. Stanish is very thorough in his explanation of the surgery and the risks associated with this major surgery. His follow-up care has been excellent and thorough. Both he and his staff have been very complimentary, which I find motivational.I highly recommend Dr. Stanish and his staff.

The first time I meet him I liked him right away.I felt that he was concerned and he talked to my face. His staff is wonderful and very helpful.They were all very caring and would answer anything that you need to know.I'll write more after surgery!

My first impression of Dr. Stanish was that he was confident and a little cocky as well, but I felt comfortable with this type of attitude and spunk. It insured me that he didn't doubt himself in any way, and adequately made me feel at ease with him as my operating surgeon. My impression of him did change over time however. While I feel he is an excellent surgeon, I also feel he lacks empathy for new patients and can become quite irritable at times if the wrong thing is said. He has tendecies to take things personal and to heart, although I might have not been as pleasant of as a patient, as he was a doctor. For the most part, his office staff were personable, but there are a couple individuals who seemed to have lacked some professionalism. What I like least about Dr. Stanish is the fact that I felt more like a number in his office, rather than a human being. While I'm quite used to this treatment, considering the fact, that I have Medicaid, you still want to feel as important as the patient next to you with Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Future patients should know that while Dr. Stanish may have his ways, he is also a phenomenal surgeon and knows his work well. You could be insured that he is quite confident and will get the job done. He does encourage and support proper nutrition and stresses the importance of exercise as well. I have been informed that there is a aftercare program but have functioned well without it. Also Dr. Stanish more commonly addresses the pros and avoids discussing the cons when discussing the risks of surgery, but this is his line of work, so that's to be expected. They, (Donna and Kristi), will discuss the risks of surgery more thoroughly when going in to finish the final paperwork prior to surgery because you have to understand very clearly that there are risks involved. I believe that surgical competence and bedside manner or both important attributes, but I felt lucky enough to get one of the two! Overall, I do not regret going to Dr. Stanish and probably would have chose him, if I had to do it all over again, although, I dislike the facility/hospital in which he operates.

My husband and I both were impressed with Dr's professionalism and with the time he spent with us answering our questions, and with my surg. and time in the hosp., my impresstion has not changed. Staff is wonderful!!! He is a very caring and good surg. They have a wonderful program at Meth. Hosp, teaching and follow up cannot be beat!! Very structed aftercare!! Every "t was crossed and every i was dotted", knew every inch of the way what to expect. I would give him, his staff and Donna Kittle[coordinator of the beriatric program] a 10+!!! Both are equally important, altho if I had to pick surg. competence is most important.

My first impression of Dr Stanish, was that he was a very self-assured individual. Very busy but very well qualified to be doing the surgery. I liked him immediately and that hasn't changed. He is also a no nonsense kind of guy, which carries over into his beside manner.
He made sure to include my primary care physician every step of the way from pre-op to all my post-op visits. I find that very reasuring.
The office staff is just terrific! They really care about everyone who comes to the office. 2 other surgeons are in the office so quite a few patients are there all the time. The wait can be as much as an hour or more depending on the Drs surgery schedule. That put me off at first, but I found out later that one of the other Drs was in Iraq with the troops, so Dr Stanish had to do double duty taking care of those patients also.
I think anyone wanting wls surgery would have to go far to find a better, more caring and competent Dr than Dr. Paul Stanish. He really pushes you to go for support groups and you must complete 4 wks of classes to prepare you for the surgery and your new lifestyle afterwards. He has a great post-op program. You see him at certain intervals depending on your progress and if there is any need to see him, he is only a phone call away.
As far as the risks of surgery are concerned, he made sure that it was understood and clear before we went ahead with the surgery.
I can't think of anyone who is more competent surgically.
I'm sure that he could get frustrated if you didn't do what you need to do, and wouldn't be shy in letting you know that he was disappointed. After all, isn't this what you want in a surgeon who cares about his patients?

Very nice guy. Explained everything in detail and listened when I asked questions. Office staff was nice. I would recommend him to anyone I know having this surgery.

I met with Dr Standish on May 8, 2003. I found Him to be professional, caring, and very knowledgable about his business.

Prior to meeting him, I met Donna, the co-ordinator of the WLS for Dr Standish. She is THE BEST!! Professional, warm, caring, and is always looking out for the patients. She handles EVERYTHING...and deals with the insurance!!

You are required to attend 4 classes before the surgery. The procedure is explained, as well as how you will eat and the importance of exercise.

Dr Standish, and Donna as well, both emphasized the importance of aftercare, and addressed the risks of the surgery, as well as the benefits.

I would rank Dr Standish and his staff ++10!!!

Both His surgical competence and bedside manner are great! I would recommend him to EVERYONE!!!!!

The program that Dr Stanish and Dr. Farias run out of the Methodist Hospital in Merrillville, IN. is the best! The program co-ordinator handles calling the insurance company (or companies, in my case) and I never had do deal with them at all.

The aftercare program is extensive, with a support group that meets monthly.

I met with Dr. Stanish and he is doing the RNY at Broadway Methodist in Merrilliville! That is minutes away from my home, he is in network and he is not bad looking either!! Yea! So I will save a lot more money. I am disappointed I won't have Dr. Inman, I think she is more experienced with bariatric. However, I think Stanish is an excellent surgeon. He is confident and a little cocky, I like that in a person! The more self assured a person is, the better! Donna is good too, she is his assistant.
What I like least? It takes forever to get in to his office for a visit, you sit no less than an hour in the waiting room.. but that is what they learn in Physician training 101 right? I think they are new to the bariatric surgery, only been doing this a year or so, but they are quickly getting up to speed. I am glad I had the opportunity to research this for over 2 years. I feel as though I am VERY prepared prior to meeting them.