William Yates Bariatric Surgeon M.D., F.A.C.S.

i would not recommend him AT ALL.

First impressionof Dr. Yates is that heis brilliant. My surgery went awesome- no probelms what so ever. He andhis office staff were great. He stopped practicing several months after he did my surgery and I truly do miss him. About 18 months after my surgery, I saw him at the airport and intriduced my self. He did not recognize me (125 pounds less) We spoke and I walked off. He was in securoity check line and motioned for me to come over and asked if I was still taking my vitamins and to make sure I continued. What a sweetheart. His surgical ability is awesome as well as his bedside manner. He gave me all the risks/benefits and talked with both myself andmy husband in detail.

he is the nicest guy you would ever want to meet.his office staff was great.there is nothing bad to say about him. he did a great surgery ,his bedside manner was great,anytime i need him he was there!

Surgeon was charming handsom and informative.
Kept changing staff never got to know one on one.
Did not emphasize aftercare. No real structured program. Looking back now that would have been a huge help!
Has a wonderful bedside manner and is explicit about possible risks.

3/15/00 - My 1st appt. with Dr. Yates was 3/10. I came into contact with him through his affiliation as a Weight For Life surgeon based out of California. I contacted them by phone and they set everything up for me. My surgery is scheduled for May 8th!!

6/1/00 - Dr. Yates and his surgical asst. Kathy came to see me almost everyday (5 days total) I was in the hospital (except one and then Kathy came along with Dr. Mitchell). Dr. Yates seemed concerned but made me feel rushed. Any concern I had they addressed and acted on it accordingly. 9/1/00 - In my opinion, Dr. Yate's is an alright surgeon, I guess, but after the 2nd follow-up visit his concern for me began to diminish. So, my final assessment of him is he is a fairly competant surgeon but he and his asst., Kathy, leave a lot to be desired in follow-up care!! I don't guess this really matter now as I have heard he is no longer a surgeon and has moved to Chicago having bought a car dealership.

Dr. Yates is a wonderful surgeon. YES you do have to wait to see him, but well worth it! He did both RNY and panniculectomy. RNY surgery was 5/31/00 and panniculectomy was 11/13/00. As of 1/24/01 have lost 120-125 lbs. Couldn't have done it without Dr. Yates, Kathy and Bonnie!!!!!
5/31/02: Today is my 2 year anniversary. This is the best thing I have ever done for myself. Even though others still don't agree with what I did, had to do it for me. As of today, down 190 lbs!

I have my fist appointment with Dr. Yates on Jan 13th. I have talked with his coordinator Bonnie several times - she is super nice and very helpful!!

01/14/00 - I had my first appt with Dr. Yates and I am thrilled with him!! he is so nice and very caring, he really put me at ease, and I am totally comfortable with him (Which is saying a lot..believe me!!) He is patient and explains everything and answered all my questions. He talked to me like I was a friend, he's very down to earth yet very honest and up-front with you. I have another appt with him in two weeks. I reccomend Dr. Yates highly!! On a scale of 1-10 in my book he's a 20!!

2/16/00 - I had my second appointment with Dr. Yates yesterday, I like him more every time I meet with him. He put me at ease and made some important call for me, he is the best!!! The only minor complaint I would have is that you usually have to wait for an hour to see him. Other than that - he is wonderful!

4/1/00 - I had my surgery on March 22nd and Dr. Yates was wonderful. He saw me at least once a day while I was in the hospital and was very attentive to my needs. His assistant Cathy Hume is also wonderful!!! I have my first post-op appt with him on April 7th. Overall he is still a '10' in my book!!

7/22/00 - I love Dr. Yates more every time I see him. He is so caring and sensetive, and attentive to my needs. I considor him a friend and a supurb doctor!!! He is a 100 in my book!!!! Only flaw is he runs very late, but no one is perfect :-)

01/04/00 - I have now lost 142 pounds in 9 months thanks to Dr. Yates. He saved my life and gave me a new one!!! Words cannot express the appreciation and thanks. Dr. Yates is the best surgeon, very caring, dedicated and professional - I highly reccomend him to everyone.

03/19/02 - I just wanted to make one last entry here. To all of Dr. Yates patients...yes, Dr. Yates retired and moved to Chicago to pursue other interests. I miss him greatly and wish him the very best. This man is wonderful beyond words and I feel it is a tremendous loss to the medical community. He saved my life and I will always be greatful. I miss working with all of his patients!! If any of you ever want to chat, drop me a line anytime!! [email protected]. Oh, I almost forgot - I am 2 years post-op now, I have lost 200 pounds and wear a size 14. I would still like to lose about 60 more pounds, but that will take some more time.

I was Impressed with his experience and knowledge. Unfortunatly he no longer is doing the surgery from what I hear.

I grew even closer to him I liked him more each time I saw him.

I've seen a lot of office and staff in my life and his office was very clean and didn't smell like a typical dr's ofice and the staff very helpful and friendly and almost everyone I meet had had the surgery.

That he no longer is around.

He was very up front about the complecations and risk of surgery.
Both were GREAT>

My surgeon was Dr.Yates. I decided on him because he made me feel very comfortable, I was able to talk to him, his caring and proffesional manor put me at ease right from the start. His office staff was very good. He was quite busy and sometimes you had to wait awhile, but when you got to see him, you understood why. He took time with you, answer questions openly and honestly and made sure you where educated in all aspects of the treatment, surgery, and follow-up. I am so glad that I found out about him, from my primary, and he was my doctor. I would rate him a 10+....I felt so wonderful about the changes he has made in my life, that I wanted to help others to know that there is help and it really does work. So I went to work for him, I helped out at the office explained some protein products and the vitamins. Hopefully answered a some questions, as someone who had been throught it and was proof it does work. When Dr. Yates moved out of state to work and to be closer to his and his wife's family,I took over the vitamin and protein products. This is my way of keeping in touch with the patients, by offering them a number of good
products to help them achieve their weight loss goals. I'm at 1-866-WGT-LOSS if anyone wishes any info.

Dr. Yates was very nice. I didn't talk to him very long but his reputation I knew very well.

It didn't

His nurse is named cathy and she was very informative.

He was so busy. He made time for me but i did feel a little hurried. I would hope that patients will let him know if they need more consultation time with him or anything else. Don't let him run you out of there before your ready. The aftercare program stuff needs lots of work. I know how important it is so I had to look for it. The only thing they really stress is support groups. Which is improtant but so are other things. He did go into detail about risks of the surgery. I rate him at about a 9 because he is an excellent surgeon. The combination of that plus bedside manner is great.
UPDATE: 09/01/01 Dr. Yates is no longer practicing. He was a great Doctor who decided to buy a ford dealership and move to chicago