James Georgitis Bariatric Surgeon M.D.

he was very informative from the first time I met him . whenever you have a question all you have to do is ask and you are answered right away. he is very warm and caring and you can tell that he is in it for the long haul. everyone that I have talked to at the support meetings have nothing but good words for him. I wouldn't think twice about telling anyone how great I think he is.

I have a negative comment regarding my surgeon, he misled me. I strongly wanted the laparosocpic version of this operation, I am only 21 years old, and needed the shortest recuperation time possible, I had to return to college in just 12 days post-op. My Dad had open RNY on 10/18/01, I requested a referral from this doctor to one who did laparoscopic, he eagerly said that HE did it. We went thru all the approval process based on lap surgery. I suspected gall bladder problems and I specifically asked him "If the gall bladder has to come out during the surgery, can it still be done laparoscopically?" His answer was a definite "YES". When I woke up from surgery I found I had been given open RNY, full long scar. When I asked him why, he said because I had to have the gall bladder out. He lied to me. Subsequently I spoke to one of my nurses, asked her about his other Laparoscopic gastric bypass patients, she said she had never known Dr. Georgitis to have any such patients. Another lie.

He also has minimal followup, you are pretty much on your own.

Pre-op thoughts- My father used him- he's very good, done a lot of these procedures. Although the hospital he uses leaves something to be desired sometimes (too few nurses and too many patients). He has a lot of requirements before he'll even do a consult for you- a psych eval, dietitian consult, BMI (done by a professional), and a physical from your physician. I'll update more when I actually meet with him!

Post-op thoughts- Friendly and funny, but I felt like he was in such a rush all the time, hardly answered my questions while in the hospital. He also gave me an open not a lap with the reason of taking my gallbladder out too. This would be acceptable except for a few things... I asked him SPECIFICLY in consultation if he could take the gallbladder with a lap procedure and he said YES; and the nurses in the hospital said they had NEVER seen a lap patient come through. I feel a little tricked, I wanted the shorter recovery and smaller scars of the lap, and I feel like this choice was taken away from me. I may have chosen a different surgeon if I knew he didn't REALLY do laps.

Doesn't have a strong after-care program. He just assume I know what I need to do and will do it.

Positively- his work is good. No complications or troubles with the procedure, both my father and I are doing wonderfully. We were both out of the hospital before a week.

His office staff is great, very helpful and nice.

I don't like Maine Med Center in Biddeford, who he is affiliated with. They are over-booked and under staffed. They only checked me every 4 hours, even the day of surgery. If my parents hadn't been there, my mouth would have become sandpaper it was so dry, and I couldn't reach the water things by myself. It also took them an average of 20 minutes to answer my callbutton. Except for a few nurses, they were inconsiderate, and not very helpful. (I exclude Carrie from this, she was a doll, and the CNA John was nice too!)

These were just my feelings on my experiences with this doctor and his facility. I am happy that my surgery went well with no complications, so that is the most important thing.

My first impression was very good of my surgeon. he seemed positive and that gave me the confidence i needed to follow through with this life changing decision..

Dr. Georgitis is a warm and caring man. He knew
exactly what I was feeling and had a calming effect.
He was able to settle my nerves and help me make
a sound decision about the surgery.

When I had surgery almost 2 yrs ago, things were a lot
different. I got my referral and met with him within a month.
The preauthorization was sent to the insurance and I got an
answer approx 10 days later. After that we set up a surgery date
which was about 30 days later. It all went very fast. I now
understand that his whole protocol has changed. Now there is a
psych eval and insurance preauthorization before you even get to
meet with him. I'm not sure I like that so I'm glad I got on the
bus a lot earlier!

I wouldn't call the post-op program "structured aftercare". Certainly
you are responsible for following directions. You meet with him 1 week
post op, then I believe 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and then yearly
after that. It's the patient's responsibility to adhere to that
routine.

I give Dr. Georgitis 10 stars! I think he is the best!!! His skills
are outstanding and his bedside manner is charming and delightful, even
at 5 a.m.!

Thank you Dr. Georgitis!