Rafael Capella Bariatric Surgeon M.D.,F.A.C.S.

I went to an informational meeting about 2 months before my surgery which is required by him. It was really good. He answered all questions that were asked happily. He is very matter of fact about everything. He does his job, he does it very good, and he knows that. Which may be the only thing I did not like. He was very promt in calling me back when I paged him when I got the flu and didn't know what to take and my PCP was a retard about it. He is very motivated to see his patients loose weight and get healthier. He is a great surgeon, he is very very competent surgical wise, bed side manner soo soo. I had to have an NG tube put through my nose because I had some complications that he found from a prior apendecitis (I had leasiions inside me which made his operation more difficult) that he took care of greatly... but he said it wouldn't hurt and there was nothing to worry about.. he lied... IT HURT. lol Which is just my own little gripe and should not be considered in your decision to see him. Over all he is a great surgeon. I would recomend him to any one.

I will let you know my impressions after surgery.

Dr. Capella was very personable. His office staff was very pleasant and helpful. I would highly recommend him to anyone considering this type of surgery. He fully explained the risks of the surgery before hand. I would rate him on a scale of 1-10 a 15. His surgical competence and bedside manner were more than great.

Dr. Rafael Capella is an older man, pleasant but I feel he loses track of his patients after surgery. His office should keep better track of the patients that are post op. I saw Dr. Capella 3 months after surgery. My 6 month appt. was cancelled by Dr. C's office and never rescheduled. I just never went back and at16 months post op, i STILL have not heard one word from his office. It makes me feel that he is only in it for the money and has no interest in keeping track of his successes.

I chose Dr. Capella because of his extensive experience in the RNY surgery. He has done almost 5000 to date. Even though the trend nowadays is to go for Laproscopic surgery because of the quicker recovery time, I wanted the most experienced surgeon. He has a pleasant manner, but you don't want to depend on him emotionally. He's there to do his job and is pretty matter of fact about it, while still having a pleasant, but distant, personality.rnrnAlso, he does his surgery in Hackensack University Hospital, which is a great hospital. It's beautifully appointed, you really feel welcomed there (funny thing to say about a hospital, I know). Also, some of the nurses on the ward have had the surgery themselves so they can be more empathetic. The hospital is well set-up for larger patients and bariatric needs. I felt well taken care of there.

Dr. Capella is a charming, distinguished professional. He ran his own informative seminar. He showed slides and photos that clearly demonstrated Open RNY. He explained everything thoroughly and encouraged questions.
Dr Capella has performed 4000 surgeries and specializes in Open RNY. He believes it is the safest and most successful WLS procedure.

He advised of the dangers of any surgery and sited the general statistics and his personal statistics(which were very low).

When I met with him personally, I knew he wanted to help me and he did every step of the way (including my insurance battles).

If you have never experienced battling the insurance companies, be prepared to ask the staff alot of questions so you can pull together all the documentation they will require. I found out the hard way..trial and error.

His office staff is hard working and always busy. They are always willing to help.

I am only 3 weeks post-op right now and Dr. Capella wants to see me in one week for follow-up. He holds monthly meetings which are open to all pre-op and post-op patients.

I would encourage you all to research other surgeons on the East Coast. I am confident that his record will speak for itself.

Dr. Capella is a 10 (out of 10).

I liked Dr Capella when I first met him, I felt a little rushed but the office was packed I chose Dr Capella because of his low complication rate.

I met Dr. Capella at his informational seminar. My husband and I really liked his caring nature and sense of humor. He was very open about complications and his experiences. He also informed everyone at the meeting that, because we were attending his meeting didn't mean we have to go to him. He explained if someone didn't feel comfortable with him to please seek another doctor.
My pre-op appointment seems very rushed, but his office was full of people. After surgery he went out to the waiting area and spoke to my mom and husband. While I was in the hospital he was very caring and listened to any questions I had.
Over all I would recommend him to anyone interested in WLS.

When I first met Dr. Capella I thought he was younger than he really is. He is a very passionate man who is an expert at his craft. His office staff is very supportive and knowledgable and I felt very comfortable being in the office. There is nothing I didnt like about Dr. Capella. You should know that Dr. Capella is a great Dr. and you will have the best experience he has over 22 yrs. experience. He puts a great deal of emphasis on aftercare. He also provides an aftercar package. There was a seminar prior to the consult that detailed the pros and cons of WLS. Dr. Capella is an angel and he is a great surgeon.

I had no problems with the surgeon. He was professional, and I recovered without any incident. I traveled from Texas, so I only stayed in Jersey area for 10 days. I saw him once about a year or so later. His office called once a year to check up on me but stopped after about 4 years. As a R.N., I found him to be very knowledgable and supportive. The office staff was professional and pleasant. He does stress aftercare, but that really only entails his tri-state area patients. Last year, 3-2004, I made an appt. to go see him while I was on a social visit to NYC, but right before my appt., the office called and cancelled it, despite knowing that I was coming from TX and had only that one day to see him. Have not had any contact with the ofice since. Overall, because I am a surgical trauma/ iv therapy nurse, I did not need a lot of handholding and calling back and forth for problems, but I do not know how well his office handles patients without any medical knowledge. I would not hesitate to return to him for surgery if I were to need it.