Reginald Bell Bariatric Surgeon M.D.

I went to Dr. Bell due to his surgical competence, but was pleasantly surprised by his bedside manner. His caring touch and kind words right before surgery relaxed me greatly. rnrnThe only downside, is that all of my follow up visits have been with his assistant, which is just the office policy. I am sure though that if I requested to see him specifically, the office would comply.

I've been very impressed with Dr. Bell so far. From the first visit I felt very comfortable with him and his staff. Everyone always takes the time to "check in". I was VERY impressed with the manditory nutrition/what to expect class. the booklet detailed everything, so I didn't have to try and remember everything a month later. The dietitian is always available to answer questions and leads a support group once a month at the hospital. Dr. Bell's assistant Kate is wonderful, very helpful! I have had MANY sugeries, and have had many condesending, arrogant surgeons, so have developed a great appreciation for doctors who treat me like a human being instead of a slab of meat. In surgery, I also think it is very important to go to a person who does many, many surgeries of the type you are getting; practice make perfect! my whole experience this far has been great.

I was referred to Dr. Bell by a surgeon I work with. I found Dr. Bell to be very patient and informative but I personally had difficulty connecting to his office nurse. For example, when I had problems and wanted to speak directly with Dr. Bell, she would not put my request through to him. I would have to wait days and sometimes weeks for my follow-up appointment before I could talk to him directly. Dr. Bell's insurance processor was amazing. She did everything for me and got approval within 3 weeks. Since I drove to Denver (3 hrs) for my surgery, I had no local follow-up care. I had made arrangments for my family practice doctor to do my f/u care but GBP was still pretty new and we were all becoming educated through trial and error.I had tremendous problems with nausea/stomack and did alot of trouble shooting over the phone to Denver and on my own over the internet. I lived on Percocet and Phenergen for the first year. I did attend Kelly Elliot's nutrition program before my surgery and I would recommend her support group to anyone in the Denver area. Again, I am 3 hours away and do not have access to her or her support group resources. Through her class I learned what my post-op in-hospital diet should be which is important to write down in case your hospital does not comply. It was a good thing my husband had all the facts because he made sure I had the correct diet tray. The hospital gave me food and sugared jello instead of liquids only. Dr. Bell's office only required Kelly's nutrition program and did not emphasize a strong aftercare follow-up program. I would recommend Dr. Bell to perform the surgery but you will have to find outside resources to fullfill your whole GBP experience and care. This of course is my personal impressions of my personal experience and I am in no way making any other statement about what other people may experience and I understand and know that procedures and programs may have changed in the past two years.

My first impression of Dr. Bell was that he was very relaxed and courteous of the time I took to drive to meet with him. He answered all of my questions and provided plenty of information. His office staff is well organized and considerate. His nurse is efficient and very cordial. The only thing I can say that I liked least is the fact that in total I will make 4-5 trips to Denver before this is over with. I wish this office was like the one in Salt Lake City that lets you do everything in one trip (I live 4 hours from SLC one way and 4 hours from Denver the other way). Future patients should just know to be patient. My consultation was scheduled for two months and the nurse told me now that the wait time is almost 4 months. Dr. Bell does have a structured aftercare program, but it mostly intails just regular office visits after surgery. Dr. Bell was very straightforward about the risks of surgery and did not try to sugarcoat anything, which I appreciate. I would rate Dr. Bell very highly in intelligence, competency and kindness. I prefer surgical competence to bedside manner but believe that Dr. Bell is equally competent at both.

A very quiet, yet professional man.

I feel very comfortable with him.

His staff is helpful, though very very busy!

It was sometimes hard to schedule appts.

I would definitely recommend him.

As for aftercare, he's very into the bloodwork to monitor health.

though I'm not aware of a structured after-care program. I attend the post-surgical support group headed by Kelly Elliott for that.



Overall, I'm very pleased. Dr. Bell also took care of my incisional hernia after the bypass. And, he's doing a bypass on my niece as well.

Surgical competence is better than bedside manner (that's the most important, right?)

I have only seen Dr.Bell once. He was interested in all my husband and I had to say. He asked alot of questions and answered alot of questions. We both felt very comfortable with him. His staff were very friendly and I can never say enough about Saida.
We have not talked much about aftercare as of yet.But he did emphasize that this would be a big life change.

Dr.Bell was very professional and understanding. He answered all of my wife and my questions. I am looking forward to having the surgury and be reborn into my new life as a "loser"

just from meeting him once,he seem like a very caring person,his office staff has been super.my surgery is scheduled for thurs.feb.6th at 715am-can't wait...marcia

I've just met with Dr. Bell once. He was 2 hours behind at the appointment, but took all the time I wanted to answer my questions. I had thought he did only open, but he told me he could do my surgery lap.<p>His office staff was great. Saida got all the necessary paperwork together, which took some phone calling between her and my PCP's office. Lourdes, the surgery scheduler, was able to get me a date and time which worked for me.<p> Post op review. My surgery itself went very well. I never even had a PCA and didn't need one. My incisions healed well. However, from the time I started on clear liquids, I could not keep anything down. Dr. Bell left the country for two weeks following my surgery. When I was released from the hospital I was not yet able to keep anything down and during the next two weeks, Dr. Bell's partners, who do not do bariatric surgery, were unable to help me. I would tell anyone who is going to use him to make sure he will be around for the first 2 or 3 weeks post-op so you can deal with him and not someone else. <p> When I went for my first follow-up visit with one of his partners, the partner wasn't sure what to do, but did call in another bariatric surgeon for advice. Also, the staff in his office was very, very helpful to me that day in finding a hospital bed for me so I could get in and get diagnosed and treated for my problem (turned out to be an ulcer). <p> My opinion of Dr. Bell has changed. Early on when I still couldn't keep anything down, I called him one night about 5:00 pm. He didn't return my call, so I called again about 6:00 pm. He called me back and read me the riot act. Said just because I was weak and unable to keep anything down was no reason for me to be back in the hospital and I would just have to 'tough it out'. <p>The next day I passed out and fell twice. Once he discovered that it was his mistake that was responsible for my being unable to keep anything down, he changed into Mr. Nice Guy. The only good thing I have to say is that he did volunteer that his malpractice insurance had a program to reimburse me for some of my lost wages and my out-of-pocket medical expenses, up to $30,000. They'll only give me $5,000 for lost wages. I still haven't totalled up my out-of-pocket expenses, but it will be nice to get some of that money back.

My first impression of Dr. Bell was very good. He was very professional, yet personable. He has wonderful ofice staff. Dr. Bell appears very concerned about the long term affects of being obese. I am looking forward to surgery. I do not have anything negative to say regarding my first experience in Dr. Bell's office.


I went to the pre-op appointment with Dr. Bell in June. He had previously asked that I attend pre-op nutrtion classes with Kelly Elliott. I had not done so prior to my visit. Dr. Bell made it pefectly clear how important He felt it was to attend the nutrition classes pre-op. He made it mandatory I go to @ least 3 classes taught by Kelly before He would perform a pre-op. It is almost 2 monthes later and I have attended 3 classes. I must admit, I completely agree with Dr.Bell on the important role the classes play in the final decision to have surgery. I thank Him for making it mandatory to attend. I have learned so much from Kelly Elliott. She is very informed and extremely personable.