Roy Berkowitz Bariatric Surgeon M.D., F.A.C.S.

<font color="red">June 20, 2002
I was favorably impressed with Dr. Berkowitz, who is associated with Bariatric Treatment Centers. I selected BTC because of their overall programs and one of the reasons I had selected him from among their surgeons was that I had heard that he not only was very skilled and experienced, but had been a vascular surgeon -- with my history that could be significant. I called on a Tuesday and got an appt. that Thursday to see him in his Schaumburg offices. <p> While staff was friendly and courteous, I would have preferred to have had my intake interview/heath history in a private room with a health professional, rather than in the waiting area by the receptionist.
Dr. Berkowitz was very friendly and explained the procedure, the risks, and answered all of my questions to my satisfaction. He seemed to defer to my husband a little, but he is obviously from the old school and I choose to forgive him (ha, ha). Really, he was quite personable and professional. The only real qualm I had was when I asked him how many of his patients had died and he said 6 to 8 (which coincidentally falls nicely within the average percentiles). I couldn't help thinking that if I did over 1200 bariatric surgeries, I'd darn well know whether it was 6 OR 8. However, I do feel comfortable with him as my surgeon and am satisfied that he can handle anything that happens. But as they say, the proof is in the pudding and so we'll see how it goes post-op -- after he slices me open and tosses my guts about.<p>
August 13: My main phone contact since the June 20th visit has been Tracey, Berkowitz's patient counselor. She is the epitomy of efficiency and competency and is, in fact, the only individual in the entire BTC network who actually has returned my calls and attempted to expedite a process that is taking way too long! She has interceded on my behalf and today the BTC sent fax to Highmark. Hmmm...it is a shame that it took EIGHT WEEKS. They must type very, very slowly.<br>August 14: FAX was never received from BTC. <br> August 15: YIPEE! Got confirmation that re-FAX letter was received by my insurance. <br>September 4: Called Highmark and my insurance rep says I'M APPROVED!! She said the letter was sent out and I should have BTC office give them a call with a surgical date.

From the first time I met Dr Berkowitz in my evaluation to the day of of my hospital discharge post op HE WAS WONDERFUL!! He answered all of my questions, kept my spirits up, and evan held my hand when I needed it. The staff at the hospital in Belvidere, IL has his 100% full support, they couldn't say enough about him! I would reccomend Dr Berkowitz and the entire BTC staff of IL. They are caring, supportive, and make you feel like a person, not just a chart.

I just came back frommy 6 week follow up with Dr B and may I tell you he is AWESOME. What a sweet man, so caring, complimentary, and really is encouraging. I really just cannot say enough. Dr Berkowitz is my savior!!

On my first visit to his office,he took his time and answered all my questions.I was totally convinced that I wanted the surgery.It took about 6 months for my insurance to be aproved.Dr. Berkowitz's office took care of every thing.They faught for me and my right for this surgery to be covered under my insurance .The day I received the call that it had been aproved ,it was the happiest day of my life.Everything went very quickly after aproval.It was I think only one month until my surgery Nov.13 2000.There is an open door policy after surgery.All questions and concerns and addressed.Over all rating for the Dr. is very good.Surgical competance and bedside manner are both great.

The BTC's, Schaumburg IL clinic was very quite. No backgound music, no TV and most of the staff was out to lunch when I arrived. Nobody in the waiting room. While Amy was taking vitals we heard the doctor was back by the "Oh, Sh--. She tried to hide the laugh.

Very relaxed meeting. He had all the time in the world to talk. Even as we were leaving the clinic he was out at his car doing something.

Explained everything including risks. Talked about what eating will be like afterwards.

Sat and talked with my husband, Army and helicopers. Dr. earned Brownie points there.

8/18/02 While I still agree with the personality of the doctor, BTC has really dropped the ball. It took seven weeks before the letter was sent out to my ins to ask for pre-approval. They are not very good at returning phone calls either. Their phone system is sucky too. You can only hold for 4 minutes before you get the message to try your call later. Then you have to make the call again and hold for another 4 minutes.

I was very inpressed with Dr Berkowitz, he never hid anything from me, told me as it was. The office people are all very nice, they are there to answer any questions you have , and are good at getting back to you, with an answer.
I just liked the fact he was so honest about eveery thing. was very open and answered any questions we had.

Dr Berkowitz stresses on how important it is to follow his care and do what he sayd after surgary, so there is no complacations.
You get a very nice book after surgary in side it you will find an answer to just about any questions you have, and it also gives you some nice menues, and recipes.
He went over all the risk that there was aan dwhich would happen first if anything would happen, Like I said he went over everything, I walked out knowing this is what I was going to do, and he was the one going to do it.

I had my first consultation with Dr. Vaughn, but when it came to scheduling I decided to go with Dr. Berkowitz to better fit in with my schedule. The first time I met him was about 20 min. before surgery.

He is pretty soft spoken, but seems very knowledgable.

I had some complications involving a restricted stoma very soon after surgery and he was very able to see me through the problem. It ended up taking several weeks until a solution and he assured me that he would see me through it. There were some difficult days and ultimately I knew I could count on him.

As with most Dr.'s, he's a busy person, so make sure you get your questions ready for him and I have no doubt he will listen and then answer.

The man knows what he is doing!

MY FIRST IMPRESSION OF DR.BERKOWITZ WAS HE WAS VERY NICE. I WAS THE ONLY ONE IN THE WAITING ROOM AT BTC FEELING NERVOUS AND NERVOUS CAN BE AND HE CAME UPTO ME AND SHOOK MY HAND AND WAS LIKE I'LL BRB IM GOING TO MCDONALDS...LOL. THE OFFICE STAFF AT THE SCHAUMBURG BTC WAS VERY NICE AND VERY PERSONAL.. PERSONALY I HATE MEETING DR.'S FOR THE 1ST TIME AND IT WASNT AS BED AS I HAD ANTICIPATED.I WOULDNT SAY THERE WAS ANYTHING I LIKED LEAST ABOUT HIM HIS PERSONALITY WAS LINDA PLACID BUT I GUESS WHEN YOU DO THE SAME THING EVERYDAY. I AM STILL PRE- OP AND I WILL LET YOU KNOW MORE AFTER I AHVE SURGERY WITH HIM.

Dr. Berkowitz came highly recommended to me so I was optimistic when I went to BTC for my first consultation. I was not disappointed. He gave very clear explanations and patiently answered the questions I had. He also listed all the risks (without being asked) and explained what is done to minimize the possibility of something going wrong.

My surgery went smoothly, with no major problems or complications. At 7 months out, I've lost 86 lbs. and I'm doing great. The only negative comment that I have about my surgeon is that I feel his approach to me as a postop was a bit impersonal. For example, he was unable to give me a full explanation of why my incision was considerably longer than the average open rny incision (it extends a couple of inches past my belly button instead of stopping just above it). When I asked him about this, he gave me a very general answer about how sometimes there is a need for more room, and I got the feeling he really did not remember the specifics of my particular case. I have a high opinion of his technical skill as a surgeon; however, if you want a surgeon with whom you can establish a close, personal relationship, I would say Dr. Berkowitz is not your man.

Another caveat about BTC is that I felt just a bit like a product on a factory assembly line, lol. They take a cookie cutter approach to the surgery...everybody gets exactly the same procedure, same amount bypassed, etc., regardless of factors such as how much weight a person needs to lose. Fortunately, this approach seems to have been effective for me; but if you really want your surgery to be tailored to your individual needs, you should probably go elsewhere. To the best of my knowledge, that will not happen at BTC.

Aftercare was not bad in most respects; however, when I called for an appointment for my 6 month checkup, I was told BTC no longer does a checkup at 6 months or at 9 months. So there will be no more checkups for me till I'm a year out. I found this to be a bit disconcerting...I think that 6 month checkup is important and being told it would not be available to me made me feel like BTC didn't really care that much about me at this point.

One other problem I've run into is that BTC has no support groups that are geographically accessible for me. I really wish there were more support groups, to cover more of the Chicago area.

Would I choose BTC if I had it to do over again? I'm really not sure. I wouldn't rule it out...but I think I would check out some more surgeons and practices before making a final decision. BTC does have certain strengths, such as the way the make the insurance approval process so much easier, and the way they are geared to the needs of the bariatric patient. I liked the idea of having surgery in a specialized environment that was designed for the care of bariatic patients.

Legalese disclaimer: The above is my personal impressions of my personal experience, and I am making no statements about what other people may experience, yada yada yada.

I first saw Dr. Salvino at the seminar that I went to in February. He seems like a really nice man. He seems to be very down to earth. I am a medical assistant and have worked with different doctors, some that seemed to me like they had that "GOD" complex. I didn't get that from Dr. Salvino. To me he seemed like he genuinely cared about my thoughts and feelings and had the time to listen to me. I really have to be honest here and tell you that I was looking for a doctor who could speak English well. I just hate going to doctors who I cannot fully understand due to their accents. When I saw Dr. Salvino at the seminar I knew I would have no problem with that.

His office staff was very nice and helpful.

I thought he addressed the risks of surgery very well and explained the aftercare program well also. He said that the WISH Center has one of the best aftercare programs around.

I don't really have any dislikes about Dr. Salvino at this time.

I think both surgical competence and bedside manner are very important in a doctor. I wouldn't want a doctor who wasn't that knowledgable in his field and I wouldn't want a doctor with a jerk personality either.



6/20/02
Today I had a consult with Dr. Berkowitz. He was very laid back and a twinkle in his eyes. I really didn't have too many questions considering all the education I have already received on the surgery. He did answer questions that I did though. I really did like him and I did Dr. Salvino. I felt really comfortable with Dr. Berkowitz. Maybe a slight more comfortable with him then with Dr. Salvino.

I had seen Dr. Berkowitz back in 2000 when I went for my 1st consult, that was turned down by my insurance. Now he will, again, be my surgeon, if this try goes through. I liked him the very 1st time I met him. I didn't talk to him very long because I have done alot of research on this surgery and talked to alot of people that have had it done. He seems pleasant and very thorough. I can't remember much of the staff but I know I did not have any unpleasant experiences.
_____________________________________________5/13/02
This visit was about the same as the 1st. I still like him. He is a meek man, quiet. I didn't have any questions except was it going to be a proximal or distal and how much of the intestine would he bypass. I think he was alittle surprised. I am an RN and when I told him he said he was wondering why I used the terms that I did. After that I think he felt more comfortable and also used medical terms. Sometimes it can be very hard to put into laymens terms, to try and explain something for someone out of the medical field to understand. Well anyway, I feel very confident in his ability to do this surgery. He had done it since the 70's. He does approx. 40 a month.