William Overcash Bariatric Surgeon M.D.

A wonderful md. He took his time to explain the procedure in detail. All the questioms my mom and I had he answered. We never felt rushed. After surgery I was impressed with how friendly everone was. I would requiment him and his staff.

Dr. Overcash first met me in a group situation. He tried scare tactics to see if anyone would leave the room. He did not examine me personally and never did. I did not see him again until after surgery. Still I felt OK with that because of the tests he had run.

My impression of Dr. Overcash did not change over time. He remained distant.

His staff is usually very helpful and reachable.

He is matter of fact. No bedside manner. This is confirmed many times on this website by others. If you need a relationship with your Dr., he is probably not for you.

He sends you home with a diet and strongly encourages exercise. He doesn't have his own support group that I am aware of. He just sends you home with a sheet of instructions.

Dr. Overcash stresses the risks of surgery. Even goes so far as to ask you if you have your affairs in order.

Overall, though, I felt I was in good hands with Dr. Overcash. I haven't had any complications from the surgery and am able to eat normally, albeit, small portions.

I feel Dr. Overcash is surgically competent.

Todd is friendly and laid-back, and he has a good sense of humor. He is very frank and does not sugar-coat anything. He is not a "sweet" man. He will not hold your hand. My impression did not change over time. His office staff is very nice, friendly, and helpful. The thing I like least about him is that I live 1 1/2 hours away and he only sees post-op patients on Thursday from 1:00 to 2:00; this is a very inconvenient time for me. I am familiar with another surgical group(US Bariatrics)that has a phenomenal pre and post surgery care program. In comparison, Dr Overcash's program is very poor. He does have support groups in several cities. He did a very thorough job in covering the risks of surgery, as well as the risks of obesity. Overall, I would rate him a 10, His office staff a 10, Monroe Regional Hospital a 9, and his aftercare program a 2. To me, surgical competence is the most important - I didn't hire him to be my friend.

He was interested in what i had to say. He wasn't cold or snide towards me. My impression of him kept getting better and better of him over time. His staff keeps you updated on everything you need to know and they are very helpful. The only thing that i can think that frustrates me the most about him is that he is late sometimes. But that is beacuase he is still at the hospital. He will not approve to do ur surgery for you unless you have a strong support system and that you promise to do everyhting he tells you to do post- op. Aftercare is emphasized more than anything else. He makes it know that just by getting the surgery you are not going to get to your goal. You hve to work for it! I believe that there is a structured aftercare program. W ehave to go through these phases until 6 months post- op. When addressing the risks of surgery, he did not beat around the bush, he layed everything flat out on the table. Iwould refer doctor overcash to anyone who was serious about doing this surgery and overall, on a scale of 1-10 i would give him a 9.9.

WHEN I WALKED IN TO THE LOBBY I SAW A PICTURE A MAN WITH A SUIT AND A MUSTACHE. A FEW MINUTES LATER I SAW A MAN, CASUALY DRESSED PLAYING WITH A LITTLE GIRL. I THOUGHT OH!, HOW SWEET--IT DIDN'T EVEN OCCUR TO ME THAT MAN WAS, DR. OVERCASH. HIS OFFICE WAS NEAT AND COMFORTABLE. ALOT OF HAPPY PATIENTS I EVEN GOT TO SPEAK TO A FEW. THEY ALL COMMENTED WELL ON THE DR. I WAS VERY COMFORTABLE WITH EVERYTHING HE HAD TO SAY, I DID PLENTY OF RESEARCH AND ALOT OF QUESTIONS TO MY SUPPORT GROUP, SO I KNEW WHAT TO EXPECT. HE DID NOT SUGARCOAT ANYTHING. HE LET YOU KNOW THE POSITIVE AND THE NEGATIVE RISKS OF THIS SURGERY. SOME PEOPLE WERE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH WHAT HE WAS SAYING, BUT IT'S HIS JOB TO LET US KNOW, AND I AM VERY COMFORTABLE WITH HIM. HE TOLD ME TO MAKE ARRANGEMENTS IF SOMETHING WERE TO HAPPEN TO ME. THAT DIDN'T BOTHER ME A BIT. HE HAS A PROFESSIONAL STAFF. PATRICE IS VERY DETAILED. SHE HAS BEEN THERE FOR ALL QUESTIONS REGARDING THE PAPER PROCESS. HE WAS GREAT OVERALL- GREAT MANNERED. PLAIN TRUTH--TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT..I HAVE NOTHING NEGATIVE TO WRITE ABOUT HIM YET...

Dr. William Overcash was my surgeon and he pulls no punches. If your looking for a surgeon with bedside manner and someone to hold your hand he is not the one for you, he tells you the risks up front and makes sure you are completely comfortable before you have this done. Two days after getting home from the surgery I had complications and an infection and he was NOT nice to me on the phone. I did go to an ER where it was determined my infection was due to the surgery and Im still have complications 4 mons post op. My 2nd visit postop Dr. Overcash did not even show up and I was seen by the other surgeon in his office. Now his office staff on the other hand are great. Everytime Ive called Ive been treated with great respect. I believe his competence is good but it would be nice to have an equal balance between competence and beside manner. I know a couple of other people who have had the gastric bypass by Dr. Overcash and we all say the same thing about him, his competence is good.

I had My 1st consult with Dr. Overcash on 1/26/04. My wife joined me in this endeavor. Dr. Overcash was polite, informative and professional in his approach to WLS. He took all the time we needed to explain Every thing you wanted to know about WLS but were afraid to ask. Dr. Overcash was direct and to the point with his approach to this surgery and the risks involved. His staff is very knowledgeable and courteous. I think I have picked a great surgeon and look forward to starting this "Step to the Future" with him and his staff. I really don't have anything negative to say about him. For me, I think he did a good job for the first meeting. I and my wife both came out of there very relaxed and confident that his abilities were what we were looking for.

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5/11/04 UPDATE: I personally would not recommend this surgeon. *********************************************
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Well, I had my first consultation on 1/13/03. My first impression of Dr. Overcash was that he didn't look like his picture at all! He actually calls his patients back just like I'd heard. He stuck his head out the door and yelled my name and I was sitting right under his nose. I looked up at him and said no need to yell buddy, I'm right here and he started laughing. He took me back and weighed me then my husband and I went to a room and I was already prepared for what he asked which was "Are you ready to die?" to which I answered, yes, because I have a better place waiting for me! He then asked the ages of my kids and they are 22, 20 and 17...I quickly answered before he asked that they were all capable of taking care of themselves if I died....he asked my husband if he could manage without me to which he promptly responded yes! Gee I don't know if that is good or bad huh? My husband is psyched for this operation as much as I am. There was some concern that I would not weigh enough and when the doc announced that my BMI was 41 I could see my husband behind him shaking is fist going YES!

The only member of his staff I really dealt with was Patrice and very nice but obviously busy lady.

Overall I would say we were very satisfied. It was important to me that we walk out and I hear something good from my husband. And that happened. We walked to the car and my husband said "I have no qualms putting you in his care, he seems very sure of his skills and the skills of his surgical team."

I believe that even though a surgeon posesses great surgical competence, if he has no bedside manner, he's not for me. I want to feel like the person operating on me knows who I am, not that I'm just another fat woman, but that I am Allen's wife, Ricky Kristy and Ashley's mother.

The only negative thing I have to say is that I still have unanswered questions. This is partially my fault for not asking them but I didn't write them down. Honestly, things went really well for us.

Dr. Overcash was very pleasant during my consult. He fully explained everything and all the risks involved to me and my husband. He was pleased to see a photo of my daughter who had lost 125 lbs. after her surgery with him 2 years earlier. Due to moving just after her surgery she was only able to follow up with him for 2 appointments so this was the first he had seen her since then. He was very good with my daughter and her scar was only about 3 1/2 inches long. I felt like he would be the only one I would want to do my surgery due to the good experience she had with him.

Patrice and the rest of the office staff are great. Patrice was very quick with getting all my stuff together and faxing it to my insurance company....she even called me to let me know she had faxed it to them after she did it.

From the moment I met Dr. Overcash I loved him. I think he truely cares about his patients. His staff was and still is wonderful. All his follow up visits are at no charge to you or your insurance co. He is very to the point on the risks to surgery so dont expect him to candy coat it. I couldnt of chosen a better surgeon and would recommend him to anyone interested in having WLS. I feel blessed. Thank you Dr. Overcash and Cigna.