The good, the bad & the ugly... Mexico Bariatric Center, Dr. Kelly, Mi hospital
I have written this for information purposes only. I am trying to be as informative as possible to anyone that is considering surgery with Dr. R. Kelly, or using Mexico Bariatric Center or considering Mi Doctor Hospital. We just got back a few days ago from TJ… so far so good! My wife is doing GREAT! I hope this is not found as advertising as per the Forum Rules.
I accompanied my wife for VSG surgery; I had mine three years ago. My surgery was with Dr. Almanza and that is a complete other topic. Someday I will write about that gong show.
THE GOOD
Airport pick up in San Diego by a MBC employee was on time as scheduled. AAAAA
Dropped off at the Marriot... not my first choice but very acceptable.
Originally booked into the Grand but was changed by MBC the week prior. Been at the Grand several other times and prefer it over the Marriot because of its location, dining and facilities. All was ok because MBC did advise us prior to leaving for Tijuana. AAAA
Mi hospital was good. There is no Doctor present in the evenings till early morning. Very clean for Mexico standards. AAA
Opted to have the leak test and x-rays at Angeles Hospital due to the fact of their more advanced equipment. A Hospital that most definately meets all standards. An extra cost of $60. AAAAA
Dr. Kelly and his assistant Lora were both great. Very caring, conversations were very informative, professional and there is no sugar coating and no bull ****. We really appreciated that they both personally checked in with my wife during her recovery at the hotel. It was nice to see him & Lora other than just a nurse or coordinator. Not sure if he was supposed to do that since we booked through MBC. AAAAA
MBC was caught in a lie about changing Doctors to another patient and Dr. Kelly was caught in the middle. To keep the patient happy and to keep the patient from feeling they were used in a “bait & switch tactic” Dr. Kelly performed the surgery at no charge and picked up all Hospital charges as well. I witnessed this as this patient was in the room next to ours. AAAAA
THE BAD
Originally booked with a coordinator named Kelly. After our second communication with her she advised that she had a family issue with her dad and that Cindy would be able to assist us from there. Half a dozen emails, 3 or 4 phone calls. All was good at that time. I would rate her and the service a AAAA BUT… after us having problems with the hospital change, Cindy understood why were upset but changed her tune after speaking with a higher up at MBC. I did not take her comments lightly when she said it’s about time Dr. Kelly took responsibility and admit to his errors in regards to the hospital change. She also advised us that she did not make any money on this booking and we brought up this issue with Daniel (Mexican liaison for MBC) that we didn’t feel it was right for Cindy not to be paid as she did all the work as far as we could see but I truly don’t care how MBC pays its employees and Cindy had no business telling us that. We feel she did her job and should have been paid by her employer no matter what differences we might have had with her! This is business… not personal. AA
As far as blaming it on Dr. Kelly, he personally told us why we had the hospital change… that will be in detail in “the ugly”.
The Marriot's room service was poor. AA
My wife wanted to be one of the first surgeries of the day and was advised by Cindy that she had to arrange that with Daniel once she was in TJ. She spoke to Daniel’s assistant, Tatianna at the Hotel the minute we arrived and she said she would look into it and call me back. No callback came and Daniel said he knew nothing of this, and surgeries were already booked. Very poor communications between Cindy, Tatianna and Daniel on this matter. A
THE UGLY
Taken to MI Doctor Hospital. We booked our surgeon to operate in the Florence/Oasis Hospital. We were never advised by MBC that there had been a change. We found this unacceptable. Tatriana & Cindy advised us the morning of the surgery that Dr. Kelly no longer had privileges there and he only had privileges at MI Doctor (thus the change). After meeting with the doc an hour prior to surgery he and his assistant advised they also had privileges at Nova Hospital & Angeles Hospital. MBC states the Dr. changed the Hospital on us and the doc says MBC would not pay the higher operating room fee. Any way you look at it, we booked through MBC and they were the ones that should have advised us. Then it would have been our option to cancel or book directly with Dr. Kelly’s service directly. We would have cancelled and booked directly with Dr. Kelly! Our package cost was also higher than others MBC offers and were told that part of the reason for the higher cost was having the surgery at the Florence/Oasis which was a nicer facility (according to Cindy). No partial refund/offer of extra services was offered to compensate the difference in price between the two facilities. A
We were also advised by an onsite MBC employee that Dr. Kelly was not set up to operate out of Nova Hospital as of yet, but Dr. Kelly's assistant showed us his schedule and that he has worked out of Nova Hospital for the last 13 days. I detest blatant lies. A
Fees at MI are $400 dollars cheaper than Florence/Oasis and Nova is a few hundred more than Florence/Oasis. If you book directly with Dr. Kelly ... Nova Hospital and all its benefits are included at the same price. More on that in my summary.
The website that we booked through was www.ramoskellymd.com It states that it is the “Official Patient Coordinator Website of Dr. Ramos Kelly”. IT IS NOT! Dr. Kelly’s website is www.wlsclinic.com There are differences. See my summary. A
SUMMARY
I suggest anyone that is considering surgery with Dr. Kelly should book directly through his website at www.wlsclinic.com or call Lora at 619.793.4869 or email at Wlsclinic@outlook.com. There are many differences with the package sold through Mexico Bariatric Centre and sold directly. They both charge the same price but when booking direct, surgery is performed at Nova Hospital. I had a chance to inspect this facility. It is state of the art, high tech and has Doctors present 24/7 in case of any problems that might occur. Not just nurses and a doctor on call. Another difference is the leak test x-ray. He takes you to Angeles Hospital where again… state of the art equipment and images. He has a nutritionist meet with you while still in the hospital… the list goes on and on. Please do your research on this!
There are many Bariatric Surgeons in Tijuana. Some excellent… some very poor. The same applies to Hospitals and Hotels. Being that this was my 10th visit to TJ, I feel abit qualified to speak on this subject. I have assisted many friends while having VSG surgery and so far… I am the only one with a few minor complications. They are not major but just little hiccups along the way.
I have lost over 120 pounds and feel great. Wish I knew of this surgery years before I actually did it. If anyone wants to get the real scoop you can call me at 250.675.4657 anytime. I’m on the west coast so please remember the time difference.
I’m not a coordinator; I do not get referral fees… I’m just a happy, lighter individual that wishes you the very best with whatever decision you make.
And I cannot sign off without stating one opinion.
I do not want to debate this statement (and won’t) but if you are considering having surgery at Jerusalem Clinic with Dr. Almanza and Dr? (Mr.) Bentacourt… please reconsider. Research the facility, Betancourt and the recovery house and its personnel.
Thank you for reading my comments. They are just my comments and do not reflect others. I know many of you have had surgery with other surgeons and facilities and love your doctors but I wrote this to help others while in the decision process. If after having surgery you feel that you had the best care then I suggest you start your own Topic.
George
