Dr. Ariel Ortiz at the OCC

[jjinWA 511]

I can't speak about Angeles hospital or that dr. Because my daughters had their surgery at OCC with Dr. Ortiz and his team. So I will give my feedback based on my perspective. You have to do your research and apply the info based on you.. Your health, beliefs, etc. YES, take in the feedback from this site as there are many of us who have had surgery in Mexico. There are many good surgeons there. I had my surgery in the US so I was able to compare apples to apples between the two locations. My stay in the US was overnight. My daughters' stay in the the OCC was overnight. That is where the common comparison ends, unfortunately. Nothing major at OCC but the staff capability and services were limited. Drawing blood and IVs were an ordeal for them. No extra pillows or blankets and no monitoring of Water intake or output had me concerned. My stay in the surgical center in the US was much more in line with what I would expect from a hospital stay. With that said, I did have confidence in the surgeon team. I say team because I am not convinced dr. Ortiz does all the surgeries each day. We had 6 patients having surgery the day my daughters were there. The last two were well after 2:00 pm. 3 of the companions, including me, headed over to Applebee's for a late lunch.... And was surprised to see Dr Ortiz drive out of the underground parking lot when one of the companions' wife was actually in surgery at that same moment! Hmmmm? But as we discussed this issue over lunch we all agreed that dr. Ortiz may be more the marketing dude and most importantly his surgical team appeared to be every bit as capable. So we let it go and did not worry about it. I cannot confirm it was him driving off, but it sure looked like him and he was in a high end high cost vehicle that you would not see often in TJ and the guy was coming out of the OCC garage. Just saying it looked like him for sure!

Anyway, research the capabilities of the entire team and staff. They are very important parts of your surgical experience. From the anesthesia dr to the person drawing blood and putting in your IV. They are all very important roles. We had 4 infiltrated IVs out of 6 that day. Worrisome to say the least.

Would I recommend OCC and Dr. Ortiz. Probably, but not without giving reference to the concerns I have about our experience overall. As I have said previously, nothing really serious but there could be improvements for sure. We did sit down with Dr. Ortiz on our last day and discuss our concerns with him. He was pleasant to visit with and seemed to take in the information and did say he would address the issues.. Especially the concern that the staff person trying to draw blood did not have gloves on! He was attentive to the fact that my oldest daughter is a nurse practitioner and so he understood her concerns were valid.

I cannot say if they have had any improvements since we were there on Dec 8th. But i can say based on our experience one night was all I would want to stay there! Ha. I understand the concerns of many here who want a longer stay. Again each person needs to do their own research and do what feels best for them. If you prefer Dr Ortiz, ask the OCC center to accommodate your request for a longer stay. They probably could work out an arrangement so that you can have Ortiz as your surgeon AND stay in OCC for 4 days.

[JamieLogical 8,708]

I don't doubt that Dr. Martinez does some of the surgeries on his own now. He has worked as a surgeon at OCC since 2002, so it seems doubtful he wouldn't be perfectly capable of performing the surgeries unsupervised at this point. There's info about his accreditations and affiliations here:

 

http://www.obesitycontrolcenter.com/surgeons/surgical-team/arturo-martinez.php

[JamieLogical 8,708]

No gloves while drawing blood is surprising. Perhaps it was a one time occurrence. Once you go under anesthesia you never know who is operating on you. I was a surgical resident and assisted surgeons, some more than others. When I had surgery at a major teaching institution in NYC, I asked the surgeon several times to give me the professional courtesy of performing the entire procedure skin to skin. Did he? I will never know.

 

Yeah, I didn't encounter that when I was there. The young man who took my blood and put in my IV was very polite and professional and definitely wore gloves.

[Kindle 8,667]

I don't doubt that Dr. Martinez does some of the surgeries on his own now. He has worked as a surgeon at OCC since 2002, so it seems doubtful he wouldn't be perfectly capable of performing the surgeries unsupervised at this point. There's info about his accreditations and affiliations here:

 

http://www.obesitycontrolcenter.com/surgeons/surgical-team/arturo-martinez.php

I was actually told that Dr. Martinez does the surgeries solo when Dr. Ortiz is out of town, sick, etc. I was perfectly comfortable with his credentials and experience.

 

As for gloves and IV placement, my nurse was great. I watched her put on new gloves everytime she came in, even just to check the IV. I actually have bad veins and have often needed 2-3-4 attempts to place an IV or draw blood. My OCC nurse succeeded on the first try.

[Kindle 8,667]

No gloves while drawing blood is surprising. Perhaps it was a one time occurrence. Once you go under anesthesia you never know who is operating on you. I was a surgical resident and assisted surgeons, some more than others. When I had surgery at a major teaching institution in NYC, I asked the surgeon several times to give me the professional courtesy of performing the entire procedure skin to skin. Did he? I will never know.

I had c5-C6 fused at the University of Utah 6 years ago. I specifically chose to go there because of a particular doctor that was a renowned cervical neurosurgeon (now retired). But when I read the OR report, after the description of the procedure, there was a statement from the surgeon that read "I was present for all crucial aspects of the surgery". So as a teaching hospital, I'm sure he never even touched me. But fortunately his residents did an awesome job!

 

My hospital stay for that surgery was only 1 night, too. Followed by a 5 hour drive home ????

[kcleveland 15]

Dr Martinez performed my surgery as Dr Ortiz was out sick. I don't think I could have received better care. No issues with drawing blood or IVs. If I had to stay longer than 1 day I would have gone nuts. We were out shopping the next day. Easy recovery!

[freddie8_8 37]

Corvala's case coordinator claims that only Corvala does the surgeries and the doctors studying underneath him do not perform them. Apparently they only observe at the patients consent.

The posts above reaffirm my decision to go with Hospita Angeles instead of the OCC because of the much longer post op hospital care offered by Hospital Angeles. I'm also a bit turned off by Ortiz's marketing literature that was emailed to me which claims he has experienced zero complications wiith his VSG procedures.

[Rubygirl 32]

@freddie8_8 Go have your surgery with Dr. Corvala and get off this page

[freddie8_8 37]

Rubygirl: I am just trying to get information and share ideas so that I can make an informed well thoughtout decision regarding who my TJ surgeo will be. I have nothing against Dr. Ortiz have seriously considered using him based on posts on this forum thread. Certainly if you don't like what I write, feel free not to read my posts.

[ufjireh 23]

Hello All!

I am having my procedure done on March 20th at the OCC! I am so excited however I had to start the pre pre-op diet a little early since I gained about 15 pounds since I decided to go through with the surgery. I literally went on a food funeral frenzy-I was eating everything in sight! It wasn't until I saw the new number on the scale that I realized I had to stop...now I need to lose 27 pounds before the surgery....I am not nervous just ready for this new chapter of my life. I wish I hadn't binged out on food, but I did and it is no reason to cry over spilled milk. I am ready for this change and I am determined to succeed.

[raven123 97]

Rubygirl: I am just trying to get information and share ideas so that I can make an informed well thoughtout decision regarding who my TJ surgeo will be. I have nothing against Dr. Ortiz have seriously considered using him based on posts on this forum thread. Certainly if you don't like what I write, feel free not to read my posts.

No. You came with your mind made up and hoping to change other minds. it is evident from your posts that you already have an answer to everything. Fine Enjoy your life.

[JamieLogical 8,708]

Rubygirl: I am just trying to get information and share ideas so that I can make an informed well thoughtout decision regarding who my TJ surgeo will be. I have nothing against Dr. Ortiz have seriously considered using him based on posts on this forum thread.  Certainly if you don't like what I write, feel free not to read my posts. 

 

I don't have anything against you speaking your mind. This is a forum for open discussion. But don't pretend that your mind isn't already made up. You said several posts back that you have already chosen Corvala and given several reasons why. I'm happy that you have reached a decision that is right for you. If you feel like you can continue to constructively contribute to this thread, despite having decided against Ariel Ortiz and OCC, then I welcome you to do so. But if, from this point out, you want to talk about your decision to use Dr. Corvala and your experiences with that, then it might be better expressed in another thread so as not to derail this one further.

Edited February 20, 2015 by JamieLogical

[JamieLogical 8,708]

Hello All!

 

I am having my procedure done on March 20th at the OCC! I am so excited however I had to start the pre pre-op diet a little early since I gained about 15 pounds since I decided to go through with the surgery. I literally went on a food funeral frenzy-I was eating everything in sight! It wasn't until I saw the new number on the scale that I realized I had to stop...now I need to lose 27 pounds before the surgery....I am not nervous just ready for this new chapter of my life. I wish I hadn't binged out on food, but I did and it is no reason to cry over spilled milk. I am ready for this change and I am determined to succeed.

 

Welcome! I wish you much success with the pre-op diet. It can be really rough. The first few days are the worst, so push through those and then it will be a little easier. Feel free to post any questions or concerns you might have about your upcoming trip to OCC. And good luck!

Edited February 20, 2015 by JamieLogical

[ladybugz2 1]

I'm a newbie and I appreciate what he has to say even if his mind is already made up.  I'm scared out of my wits and I've tried to think of every possible factor to make a decision on where to go and who to use.  So any information is welcomed by me.  Don't want to stir the pot, but honestly I've searched for negative reviews for Dr. Ortiz and other than some older lapband reviews I haven't found anything negative.  It makes me wonder if I am getting the whole story.  Hope I am since I am booked for March 2nd!

[JamieLogical 8,708]

I'm a newbie and I appreciate what he has to say even if his mind is already made up.  I'm scared out of my wits and I've tried to think of every possible factor to make a decision on where to go and who to use.  So any information is welcomed by me.  Don't want to stir the pot, but honestly I've searched for negative reviews for Dr. Ortiz and other than some older lapband reviews I haven't found anything negative.  It makes me wonder if I am getting the whole story.  Hope I am since I am booked for March 2nd!

 

My point was that this is a thread about Ariel Ortiz and OCC. While it is perfectly legitimate to raise concerns about Dr. Ortiz in this thread, it's not really appropriate to then go on extolling the virtues of another specific surgeon. If freddie wants to go start another thread about Dr. Corvala and discuss his/her decision making process and experience there, then that would be extremely helpful for people beginning their research and working toward making their own decision. This thread is already 190 pages long and has a lot of information to get through for people considering Dr. Ortiz and OCC, it doesn't need to be muddled up by extensive posts about other surgeons.

 

Good luck with your pre-op diet and I hope you have a great trip and successful surgery. Definitely post back here if you have any questions or concerns about what to expect and let us know how everything goes!