Daniel Baker Bariatric Surgeon M.D., F.A.C.S.

My very first honest impression is that Dr Baker was... how can I say it nicely...well...old. (Same stereo-type stuff that I have dealt with.)

I would rate Dr. Baker an excellent surgeon - A+++, bedside manner - B+. Doc Baker was not an extremely talkative person.

Staff is warm and friendly. Very experienced.

I do want to personally thank the man who changed my life.

Thank you Dr. Baker.

My first impression of Dr. Baker is he was very professional. My impression never changed. His staff is sweet and helpful. Future patients should know that he knows the business. He puts rules and timelines out there for everyone, just know that he is the best in the business. Aftercare is more important than the surgery. It only took 4-6 months to schedule the surgery, but there is a lifetime of aftercare. He has a structured program and also a support group that he encourages everyone to go to. You are very well informed. I felt overly informed. On a scale of 1-10 I would rate him an 11. He has been perfect (so far). I still have suregery next week. None of my problems were with Dr. Bakers office it was just with HealthPartners. The only reason we had a problem is because I don't think they looked everything over the first time. I had been with HP my whole life, you would think they would have access to the whole file. It didn't work like that.

My first impression of Dr.Baker was I knew he was a great Dr. You could tell he was very out going. From the two times I've went back to see him he was very caring and concerned. His staff were all very nice and happy go people.There wasn't nothing I didn't like about any of them. I would recammand Dr.Baker to everybody he was wonderful.He sresses after care very strong and lets you know that you have to follow through your journey and stick to it.yes there are after care programs all over, I've been to the Buffalo,and the Camebridge one and liked both of them and still go to them.He lets you know what the pros and cons are about the surgery and any questions you have he will answer. On a scale from 1_10 I would rate him a 10. surgical,and bedside manner were both great. So anybody looking for a Dr. I recamnd Dr.daniel Baker.

The first visit I had to Dr. Baker's office was for orientation. He has a program which was completely done. There was people there who have had the surgery and who were trying to decide if they wanted to have it. Ones who were going to have it no matter what.
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Dr. Baker was suppose to be there but was called in for an emergency surgery so his associate took his place for the day. He explained all about what was to be done and what would be needed for us to do. Then he answered all our questions.
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I met Dr. Baker after my insurance approved my surgery. He was a very likable man and he also went over all that was required and answered all my questions. I still feel the same about him. He has great reviews on his procedure and skills. He is one of the best around they say.
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The least thing I liked about him was that he wasn't as positive on my weight loss because of my disability. He said at least a 50lb weight lost for sure. I looked at him and thought for 50 it wouldn't be worth going through all this. I was upset that he felt that way. He actually was going by other reports he had read through the years. He had never done any surgeries on someone disabled.
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I was reassured after coming to this site and reading about other people with disabilities and how they were doing. It gave me hope, much hope. Actually I feel you get out what you put into something no matter what. Dr. Baker had lumped all disabled people into a certain slot and that was it. I have learned through the years we are all different and someone with the same injury isn't going to be like you. :-)
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I do know I will show Dr. Baker through the months after surgery that one can never really go by a set of rules or results from a text book completely. Mainly it also depends on how much exercise one can do as well as sticking to a plan for life. It will be nice to see his face and opinion when I reach my goal of 145 lbs. :-)
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It may take it a little longer but I don't plan on taking to much longer. I plan on a complete life plan and to give it my all.. It will take a lot from me, but day by day I will do it..
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His staff were all excellent. I have been there to see them two times and both times they make me feel completely at ease. I was really scared so I was so glad they were so nice.
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Sometimes it's hard to talk with one of them when I call, their very busy. They do call back each time but it would be nice to be put through at times when you call.
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Also the distance to his office is over 150 miles. It would be nice if he was closer but since he is the best its worth going the extra miles.
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He emphasizes much after care. It only begins with surgery. A week after we go back down to see him. From there we have regular visits. He also has a free support group in many area's for us to go to talk and meet others going through the same thing. It's called Images Support Groups. I hope to go to my first meeting in January. Thinking back to when I went to weight watchers meetings years ago they were a lot of help. So it will be wonderful to go to his support group here in my town.
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Yes he has an excellent aftercare program.
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Yes he did address the risks the surgery can have as well as the benefits.. Overall I would rate him a 98 out of 100. He is excellent in his field and a very considerate, caring fellow.
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He has them both, his surgical competence would perhaps be the best if one had to choose between surgical competence and bedside manner.
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Dr. Baker is a very kind soft spoken person.
He asked me if there were any questions or concerns I might have, and if I did I should not hesitate to contact his office.

The office staff was very friendly and helpful with all my questions I think it helped that some of the nurses ther had also had this surgery.

I researched Dr. Baker as well as the procedure I was having done both met to my satisfaction.

Dr. baker does require that you lose 10% of your excess body weight this is only for health reasons, due to the fact that the liver increases in size as we gain weight and decreases as we lose weight therefore by losing the weight your liver will shrink some and not be such a obstruction.

I went to his free info session in December of 2001. I had been seeing Dr. Rupp, but his RN (Joyce) I found to be very noncommunicative. I switched to Health Partners Insurance from Aetna in January 02. Dr. Rupp is not a preferred provider with Health Partners, so I went to Dr. Baker. I found his staff to be VERY friendly and helpful. They always returned v.m. and left messages if they missed me. He does require weight loss b4 surgery, but he has medical reasons for the rquirement and my insurance co. requires a 6 mo. "Dr. supervised diet" anyway, so it all worked out (Aetna requires a 1 yr. "DR. supervised diet" and that is why I decided to switch ins. carriers in Jan.) IMAGES is an aftercare program he wants all of his patients to attend, before and after surgery. I am glad I made the switch to Dr. Baker. These impressions are based just my own personal experience, and I am not making statements about what anyone else may experience.

my first impression was he was funny, but very thorough. After meeting him I found that he has a great sense of humor, and that is good because it eases the scaryness of the surgery. My friend she went through it first and she did wonderful, she is 3 weeks post-
op. Dr.Baker told her that she makes him look good, but I really think that it is his methods of doing things so well that makes him a success. When her surgery was done he came out to talk to me cause I was there with her and he had told me that in the process of doing her surgery that he had removed a few hernia's from previous surgeries and I said to him that why didn't you leave them in, cause she is going to need a tummy tuck later, and he just laughed at me! Well I tried !! But he told me that maybe they would grow back hahahaha he is funny. He makes me feel comfortable that he can joke around and still be sure of what he is doing. I dont think that everyone has seen that side of him, or it could be me, that made it come out, don't know but over all I give him a 9+

Dr Baker is the "gold standard" that the insurance companies use to determine whether or not to cover other surgeons doing this procedure. He has the lowest complication rate, and I truly believe it is because he is on-call 24 hours a day for you after surgery. His staff is very thorough, but his office is EXTREMELY busy, and getting busier- the waiting period is up to 3-4 months now just to schedule your surgery. I RECOMMEND HIGHLY his informational meeting- they are very thorough there as well. The one thing negative I will say is that he kept calling me Terri instead of Tracy- but I figured I didn't care if he got my name right as long as he got the surgery right. And no matter what he calls you, he is the best at what he does.

Information session on 3/26/02 - very frank onwhat is to be expected with WLS surgery - has stringent guidelines he follows. He also has a high success rate.

8/5/02 - Consult - very caring! Wants me to be healthy! Feel good about my life in his hands!

Dr. Baker was wonderful along with his very competent staff.