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

Dr. Baker set a great first impression. He's been doing this surgery for many many years and done over 800 procedures. Very impressive.


Dr. Baker's staff is wonderful and very helpful and understanding.

I met with Dr. Baker to schedule my surgery. He seemed soft spoken and stressed the importance of losing weight before surgery.

His staff is wonderful. I tried to be patient while going thru the approval process but the times I did call the office they were all very kind about answering my questions.

I think that people should know that Dr. Baker does require weight loss before surgery. It is difficult but from what I have read it will help with post-op healing. I also figure that 10-20 lbs is the least I could do for the life changing surgery Dr. Baker will be preforming.

I went to Dr. Bakers informational meeting Tues. March 13,2001. He seems very straight forward and wanted to make sure and answer any questions you might have. He was very straight and forward. No suger coating. I met part of his team Thurs. March 15,2001. Diane was wonderful I never felt rushed. She was great.
4/23/01 Met Dr. Baker today, to set my surgery date. Seemed like a very nice person. I never felt rushed while we were talking. I really appreciate that.

My first impression of Dr. Baker was one of competetance and helpfulness. Never did I feel that he pitied obese people. My respect for him grew over time, knowing how many people he's helped and when I met him on 3/21/01, I was even more impressed with his attitude and professionalism. His office staff is the best. I can tell I'm getting the best care ever. Diane is my nurse and I think she's the greatest.

Future patients should know this: it does take awhile to go through the process of WLS. I started this journey with an informational meeting at Unity Hospital in December, 2000, and now, after meeting with Dr. Baker on 3/21/01, have a surgery date of 4/18/01. Lots of hoops to jump through, so to speak. But the wait is worth it - you have so many questions, differing emotions, and you have to do your own homework. The waiting time allows you to fully process what's to come. The days in between the day of the informational seminar to surgery date, are important days of learning, discovery, and confidence. This is not an easy decision to make and yes, at times I felt frustrated with the "wait". But I'm glad I went through it. It gave me time to realize the impact this will have on my life, and to allow my family and close friends (my support group, basically!) to help me for the rest of my life.

Dr. Baker and staff have a wonderful before and aftercare program in place. I feel total confidence in their ability to keep me in the best of health before and after surgery. I also know the risks of surgery, and would rate the entire staff a 10. I think that surgical competence is necessary, because you're putting your life in this person's hands. But it doesn't hurt to have a sense of humor and understanding of what the patient is going through.

Dr Baker is a very nice person. He is interested in his patients and I feel very comfortable with him and his office staff.

I had my first office visit (after the seminar) with Janet Rudlong. She was very nice and was also thorough. We went through the paperwork I had filled out (medical history, letter to insurance, etc.). She had a concern that Blue Cross Blue Shield wouldn't cover the surgery for me because I have two insurances and my primary excludes treatment for obesity. She said that BCBS wouldn't have to cover the surgery as they are secondary and don't have to cover it if primary doesn't. I work at my primary insurance company in benefits so I uestioned that as I know that my company covers up to the policy specifications regardless of what primary covers. Secondary always needs to know what primary covers because they base what they pay on what primary paid, if anything. I called Blue Cross Blue Shield as soon as I left her office and they told me that they would cover it even if my primary does not, as long as it is medically necessary.

While I was at Janet Rudlong's office she measured me, weighed me and took my picture.
She really emphasized after care. She thoroughly explained what I was to expect, what I would be able to eat, exercise, the risks of the surgery, etc. I felt like she was really honest and didn't try to "sugar coat" anything.

I would give the Dr and staff an "A" for a grade. I had decided that I wanted Dr Baker for several reasons. The first being that Unity hospital is within 2 miles of my home. Second, he is a provider for BCBS, my secondary insurance. Third, I had read good comments about him on your site.

I started dieting the day of my appointment with Janet as Dr Baker wants his patients to lose weight before surgery as losing weight makes your liver easier to move out of the way to get to your stomach and Dr Baker feels that you have less pain and your incision can be smaller than if you don't lose weight.

I had alread scheduled appointments for a dietary consultation and psych evaluation as Blue Cross Blue shield wants this info with the preauth. The dietary consult was at Unity with their dietition. She was very pleasant and gave me hints and advice on eating to lose weight for the surgery and eating after the surgery.

I really liked Lana Boutacoff, the therapist I saw. She had me take a personality test and visited with me for about an hour the first session. Then I had another session with her for about an hour.

Dr Baker's office sent my preauth in to both of my insurances on the same day. My primary is the company I work for. I knew they didn't cover the surgery but I also knew that I will need the denial for BCBS as they are secondary payor. My primary denied the surgery the day after they received the paperwork, BCBS approved the surgery the same day the received the paperwork!!

Dr. Baker is a wonderful, compassionate and caring physician. He will take calls/pages any time of the day or night to help a patient.

His staff is very supportive, knowledgeable, and friendly.

Aftercare is GREATLY emphasized and one of the main reasons my personal physician referred me to Dr. Baker.

Risks of surgery were carefully explained to me.

I would rate Dr. Baker as THE BEST!!!

BOTH competence and bedside manner are GREAT!!

Dr. Baker was highly recommended to me by several of his past patients. Right from the start his staff put me at ease and were very professional and friendly. Currently I am only 10 days post op and having a very difficult recovery. I went to his office yesterday for my one week check up and they were SOOO responsive to my needs. I originally was going to another surgeon but am thankful for my decision to change.

I have only met Dr. Dan Baker once. His son, Dr. Jeff Baker is who I have been seeing. He will be assisting his father in my surgery. I have been going through his son because the drive to Unitity Hospital is over an hour away and Dr. Jeff Baker also works out of Northfield Clinic which is closer for me for my post-op visits. I have some friends who have gone through Dr. Dan Baker and I fully put all my trust in him. He does an excellent job and seems to have patients with faster recoveries. His son, Dr. Jeff Baker has done surgery on my husband for Acid Reflux disease, and he did a wonderful job. I have talked with the nurses at Unitity Hospital already and I have to say they are wonderful. Very willing to answer all of my questions and show great support on what I have decided to go through. I highly recommend Dr. Dan Baker and his staff. I will update you more after my surgery on Feb. 15th at 9:30am. I am very excited.

I first saw Dr. Baker in Nov 2000 when I went to that facility for an informational meeting about bariatric surgery. I liked him and the things he had to say. I felt very comfortable with all of the people that were involved in the meeting.

I had a consultation with Dr Baker on 1/22/01 and we set a surgery date of 2/26/01. He requires that you lose a small percentage of your weight before surgery. About 10% of the amount you are overweight. He was very personable and answered any questions readily and willingly. I had a good feeling of confidence in him.

Dr. Baker is a wonderful surgeon! I've been
so impressed with his after-care program, I
honestly think that has made a huge difference
in my success. Knowing that there is someone
there specifically to answer my questions and
address my concerns about the surgery has been
a huge help.

Janet and Diane, who work with Dr. Baker and
"run" the program have been so great to work
with. It's been very comforting to have someone
who I could call who I KNOW would know what I'm
going through and who would be able to help me
if I needed help.