Alabama Surgical Associates

Clinic Profile

Location: 250 Chateau Drive Southwest #105, Huntsville, AL 35801

Specialty: The clinic focuses on weight loss and minimally invasive general surgery.

Established: Clinic operation began on May 9, 2002. Dr. Doucette became part of the Huntsville location in 2014.

Years in Business: The clinic in Huntsville has been in operation for about 23 years.

Additional Notes:

There are several surgical practices operating under the name Alabama Surgical Associates in the state. This report is specifically looking at the Huntsville site which is an establishment that specializes in bariatric care.

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The clinic advocates a holistic attitude towards weight loss and takes into consideration the physical and emotional health. Clients outside the area are also welcome to the clinic to carry out bariatric operations.

Background and History

The Alabama Surgical Associates clinic in Huntsville, Alabama, has been in operation since 2002 and Dr. Darrell Doucette came to the clinic in 2014.

The other party is called as Surgical Associates, P.C. in Birmingham, Alabama that has more than 40 years of general surgery experience but is not identical to this clinic in Huntsville.

The Huntsville clinic is majorly involved in bariatric surgery, general surgery with the use of minimal invasive surgery techniques.

Services and Programs

Weight Loss Programs

• Extensive plans that incorporate surgical and nonsurgical choices that are personalized.
• Ongoing support and customized diet plans
  
• Closely supervised drugs approved by the FDA.
• Holistic approach that deals with both physical and emotional ways of losing weight.

Medications

The Medical Weight Loss Program is a collection of FDA-approved medications, such as semaglutide, which is a GLP-1 hormone that assists in appetite control and blood sugar control.

Accurate pricing of semaglutide at the clinic is not publicly announced. Other competitors’ pricing in the region is observed to be around $200 to $299 monthly in case of compounded versions, and $900 to $2000 every month in case of brand-name versions, not on insurance.

Surgical Options

• Gastric Balloon
  
• Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty (ESG)
  
• Gastric Sleeve
  
• Gastric Bypass
  
• SADI-S (Single anastomosis duodenal- ileal bypass with sleeve gastrointestinal surgery)
• Other operations are gastric banding, duodenal switch and revisional surgeries (laparoscopic or robotic)

Pre-Surgical Process

• Consultation and workup
  
• Insurance verification
  
• Potential pre-surgical weight loss programs that are insurance-mandated.
• Some patients have liver shrinking diet.

Post-Surgical Care

• Follow-up visits
  
• Registered dieticians to assist with appointments.

Self-Pay Options

• Economical self-pay rates and package offers.
• The lowest payment plan of some packages is $119/month.

Travel Patients

The clinic is open to patients who have to travel to other areas to seek bariatric services.

Doctors and Medical Professionals

• Dr. Darrell Doucette: Board-certified general and bariatric surgeon with certification in obesity medicine; performs primary and revisional bariatric surgeries using minimally invasive techniques.
  
• Dr. Todd Foreman (some sources say Kenneth Foreman): Profiled as professionally competent, warm and engaging at bedside, and thorough in interacting with the patient.
• Registered Dietitians: Alycia Reed, Johanna Key, Leighann
  
• Macey Sexton, MS, RDN, LD: MS graduate-level registered dietitian nutritionist with experience in assisting patients with weight loss.
  
• Carolyn Elenich: Clinician listed on public team listings
  

Support Staff:
Has a variety of insurance specialists (Kathy, Savanna), medical assistants (Megan, Ashley, Valencia), receptionists (Jade, Samantha), and an office manager (Melinda).

Reviews and Patient Feedback

Overall Ratings

• Birdeye: 4.5 out of 5 stars based on 152 reviews.
• Google Reviews: 4.9 out of 5 stars from approximately 690 reviews
  

Positive Feedback Highlights

• Individual attention and weight loss achievement.
• Professional, caring and supportive personnel.
• Comprehensive description of procedures.
• Praise about Dr. Foreman and his professionalism and bedside manner in particular.

Negative Feedback Highlights

• A few cases of rude or aggressive staff treatment.
• Depending on the interactions between the staff and the patient, the patient experience can be different.

Employee Feedback

Reviews of older employees refer to the fact that there is an acceptable work environment but that it is difficult because of:

• Training
  
• Old electronic medical record systems.
• A large number of patients and a low number of staff, leading to stressful working environments.

Testimonials and Quotes

• The employees I talked to were inconsiderable and quite abrupt.
• I read about other reviews in which the staff was extremely caring, which was not the case with me.
• I am one of the patients of Dr. Doucette and have undergone good care over the past years.
• The weight loss plan was made to suit my needs and assist me in achieving my objectives.
• The personnel was highly professional and thus made me feel at ease during the procedure.
• My experience with the weight loss surgery was good and I would recommend this clinic to others.
  

Pricing and Value Signals

• Gastric Balloon: $5,995 (self-pay)
  
• Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty (ESG): $8,995
  
• Gastric Sleeve Surgery: $9,995
  
• Gastric Bypass Surgery: $11,995
  
• SADI-S Surgery: $13,995
  

Financing

Financing packages can be offered with self-pay packages as low as $119 per month on some of the procedures. Funding can consist of anesthesia, professional fees, facilities fees, and follow-ups.

Semaglutide Pricing

Exact clinic pricing is not publicly disclosed. According to other Alabama providers, it is reported that the cost of compounded semaglutide is about $200 to $299 a month or $900 to $2000 a month for brand-name, without insurance coverage.

Consultation Fee

Initial consultation is not free, however, insurance billing is also sought, when possible.

Value Signal

According to the clinic, it provides some of the lowest prices of bariatric surgery in the country on self-pay packages.

Verification Notes

• Not accredited by the BBB.
  
• Communications or emails made on websites are not encrypted and the users are at the risk of unauthorized usage.
• Responses to patients on experience of staff differ between caring and helpful to rude or abrupt.
• There are various organizations with the same name of Alabama Surgical Associates and this can be confusing to both research and contact.
• The clinic does not publicly release specific price of semaglutide.
• The issues noted in older employee reviews include training, electronic medical records, and work overload, which could influence patient experience.
• The name Todd Foreman as well as Kenneth Foreman can be considered the same person, both of them are found in the reviews and listings.