UC in New York

Yep, I live in NY. What part of NY do you live in?

Brooklyn here too - Park Slope.

Manhattan (transplanted from PA). Mt. Sinai Medical Center NYC is one of the major IBD treatment institutions in the U.S. / Old Hat (nearly 30 yrs with left-sided UC; currently on 3 generic Colazal daily for maintenance of remission)

Old Hat: Do you know how to get to Mt. Sinai Medical Center NYC ? Have you seen any GI there? How are they different?

Lad22424, Thank you very much, I will try to find out about him.

You're lucky. There are many excellent doctors in the NYC area. If you're looking for someone who will take a complementary medicine approach, check out Dr. Ronald Hoffman:

http://www.drhoffman.com/

He's one of the doctors whose been highly recommended by some of the folks on the SCD listserve.

One of the best Dr's in the country for UC is located in NY City, Dr. Daniel Present. He usually leads most of the research in the field along with most of the studies. I was a part of his Remicade study when it was first being tested in Crohn's disease even though i have UC. Dr. Present is usually busy so i switch to another Dr. who is much younger and just as wise within the practice. His name is Dr. Adam F. Steinlauf. Their practice is located at
12 East 86th Street
New York, NY 10028
(212) 861-2000

Good luck, and be well.

I have been to over 25 GI's as i almost needed my Colon removed. All of them reccomended surgery and the only one who didn't was Dr. Present. I have been in remission for over 2 years. There is always hope.

Mt. Sinai is where Dr. Burl Crohn's research led to the distinction of Crohn's disease as a particular ailment. Subsequently, another very distinguished gastroenterologist, Dr. Henry Janowitz, put the medical center on the international map with his outstanding clinical practice & training of young doctors. He taught my gastroenterologist, who was also associated with Dr. Daniel Present for several years. When I was newly diagnosed with UC in the early 1980s, Dr. Present published the 1st comprehensive books on IBD written for patients-- that made him my hero for life! He has a longterm view of IBD from clinical practice as well as research & does not change his outlook just to be trendy. It's not always possible to consult with him because of his high status, but when he's available to new patients he lists on ccfa.org under Physician finder. As Keith & others write above, you can likely schedule with one of his associates at 12 E. 86th St. Best wishes! You can also read up on many aspects of UC at Salix Pharmaceuticals Patient Newsletter (Archive) Website. / Old Hat (nearly 30 yrs with left-sided UC ... [etc.])

I just wanted to say, I go to Mt. Sinai also and use Dr. Itzkowitz, and I adore him! My aunt has a j-pouch and goes to him too.

What type of alternative does Dr. Ronald Hoffman suggest? I'm not a big believer but I am willing to have an open mind. Has anyone any positive stories to report please?

You have to have a PPO not an HMO insurance plan. If you get transferred in to the hospital or go through the ER and they assigned to a GI who doesn't take insurance in the hospital then they can bill your insurance company full price and your insurance company has to pay.

When I had an HMO I had a local GI who took my Insurance and I'd have him do the c-scopes and regular visits.... When I was flaring and needed to see the specialist IBD GI then I'd pay out of pocket.

The real problem that I had was that almost all the surgeons that I wanted to use did not take insurance.... I think it was one of the reasons that I procrastinated in having surgery. I finally switched to a PPO plan and found a surgeon that I wanted who took it too which saved me some copays.

Post Edited (ks1905) : 4/7/2014 5:38:09 PM (GMT-6)