Dr. George Edward Vates, MD

Dr. Vates misdiagnosed my brain tumor and performed surgery when I was 5 months pregnant. I was not told the total truth of the surgery until five days after when a young resident told me. When I confronted Dr. Vates he claimed he told me right after I came out of surgery but I must have misheard because I was still on anesthesia. This was a lie because my family and I did hear his claim that they took out what they could and wouldn’t need to do anything until after I delivered the baby. He went in to the suggest I needed a second brain surgery (a week after the first and 5 months pregnant) to be done immediately. I refused and got other opinions and was told surgery was not required again during my pregnancy. My suggestion is if you go to Dr. Vates get a second opinion from a hospital with a stronger neurosurgery department. Three years later, I thank God my child was born healthy.

After our daughter had surgery, we were told her brain tumor was removed. It was not. It was still more than 1/2 there...which we did not find out until the six weeks check up. Vision was lost in one eye, a subsequent surgery was necessary AND a sinus surgery was also necessary due to Dr. Vates poor first surgery. He was unapproachable, gave no explanation as to why our daughter still suffered horrible headaches, and in my opinion he should not be performing surgery. I would never recommend Dr. Vates.

How lucky I was to end up in Dr. Vates talented hands. He is an extremely talented Neurosurgeon and very compassionate and understanding. He has a wonderful staff as well. Dr. Vates' Nurse Practitioner, Katherine, took so much time explaining all that I needed to know. I highly recommend him.

Dr Vates changed my life! I owe him a huge debt of gratitude after her preformed decompression surgery for my Chiari malformation!! Thanks Dr Vates! I love you but I hope I never see you again either!!!

I would never recommend Dr Vates to anyone, he is dishonest, does not listen to his patients and has the worst bedside manor. He's good at getting you under the knife, but when you wake up, good luck trying to see or talk to him. He never explains what was done in surgery, most of the time I don't think HE even does the surgery, the very incompetent residents do it for him. Your overall health, comfort and needs DO NOT come first... I don't trust him and neither should you. You'll be sorry that you did!

DR. VATES MAY BE A GOOD SURGEON BUT AS FAR AS A DIAGNOSTIC DOCTOR GOES.....HE HAS A WAY TO GO. THE CLINIC HE IS AT WITH ANOTHER DOCTOR SEEMS LIKE A MONEY MAKING BUSINESS. AS A NEUROSURGEON HE SHOULD APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT IF A TEST IS NOT DONE THE PROPER WAY, YOU CANNOT GET THE PROPER DIAGNOSIS, I AM SURPRISED DRS. DON'T TAKE THIS INTO CONSIDERATION WHEN THE PATIENT IS STILL COMPLAINING OF CERTAIN SYMPTOMS THAT POINT SO CLEARLY TO A PROBLEM (within the pituitary) YET, THEY RELY SOLELY ON TEST RESULTS.

Dr. Vates is someone I do not trust. He performed brain surgery on me and said my tumor was completely removed. I found out a few weeks later this was inaccurate and most of the tumor was still there. I subsequently had to have another surgery....by someone else. A very stressful situation to go through and it was made worse by his lack of caring and dishonesty. I would suggest a second opinion if you see him.

I had a brain tumor and Dr. Vates was the neuro surgeon involved in the treatment. He was extremely concerned about my condition and his bedside manner was excellent.

DR Vates and his staff are wonderful! My first visit was a little scary, but after I talked to Dr Vates and his staff I felt better. They put me at ease by letting me know what the procedure was going to be and what to expect after the surgery. Dr Vates just deals with removing pituatary gland tumors and is very confident about the surgery. His staff is very supportive and very nice. Anytime I had a question I would call them and they had an answer.

My experience with Dr. Vates was extremely positive. Though the wait was long for my initial appt.once I got in the wait time became apparent given the time he spent with me to make certain I understood what my medical issue was and the possible ways to alleviate it. From that appt. until the end of post op care he was wonderful. His concern was genuine and his presence bedside in the hospital was frequent. I would strongly recommend him to anyone seeking a doctor with his specialty.