Dr. Robert Oscar Santaella, MD

We had a deeply disappointing and painful experience due to a serious lack of communication and transparency. As a result of inadequate pre- and post-operative care, my husband had to undergo a secondary surgery—something that could have potentially been avoided with proper follow-through and clear medical guidance.We were given false assurances, which led to significant financial loss—amounting to thousands of dollars—and even worse, emotional distress for our entire family. The post-operative instructions were vague and insufficient, leaving us confused and unprepared for complications that, as we later learned, had occurred during the initial surgery. Shockingly, we were only informed about these complications two months later during a routine follow-up.This experience caused unnecessary pain, suffering, and a complete loss of trust. I would urge anyone considering care here to ask very specific questions and ensure every detail is documented so that you do not incur financial and… emotional loss like us.

I've had the worst experience of my life with this surgeon. His hernia surgery failed two times, causing me to go $13,000 in debt to himself and various hospitals. I advised them that their surgery failed twice and they did not care. I asked for information on the mesh they used to see if it was faulty and they did not provide any information. Now, they have turned over my account which has about a $200 balance to a company who calls me almost every day. And every day I tell them that I am not paying for a service that failed twice! I would imagine another surgeon who failed twice would not be hounding the patient they failed twice for $200. Be wary of this surgeon. They have a great office and staff, but after 2 failed surgeries, I have no confidence in him, which is a complete shame as he seemed like a really nice guy. However, he did put what I would consider rude comments in my preoperative report.

My primary Dr sent me to see Dr Santaella to get his opinion on wether or not I needed surgery. I explained my problem and when I said that I also had an appointment scheduled with a GI specialist he said that I should just cancel and do the surgery first. Didn’t explain why the surgery was necessary or what it consisted of, DIDN’T EVEN EXAMINE ME!!! Just said that it was quick and we could schedule it for that same week. I felt very uneasy and still went to see the GI specialist who was shocked to hear that Dr. Santaella wanted to operate without even taking a look at what he would be working on. She determined that my condition was actually still on the mild side and treatable without surgery! I have ZERO trust in a Dr. who just wants to make a quick buck instead of presenting me with the pros and cons of my options before giving their professional opinion of why one solution would be the best in MY situation.

Dr Santaella is great! Love his attentiveness. I strongly recommend using Dr. Santaella!!

Love this doctor! Dr. Santaella is a down to earth professional who takes the time to both listen and explain. I have never felt more comfortable going into a surgery than I did with this doctor. He is a super guy that genuinely cares about his patients. The office staff was also friendly and responsive whenever I needed to make or change an appointment.....or needed an update on the results. I HIGHLY recommend this doctor!! Thank you Dr. Santaella!!

First surgery was an emergency appendectomy. Everything went great. Dr Santaella was terrific. Next surgery was for an incisional hernia. I was only surgery of the day. Didn’t see doc after. Office followed up telling me I could lift up to 40#. Went in for my 3 week follow up. Dr said he’s never seen anything like it...I ripped through the entire repair and then some within 3 weeks and hernia was worse than ever. Need surgery again. Rochelle has HORRIBLE follow-up. I called 4 times to schedule surgery. She was checking on insurance. Forgot to call me back when insurance was approved. Promised to call back that afternoon after finally getting her on phone and still haven’t heard back. So as I’m still waiting to hear back from the office to schedule my next surgery to fix the mess inside me another surgeon (for a year later follow up for a back surgery) HIGHLY recommended a second opinion as what was just done a month ago “doesn’t seem right”. Second opinion gotten and surgery… scheduled with a different doc whose procedure is less invasive, less likely for reoccurrence and more modern than the “popular 15 years ago” procedure that was planned for me. His staff were all professional, empathetic, prompt and caring. Still waiting on the call back from Rochelle...don’t bother.

Dr. Robert Santaella, saved my life!! After another Dr. (My OB) perferomed a robotic hysterectomy I had life therating complications! My OB also perforated my intestines in three places, since he did not follow up with a catscan with contrast it was not discovered for three days!! Two trips to the er with servere complications; the ER finally called Dr. Santaella and he along with his surgical team performed emergency surgery that saved my life!! I had a three month recovery in the hospital and a three month recovery at home!! My entirety family including my self love Dr. Santaella and his staff!. He is a wonderful surgeon and has an exceptional caring bedside manner.

I can sing the praises loud enough for Dr Santaella. I met him via the Ed. A cat scan showed irregularities that couldn’t be explained. He was upfront about the surgery “no guarantees”. He started with a laparoscopy and finished with removal of 1 ft of small bowel. The scar was about 2 “ and healed beautifully. He had a team of Doctors handiling my care in the hospital. I didn’t care for the hospital, but the care from the Drs was fantastic. I can’t thank him enough for what he did for me. My follow up visit to his office was fantastic. Great staff. Great nurse. It all went effortlessly and I was in and out in record time. He listened, was empathetic. Very professional. I think if I ever had to have surgery again, he’d be the only one I’d let touch me. A grateful patient.

Great doc with great staff

Dr. Santaella may be experienced and a great doctor but his billing office is totally unprofessional and just for that, I would recommend avoiding him because of the pain we have gone through with his office. Since they captured the wrong insurance information and his incompetent office did not follow up calls from the insurance, the matter ended with collections. We have been following up for so long but no luck, what should one do, collections doesn't get it.