Hoping it's food poisoning...

March 9, 2011 2:19 PM

Please recommend an internist/general practitioner in the Twin Cities (MN, USA) area.

I rather urgently need to find a new doctor to look into what may be a reoccurence of C. Diff infection. Ideally they should have priveliges at Abbot or United hospitals and accept Blue Cross/Shield. Gender doesn't matter. Not interested in alternative medicine. Size or location of their practice not very important.

A huge plus if you've seen this person for GI infections, IBD, Crohn's, colitis etc. or have been impressed with the coordination of care at their practice in general.

posted by werkzeuger to health & fitness (5 answers total)

And, thanks.
posted by werkzeuger at 2:19 PM on March 9, 2011

I can't find what insurance they take, they don't admit at Abbott, but if you can't find anything else Fairview Uptown Clinic is a good, well-run place. Michael Pleasants is the GP I used to see--he's not IME the most up-to-the-minute-discoveries guy, but he listens very, very well, takes patient concerns seriously, is conservative about medications and is very good about referring for tests/further treatment if you feel you need it. I absolutely always felt confident in my interactions with him.
posted by Frowner at 5:51 PM on March 9, 2011

A friend has recently been treated by Daniel Zydowicz (Zi DOH vitch), a specialist in infectious diseases, for a serious and tenacious GI infection. I get the impression he's the go-to doc in the Twin Cities for this kind of thing. My friend has good things to say about his expertise, continues to see him, and is feeling much better. (I just looked him up and see he accepts BlueCross/BlueShield and has offices all over the area. One possible downside is whether you can get in to see him quickly, as my friend had to wait for an appointment.)

Then of course the Mayo Clinic is always an option for a difficult or serious condition. They're real experts and Rochester isn't that far from the Twin Cities. Some people don't realize that you don't have to be an Arab prince or Garrison Keillor to be seen there. A referral from your doc is one way to get in, and contacting them directly is another. Best of luck with this!
posted by exphysicist345 at 6:07 PM on March 9, 2011

I'm not sure if this is specific enough but I was referred to MN Gastroenterology, PA by my family GP at Fairview Uptown. I was hospitalized last year for diverticulitis, have some lifelong issues with symptoms somewhere on the IBD spectrum, and had some iffy colonscopy results and lingering (and troubling) symptoms post the hospitalization and successful treatment of the diverticulitis infection.

I was in particular seen by Dr. Jeffrey Lisko and was very satisfied with him, although I think I was assigned based on my particular symptoms (and I chose the particular clinic in the system based on what was geographically most convenient for me). My GP strongly recommended the whole practice to follow up on my conditions and follow-up tests, but she didn't prefer a particular doctor or location. I don't know about their relationship with Abbot or United but they do accept Blue Cross/Shield according to their website.

I was really pleased with the care I received from them, I felt I was receiving the benefit of a lot of collected knowledge and research, they covered bases I hadn't and wouldn't have thought of, and I left feeling like I had gained a lot of insight into my conditions and how to deal with going forward (the various symptoms, episodes and follow-up had left me feeling like I really didn't know what was going on or what to do to follow up). It has been about half a year since I saw them and my experiences have been consistent with their diagnoses and the recommended follow-up (primarily lifestyle stuff) has been effective.
posted by nanojath at 6:48 PM on March 9, 2011

Thanks to each of you! At this point I'm feeling better and got my fingers crossed, thinking it may have been an errant chili-cheese dog. But I'll be looking into your recommendations seriously.

Still open to other recommendations, too...
posted by werkzeuger at 9:21 AM on March 10, 2011