Vascular Surgeons who are Physicians - Greeley, CO

"Dr. Gutwein said I was a good candidate for the stent procedure for an abdominal aortic aneurysm from 11/21-12/2/22. The procedure was scheduled in August for 11/28/22. She canceled the surgery on 11/2/22 without telling me or my PCP. She was angry that I was inquiring getting the surgery from my Interventional Radiologist locally instead of traveling to Indianapolis. Dr. Gutwein called me on 11/9/22 after “cooling off” asking if I was still planning to have her do the surgery. I said yes and had informed her office on 11/3/22 that my Interventional Radiologist was not able to do it. I never had made a change I had just investigating the local option. I was not told that she had canceled my surgery until 11/22/22 when her office called me to schedule it! My surgery was rescheduled for 12/5/22. I met with her on 12/2/22 when she told me that I was not a good candidate for the stent procedure needing an open repair surgery requiring a long hospitalization. She also said that my surgery scheduled for 12/5/22 was waitlisted and wouldn’t happen. The following week I sought a second opinion from another vascular surgeon at IU Health. I was in their Medicare Advantage HMO. She refused to allow me to get a second opinion and referred me to an out of network surgeon. Medicare requires that a second opinion if you have an Advantage HMO I discovered later. My surgery was rescheduled with her for 1/16/23. Dr. Dalsing of IU Health stated on 12/15/22 in and addendum to the 12/2/22 visit note that I was not a candidate for the stent procedure needing the open repair surgery. I was not informed of his addendum and discovered it in 2/23 while collecting records for a review by the nurse advocate for IU Health. On 1/9/23 I was able to get a second opinion with Dr. Kevin Sheridan after changing my health insurance for 2023. Dr. Sheridan stated that I was a “horrible candidate” for the stent procedure. He fully explained why and what I did need. I had Dr Sheridan perform the open repair on 2/3/23. Dr. Gutwein did not accurately diagnose the treatment for a very serious surgery. My August appointment was a regular phone call to discuss my surgery. She didn’t respond to most of my messages and didn’t communicate with my wife as I requested in writing. She was dishonest about her canceling my surgery. She didn’t provide appropriate information. She was unprofessional. I and my wife suffered great emotional distress and financial losses due to her poor medical treatment. I do not recommend Dr. Ashley Gutwein and have reported her to IU Health. "