Appreciate the terrific care over the years. Agree that you should wait to see him as he is very good at what he does, even though it will be a long wait like everything in healthcare. It is clear he is very experienced with these scopes also which is a big plus.

Submitted March 28, 2016

If you have a chronic disease, make sure you see somebody who will care when it really matters. I spoke to several people who suggested this Doctor Bala and to wait to see him than see someone else quicker. My experience has been very positive at the office over the last few years. They respond to phone calls promptly and also call in prescriptions in an emergency. The medical people also say that he is the best at all the technical stuff which is good to know!

Submitted Feb. 18, 2016

Great specialist! My own doctor recommends him highly.

Submitted Oct. 29, 2015

I have been seeing Dr Bala for 12 years now for my ulcerative colitis. Although my goal is to never have to see him this disease has other ideas. I think he listens well, I'm not big into drugs but have learned over the years they are a necessary evil and he has been open to me experimenting with diet, probiotics, alternative methods etc he just doesn't wAnt you putting yourself in danger. Annette his receptionist is awesome and although she is protective off his time etc is excellent at getting you in touch with him in emergency situations etc. I feel very fortunate to have him as a gastro specialist.

Submitted July 8, 2015

I have only been to him once for an assessment and once for a procedure but he was very knowledgeable and I had no after affects from his work.

Submitted June 20, 2015

I and some family have seem this MD for several years and could not be more satisfied with his care. He is patient , respectful and certainly will put you at ease when you have any type of scopes. He is a smart man who listens to you very carefully. Gives you the all the facts and how they fit all fit together. He will never force anything on you and will always give alternatives. His office staff is also very nice and accomodating. Would definitely disagree with any negative comments given here.

Submitted April 13, 2015

Seen him for years and had many tests/scopes. Never any problems or concerns. Very reasonable and patient always. On time or early for appointments at office and maybe a bit behind for scopes sometimes but its obvious that he is very busy at the hospital. He likes to tell you all the options and will help you to choose the best one, thats what I like. Also I agree with the poster who says that this doctor sees a lot of health professionals. He has a very good reputation among family doctors from what my doctor says.

Submitted Jan. 31, 2015

Tremendous doctor and really cant say enough about him and his secretary. Very professional , kind and respect your time and needs. I have seen him for many years for colonoscopes and lets just say you dont want anyone doing these things on you. You want to find out from your family doctor who is the best in town since they have the best idea and try to get in to them even if it means waiting a little longer which is what I did and I am glad.

Submitted Jan. 25, 2015

Dr B is great. I am in health field and I have been seeing him for years for crohns and know he is uptodate. When I get a flare then the office responds quickly and thats what I call good service. Nice and friendly doctor and staff. HIghly recommended.

Submitted Jan. 24, 2015

I have being seeing Dr. Bala for 7 years. He has always been a big pill pusher and I have been questioning his methods for some time.

I have several friends who also have Ulcerative Colitis and they always seem to have far more information and helpful advice from their respective doctors for coping with a condition like this. Bala only ever hands me a prescription. No diet recommendations, no lifestyle changes - just pills. This strikes me as negligent for someone who specializes in this area.

He has always made me feel like a faker. He likes to use language that implies that maybe I'm being a whiner and that it's not that bad (regardless of his intent, it is not appreciated. I get that I don't have chrohns and I'm not getting a bowel resection - but that doesn't mean that bloody diarrhea 12 times per day isn't ruining my life ). He is dismissive of my symptoms, blaming stress or IBS.

My biggest concern with him is that before all of my scopes (I have had 2 colonoscopies and 3 sigmoidoscopies) he always prescribes a course of steroids. Doesn't it defy logic to reduce the inflammation and ulceration before you're about to look for inflammation and ulceration?!

Right from the beginning, my scope results were always coming up as "mild". He first diagnosed me with mild proctitis (following a steroid course). He prescribed rectal medications. I always thought it was worse than that, but I'm not the doctor. So of course eventually these meds weren't enough and I had to have another scope. That time he sees the inflammation is worse and goes up farther in the bowel. It's colitis, so those rectal meds aren't reaching far enough and I need to take oral meds. Shocker? Not really. So the oral meds work alright with occasional flare ups due to stress or other factors, but I was managing alright.

So that brings us up to my most recent scope. I have pretty much had a flare up for over a year, with 3 separate courses of steroids that have settled it down temporarily before it gets really bad again. He kept telling me my case was "really strange" (in the "i think you're lying" tone), and then we started talking about more aggressive treatments. He put me on imuran (which I was reluctant about) and which ended up messing with my liver too much and bothering my stomach as well (which he also found very "weird"), then he started leading towards remicade and similar drugs which I have been especially reluctant about. But he wanted to do a scope first to make sure things were that bad. Since I was fairly sick at this point he gave me more steroids to calm things down for the holidays. I objected, concerned this would affect what they would see with the scope but he assured me again that it would not.

So I just had my sigmoidoscopy today (feeling no symptoms since the steroids), and the results? Very mild proctitis (well duh, I was just on steroids! Oh, and he doesn't think I need to be on ANY meds at this point. Just a rectal foam if I get symptoms again, and some imodium for the diarhea. HA HA HA HA HA. Am I being punked?
Haven't we established that I can't NOT be on medication? Haven't we done this all before? Haven't I been bleeding for a year?

I give it 3 weeks before I am back to where I was. Time to find a new Gastroenterologist. What a joke.

He doesn't care, he doesn't listen, he doesn't empathize and he doesn't seem to apply much of his medical degree to his practice. Would not recommend unless you like being treated like garbage and like having your time completely wasted.

His receptionist is pretty nice and his punctuality isn't terrible - but I wouldn't want anyone to mistake this review for a decent one.

Submitted Jan. 12, 2015