Gastroenterologist
Geedo 
Summer fun
Localchef Locally Dr Agarwal for sure.
If you're going out of the area go for the best, Mt Sinai is the top of the top departments. Dr Peter Legnani, award winning patient advocate, speaker, and clinician. Phenomenal for 2nd opinions and emergency consults. Office is on 5th Ave NYC around the corner from Mt Sinai hospital.
GC Dr. Kahlam. Great doctor and all around nice person. I've been a patient for about 5 years and couldn't be happier. His office is right in Hackettstown on rt 46 next to the Sherwin-Williams store.
LL Dr. Kahlam. I was in institutions for months for a problem. Once I got to him, he fixed me up in a week.
Old Gent Dr. Suhir Agarwal. Top notch doctor. As a nurse of over 25 years, I have worked with many gastroenterologists in my career, at numerous hospitals. He is extremely thorough, knowledgeable and truly cares about his patients. Treats all his patients as if they are his friends/family members. I myself, am a patient of his and would highly recommend him.
Dr. Agarwal is excellent in both mine and my husbands opinion. A bonus is that he is local.
Mrs. Pipes Dr. Agarwal is great - used to go to Kahlam but only has hours in Hackettstown Tuesday afternoons and Friday mornings and the office staff overbooked for the many years I went there. You can be waiting behind ten other patients for over an hour and he is the only doctor in the practice. Also, office staff not the friendliest, never apologizes for the long wait and parking is scarce and not the best. He also makes you go every two or three months, so if you take medication from him he never gives you refills to make you go back and see him when he found nothing to be a major problem. I go to Agarwal now and it is a much better experience.
FreddyFingers Doctor JImmy Chang from plaza family care . I have been to the ones mentioned here in the past. Dr Chang was the only one that diagonosed a blockage. Best gastro doctor around this area I think...
Just me I would highly recommend Dr. Arsenescu in Morristown. He is the third doctor i have been to for my Crohn's disease and he is the only doctor to actually treat me with the correct medicine. I have been to other doctors in Hackettstown and all they did was put me on anti-inflammatory meds and steroids for months which basically did nothing. Dr. Arsenescu is the real deal.
MrMet Summit Medical Group in Florham Park - I've seen Isaac Galandauer and been very pleased - and friends have seen and been helped by the other docs in this practice.
4catmom I would not agree with seeing Dr. Chang. He is very nice but also very passive about any issues you may have. Never really gives a true diagnosis. More script happy then anything else. I liked him at first but after seeing him for years, he does all these test, and never tells me anything. I stopped taking any meds he was prescribing as they were only making me more sick. Not to mention - he is NEVER on time! You have to wait hours to see him. I have been a patient of Plaza Family Care since I was born and their office was in Flanders. I feel the bigger they get, the worse they become.
NoWay - I've never seen Dr. Chang, but have had a similar experience at Plaza Family Care. It's like pulling teeth to get them to give you a diagnosis. Last time I was there for an injury and when I asked for advice on what to do she told me to google it.
MB 
CeCe I get that Kahlam is good but be prepared, as I mentioned in a previous post, to be aggravated, waiting over an hour to see him, if not longer (and he only sees you for five minutes, tops). Never gives you refills on medications, office staff looks depressed and disgusted and you literally always walk into a waiting room with ten people ahead of you. Plus, even if you have an appointment at a certain time, if a person who has a later appointment comes in before you, they take them ahead of you. It does not seem to matter what time your appointment is, then. The parking lot has very little parking at all, so it is not worth going there. Kahlam's bedside manner is just blah as he really does not have an outgoing or caring personality. Dr. Arghwal is much better. More compassionate, better office staff, and less of a wait when you see him.
I used to go to Dr. Agarwal but I always had to wait at least an hour after my appointment time to see him. That, and I always felt like I was just an appointment when I wanted to be treated as a “case”. Meaning tell me a plan not just come back in a month. I go to Dr. Amber Kahn now. I like her.
RAS Hunterdon gastroenterology at Hunterdon Medial Center is great. They have many experienced doctors. I went there when Dr. Chang at Plaza was booked up.
Dr Agrawal.
Don't go to Chang. He told me over the phone I had cancer and was very short about it..
Kimm Dr. Darren Blumberg at the Summitt Medical Group in Florham Park. I know it a drive.
Norman Baron I second the Darren Blumberg recommendation. I have experienced several of the local GI docs and many from across the country. Blumberg is superior by comparison. None of the staffing, wait, script, or bedside issues I have seen mentioned here either.
texaskeystone 
Townmom A few months ago my husband had a consultation with Dr. Sergey Rybalov in Dover. Great doctor, spent time explaining the issue and recommended an excellent surgeon to us. We are so glad that went to him.
Lena Definitely Dr. Kahlam.. No long wait in office and he takes the time to listen and answer questions. Professional & caring. Staff friendly and helpful.
ld Nothing has changed recently with any of the local doctors. I still stand by my original advice of Dr Agarwal. And if you're going to travel get the best of the best in NYC at Mt Sinai.
Stand by Agarwal. You DO wait long, over an hour in Kahlams office, have to see him every three months as he never gives refills, no decent parking there and a horrible office staff. You are usually behind ten or more other patients when you see him and he is the only doctor in that office and has ZERO personality.
We go to Dr. Agarwal, and find him to be thorough, professional, easy to talk to (and he really listens to what you're saying, and he may have questions as a result of what you say), and he is a Dr. who really cares about his patients. This is our experience.
I still stand by Dr. Carl Wallach in Morristown...developed a moderately severe case of ulcerative colitis and he was aggressive in treating it...not really the "wait and see" type, he goes after it. On top of that, just a very pleasant man, and talks to you on a normal level of understanding.
Anyone know if Dr Kahlam is still open? I call and the phone keeps giving me a busy signal
marlene 
EVV 
HtownNewbie 
Bemused In need of gastro doc. Wanted to try someone new. Didn't care for Dr. Agarwal at all. When I checked out Dr. Kahlam's on-line. I saw a message that his office is "permanently closed". Is that possible? I'll try calling or driving to his office on Rt. 46, but in meantime, any recommendations for anyone else in Hackettstown? I was wondering if there are any female docs. Thanks.
Lonesome Dove I've heard good things about Dr. Arvenescu as well. I use a GI connected to Summit Medical and he's been good for the past three years. My surgeon is part of Atlantic Medical and he's also been great. Hoping you won't need surgery though!
Eye4anEye If you're not going Agarwal locally, go to Samach in Morristown. Couple of local members of the Crohn/Colitis group have recommended him.
In Florham Park, Dr. Galandauer -..........excellent, easy to talk to..........definitely not alarmist -- I highly recommend him.
https://www.summithealth.com/doctors/isaac-galandauer-md.
I'll never understand why there's a hesitancy to travel out of the hackettsotwn area for specialists.
Anyway, my recco is for Dr. Scott Gelman, at Summit Medical Group.
3wbdwnj 
KAT1 I really like Dr. Devi Patel at Hunterdon gastro in Flemington. She has a great personality, which Argawal clearly lacks. Caring, and a great physician. Plus, very easy to talk to.
maja2 
Luca 
Rob Durana 
Bruin First impression of Dr Agarwal was his lighthearted personality, very friendly although a man of few words, his exam rooms were dirty with a sink full of equipment from prior patients, paperwork & files on exam room counter and this was the normal condition each appointment I had, not a one time observation. Lastly, he answered his cell phone during my exam, returned but forgot where he left off. When he was unable to find a solution to my ongoing symptoms, he dismissed me back to my PCP & said he couldn’t help me. Turns out I was being over medicated for acid reflux. A simple adjustment to dosing is all that I needed. I would recommend him for routine procedures only. Otherwise, you are just a number & he has a don’t waste my time mentality.
Feeling good I had the same opinion of Dr. Agarwal as Feeling Good. Will toss in my feeling that he had an assembly line going. Everyone I watched checking out with reception was getting instructions for a "procedure" at the surgical center over there on Route 46 (across from Honda dealer). He barely listened to me and seemed haughty in the way he spoke to me.
I'll be interested if anyone has any comments about Dr, Mandane.
Been seeing Madane for over six years. He’s performed a colonoscopy and many endoscopies on me without incident. Personable and professional.
Pigpen I've been going to Dr. Argawal for years and was just there last week. From what I saw everything was nice and clean. I got those instructions as a previous poster stated they kept hearing while waiting in the office. I knew I would be getting those instructions as I am due for my next colonoscopy. I even had a nice conversation about his family before I left. The man puts in a long day of procedures and office visits. I would hihly recommend the Dr.
Magpie Dr. Madane spends 3 afternoons a week in office visits in Hackettstown and I believe the other 2 at Newton location. Mornings are packed with endoscopies and colonoscopies at Emmaus Surgical Center.
I found him to give very little information out unless you keep asking or pressing and in many cases you might not be asking the right questions so you won't get much info about your health.
After my endoscopy procedure he was nowhere to be found, but left the nurse to tell me. Meanwhile, you have to wait 3 weeks for his followup to discuss the procedure. When there, his first question is how did it go? And then if I am taking anything? Huh?? Aren't YOU supposed to tell ME what I might need to take? Just, very little communication and then on to the next patient. Same with colonoscopy and he was late, so the lineup of other patients had to wait longer than myself, who was first in line. Also, had I not had a followup in his office close to my colonoscopy appointment I would never have known that the paperwork he gives out for both procedures, is not engraved in stone, as I wanted to know if I could still have some water a few hours prior to the procedure and he said 4 hours is OK. That was a change from the 6 hours on the paperwork. And also, the time you need to start your cleanse, which does not have to match exactly what his paperwork says, I found by asking I could start much earlier so I wasn't up half the night in the bathroom and I was the first appointment at 6am. These are things that SHOULD be discussed and talked about, but unless you ASK or even think to ask, he is not going to tell you and doesn't really give any details about your diagnosis or symptoms and possibly what to expect.
Resident101 I've been going to Dr. Agarwal for years. My experience has always been a very efficient staff, very clean exam rooms, and very thorough visit. He asks questions and answers any that I may have. He has called me back personally on a few occasions. He doesn't want to see me every time I need a refill. He has only advised two tests in all the years I've been going to him and with good reason both times. I'm super picky about any doctor and I have no complaints.
Nutcracker Has anyone been to a female gastro in the area? Meaning, not Morristown, etc., but locally. Thank you.
As far as I know, the four that are local within 10 miles are Agarwal, Madane, Kahlam, and Chang. There are no women gastroenterologists without having to travel.
DogDay,
I prefer female doctors too, but I’ve been to Dr Agarwal and he’s fantastic and local.
Local Gal Thank you. I always like to see who likes what doc first that live around here.
Dr. Agarwal hands down the best. Both the husband and I go to Agarwal. I commented on this thread - above - May 2019. He is excellent.
Ditto Madane comments, moved to Wallach in Mo-town, but across from hospital so ez on/off. Lifesaver for sure, uses telemedicine so followups from home. Nice guy.
Babbit DogDayAfternoon, Dr. Devi Patel is a great female gastro. Flemington, but worth the drive. Great listener. Not running a colonoscopy assembly line money maker practice.
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