Laurence F Yee, MD- Sutter Health

What can I say… Dr. Yee is my hero! I had a colonoscopy about eight weeks ago. When I woke up from the medication I was told by that doctor that I had a large ulcerated mass that was cancerous near my rectum. It was explained that I would probably need a colostomy and more likely… chemo therapy. His referral at the time was to a general surgeon which was not good in my mind because we do live in a very small town in the foothills.
Being a healthy, active, 61 year old woman who tries to live life to the fullest… I was pretty shocked. However, I was determined that I would be positive and that I would find the best possible route for my treatment plan. (You have to be your own advocate!) With some research and help from friends in the medical field I was thankfully directed to Dr. Lawrence Yee in San Francisco. He was well known and highly regarded for doing the type of surgery that I would need.
After our first meeting both my husband and I walked out smiling… knowing that we had found the right doctor. Dr. Yee’s positive attitude and can do approach to my treatment plan was up lifting. We scheduled my ultra sound endoscopy with Dr. Binmoeller (who I also really loved) and he told us that depending on the staging of my tumor we would know the next step shortly. He was very positive that I probably would not need a colostomy and that because I was healthy and in good shape that I was a good candidate for positive surgical results.
Well, as it turned out my «large ulcerated tumor» was stage one! When I got the call from Dr. Yee I can’t tell you how relieved I was. I actually think he was almost as happy as me!!! That day surgery was scheduled and in one week and I was ready to go! The surgery went very well and over one foot of my colon was removed. The pathology report showed that no lymph nodes were involved. I am still doing a happy dance. I have to say that Dr. Yee came to see me twice every day in the hospital! He spent a lot of time talking to my family in the recovery room and always had time for our questions and concerns.
I had confidence in Dr. Yee from day one! Something about his presence, smile and positive approach that really made the difference. His personality combined with the fact that he is well regarded for his experience with this type of surgery and his access to state of the art equipment made all the difference in my world. I have no hesitations recommending Dr. Yee.
Thank you Dr. Yee… you are my hero!
Cheryl Baker

Dr Yee did my first bowel resection in 2000. I knew he was young and newer than most and was very nervous. However, he put me at ease immediately. Back then, the main form of incision for this was a giant vertical cut up the middle of the abdomen. I was in my late 20s and he was aware that I might actually care about the aesthetics of my body. He made no promises but when I woke up, I found out that he did a relatively small and low incision right above the pubic bone. Very cutting edge at the time. And you cannot even see the scar now.
More importantly, the work he did was astounding. It changed my life. Sadly, I just found out I need another bowel resection (almost 16 years later) but already I am feeling pretty relaxed about it all knowing that I am in Dr Yee’s hands. He is that good.
Shame on the people knocking off stars for having to wait in the office for an appointment. This talented and busy man could change their lives and they complain about a 20 minute wait?

Basically, Dr. Yee not only saved my life, but my lifestyle. After major
surgery I was able to re engage in sports, travel and all the other activities
I had pursued prior to surgery. Also Dr. Yee’s manner is helpful, kind and
open. I recommend Dr. Yee without hesitation.

So, I am a little biased because Dr. Yee literally saved my life, but I can only echo what others here are saying about him: he is highly skilled (others in the CPMC system know his name well and they all are awed by his reputation) he is very humble and humane, he listens, he helps above and beyond his role.
Dr. Yee performed major colorectal surgery on me in 2014. I was up and walking in under 24 hours, and left the hospital in only two (yes, TWO) days. Prior to this experience, I would have guessed that colorectal surgery would be among the worst possible, most painful surgeries in the world. I mean, this is your digestive system! Not so — with a great surgeon the human body can bounce back SO fast. My best advice, get up and walk walk walk as much as you can. I think it really helped me.
My surgery went so well, my healing was very quick and I truly appreciated all the care and conversation I got with Dr. Yee in my follow ups. I just had a colonoscopy a year after my surgery, and the doctor who did the procedure commented on how «great» my scar tissue looked. Not sure what that means, but I will hand that one to Dr. Yee too!
If you need this type of surgery, I think Dr. Yee is certainly in the top five if not «the» top surgeon in SF for it. I totally trust him and I owe him my life. Yes, the office is busy, but there are many sick people and if you want the best, just make it work. God bless!

On March 07, 2015, I had the unfortunate experience of landing in the ER while on vacation in San Francisco with a ruptured appendix. Thank God Dr. Yee was on call that night and continued to be my surgeon for what was to be the most painful (and complicated) recovery process. I was in the hospital for 19 days and am still recovering. I can’t emphasize enough what a great doctor this man is. He is compassionate, genuinely interested in the welfare and health of his patients and made me feel like everything was going to be OK during a very scary time. He has a natural humor and ease and I can’t recommend him highly enough. In a world where doctors rush in and rush out, he actually listened to me, answered every question I had, was communicative when I needed answers, and all with a kind spirit. Thank you Dr. Yee!

Dr. Laurence Yee was recommended to me by Dr. Kenneth Binmoeller. I had a right hemicolectomy after several pre-​cancerous polyps were discovered in my ascending colon. The surgery went very easily, and Dr. Yee was excellent all the way around. I visited him initially at his office where he took the time to explain all of the details of my surgery. Not once did I feel rushed; Dr. Yee let me ask as many questions as I needed to get clarity. During my hospital stay, Dr. Yee visited me each day, and had a remarkable bedside manner. Watching him with the staff, you can tell he is just a really nice guy. If I could give Dr. Yee more than 5 stars I would. My recovery has been very smooth, and the laparoscopic incisions are fading to where they will barely be visible. If you are looking for a very good surgeon, and a doctor that you can feel comfortable talking with, look no further. Dr. Yee is your guy.

Dr. Yee was recommended to me by a neighbor/​friend. I went to see him with every intention of gathering info and doing my best to delay surgery. Soon, I had two (maybe three) gallbladder attacks and decided that I could procrastinate no longer. Dr. Yee was awesome and so was the staff at the Presidio Surgery Center.
Recovery was smooth. I followed up with his office with a few questions and they were are very attentive and responsive. I’m a bit embarrassed to call it a real surgery — I really did feel better in no time at all. Very appreciative it’s over and grateful to Dr. Yee and his staff!

Dr. Yee is extremely personable, and is genuinely interested in dealing with your concerns. He went over in detail, even drawing pictures, to explain what the procedure would involve. Hard to evaluate a surgeon’s skills when you’re under general anesthesia, but enough to say it went well, I healed quickly, and the margins were clear. I would recommend him to anyone who needs this type of surgery.
As a note, the reviewer that was put off by having to sign an arbitration agreement, almost all doctors now require that. With medical malpractice insurance skyrocketing using arbitration, is one way to help control healthcare costs.

this guy is a «crack» up. yuk yuk. aside from a charming personality and natural manner with his patients, this is a good person. spend a few minutes in his personal office — and just read what is on the walls. (by the way, i can’t remember the last time i was invited to sit in the private office of a physician). but dr yee rolls like this — he is super comfortable with his patients. after spending some time with him, you realize why. this is a guy who is genuinely interested in the welfare of his patients.
but don’t let his easy manner fool you. he is the doctor of choice among his fellow physicians — for themselves, their spouses and children. i think i know why.
not only did he let me observe my husband’s in-​office procedure, but he explained the whole thing. i find medicine fascinating — and was so grateful to have a doc be so open about letting me observe. unlike most docs, dr yee is open to your curiosity and interest.
the whole thing was quite fascinating — but what really struck me is the genuineness of this doctor. recently, we listened to the dalai lama talk at santa clara university. the subject was something of an oxymoron — compassionate medical care — or something to that effect. after seeing dr yee, i realized that physicians like him personify «compassionate medical care.»
what ailed my husband was relatively minor. however, if anything more serious were to happen to either one of us – or any family member — i know exactly who we will be calling.

If you ever need to go under the knife, this is your man. I’ve had 2 major procedures done by Dr. Yee, and had no problems recovering after both of them. I felt he took care of me like if I was his brother. He’s also a big 49er fan. Doesn’t get any better then that.

Positives:
Super nice guy, seem very knowledgeable, staff is friendly (but frazzled; read below) and come highly recommended.
Negatives:
Arbitration agreement… 1^st thing you are given and it makes you wonder what kind of surgeon would require this or go with an insurance carrier that forces him to. I believe it is the 4^th amendment that provide the right to a jury, no? Signing that away is a bad idea for society as a whole. Arbitration almost always goes in favor of the doctor – google it. Nothing can change my mind on this.
Very much a ‘zoo-​like’ atmosphere in his much too small office. Crowded and unorganized.
I am sure Unilocal will remove this review as they always do if it is too political.

Dr. Yee, wow, my experience was not the same as others. My primary Dr. saw that I had a couple hemorrhoids and said that a surgeon could just snip them out or band them. He recommended me to Dr. Yee. I went in and he told me that he could not band them, one was too large. I had not had much pain from them, but they had gotten a bit worse over time.
I asked during the first meeting how long the surgery would take to recover from. Dr. Yee seemed hesitant to give me an answer. So, I said, «1 week?». He did not give me a solid response, so I said 1 — 2 weeks. Now he seemed to say that, yes, that is about right.
Never did he tell me that this is one of the most painful surgeries one can have. Not a single warning or word of caution. Only when I began the slow and painful recovery which takes a typical patient 3 — 4 weeks to recover from. Anyone curious should do a search on the internet and find forums about such a surgery. I went to the emergency. I went back in to see him a couple days later, thinking something must have gone wrong, it was then that he first told me, his words! «well of course it hurts a lot, this is by far the most painful surgery I perform.» So, if he really cared, he would have told me this prior to the surgery, ya think?
Later in the trauma following the surgery, I even went to an Emergency Room once with such pain that it seemed unbearable. In a call to the emergency line, the physician I spoke with told me that when he does this surgery he tells each patient to take a month off of work, that he makes it clear that this is the norm for recover and he kind of was (my perception) rolling his eyes over the phone in disgust or disbelief when I told him that I had been told 1 — 2 weeks. I was able to work limited after about 3.5 weeks. Pain was there for more than 2 months. Picture needing over 100 pain pills and I do mean «needing» and you can perhaps imagine this. I have had 4 shoulder surgeries, a broken femur, shattered ankle and none of the pain from any of the recoveries from surgeries compare to the pain from this one!
Also, when I came to in the recovery room, he came by with pictures of the hemorrhoids (piles) he had removed. I told him I don’t want to see them. He grinned in a weird way and acted like I should want to see the work he was so proud of.
A side point here is that if you are considering this procedure, please, please, do your homework ahead. If you are younger, take fiber supplements and eat a lot of fiber food, this will help you avoid such a nasty predicament.
2 months after surgery, I went back and got another surgeon in the office to look, diagnose why the wounds were not healing. He went back in and reset the wounds so that they would heal right. More unbelievable pain.
I am now 9 months out and have issues related to this procedure still. I was way better off prior to this whole thing.
The only positive that came was that I communicated with Dr. Yee about how much of an injustice it was to not brief me about the pain involved in the recover and in the end he apologized for this and promised to be way more up front in the future (Thank for this Dr. Yee).

An infected gallbladder took me to Pacific Medical Center Emergency room at 9am on Monday morning. Dr Yee took out the offending organ at 6pm that day. Excellent surgeon and lovely person — I was very lucky to get him. But really, everyone, from the superb nurses and doctors in the ER to the awesome anesthesiologist were really wonderful and I am deeply appreciative of their care. I wish I had taken all their names so I could give them all great individual reviews but I was too well medicated to think ahead!

Dr Yee is a great surgeon! He’s super friendly and I can tell he has a genuine interest in the care of each of his patients. Working in a hospital environment I’m familiar with all types of doctor stereotypes — old-​school fogeys, young ambitious doctors, big egos, no bedside manner, etc. I had minor laproscopic surgery last August and was of course nervous about it but I felt very comfortable and confident with Dr. Yee. I liked that he wanted additional diagnostic tests before confirming surgery was needed. And he even suggested that my OB/​GYN be present for the procedure (she was involved with my situation from the start), which made me feel more at ease.
I have to minus one star due to the usual «front desk» issues — it’s no better here. One week before my procedure I was told that I needed a lot of tests and a physical done — a heavy load to schedule in such short notice, especially on top of the stress and anxiety about the procedure in the first place! And this was only because I had called them for another reason — I would have never known these things needed to be done if I hadn’t asked! The staff had scheduled my procedure several weeks before and could have told me then.
However do not let this deter you, Dr Yee is super nice, has great bedside manner, and is quick and thorough. No likes surgery (whether it is elective or emergent) but having Dr Yee involved makes the whole process a little more pleasant.

4**** Stars for the Dr. Yee’s bed-​side manner, very nice, he knows what he is doing, listens, reviewed my lists of issues, engages with the patient, and is funny. So, that was the good part.
–1* –One Star: For their booking policy and their lobby is not big enough to deal with the overbooked people that show up and their relatives that come with them. They need more chairs/​or a bigger waiting room. .. (one time they ran out of places to sit for all their elderly patients). Better yet, stop over-​booking and allow for a less crowded waiting room environment. It is tiring to wait and have listen to other’s strange conversations about issues I rather now hear.
–1* –One Star: They over-​book their appointments constantly! The first time there were 4 people booked at the same time I was and the room was full. I waited 1.5 hours for my 10 minute appointment.
–1* –One Star: The Second time I went they overbooked again. I had 3 – 4 people who were booked at the same time I was. Then, Dr. Yee was running 30 minutes late. I was told this after waiting 20 minutes. I decided to leave and rebook for another time.
The Third time, he was in surgery and was running 45 minutes behind. I left and never came back and found a new doctor who does not over-​book, has a huge waiting room, when I walk in it is peaceful and quiet and plus she knows what she is doing, plus she is engaging and listens.

It’s a little soon to tell how my particular case is going to be in the long run but so far so good. Dr. Yee has an excellent bedside manner — frank, friendly, informative, and with a good sense of humor. The nurses at the surgery center were all very helpful as well, and so are the office staff.
I’m a big baby when it comes to my health, but I felt really well taken care of with this practice, and he has both the experience and the respect from his peers that makes you feel like you’re in good hands.

Dr. Yee removed my gall bladder on Tuesday, November 10, 2009. What a great guy and excellent surgeon. Plus, everyone from the 6: am Intake to Operating Room to Recovery to Outake were the best. They all love Dr. Yee too — which can make things very easy.
The intake places leg warmers on your legs that feel so good; then they cover you with a gown that comes with a patch they hook a hose into, it blows warm air all over you… it’s great! You know how cold hospitals can be.
The best part was Dr. Yee after the surgery: I was pretty loopy — he came over and showed me a picture of my (ICK) gall ladder. He offerred to email it and I took him up on it. There it was in my mail box… quite a souvenir.
If you have to have this type of surgery, there is no one better. He has a great personality, he is surrounded by a great support team, and he provides you with pictures to remember your experience. The BEST!

Oh my goodness, saw his name come up and had to review! I had him in October of 2007 for a bowel obstruction surgery (yes haha! due to CF people!) I had the best experience with him… he was polite and could joke around with me and my family, strived to make the best decision (I had to wait 2 weeks to get surgery… he didnt want to do it unless all other options had been exhausted. Which means he’s not just trying to be rich ya know?), he answered questions in a manner that was informative and respectful (not arrogant or condescending), basically told you his every move and why… GREAT.
oh yea when I was in surgery for like an hour already my mom was in the elevator and saw him… she was like «hey your supposed to be in surgery!» well you know it takes a while to get all clean and sterilzed and ready to go so he was on his way to the OR when my mom ran into him… anyways kinda funny story is all.
PS: I never thought about it until I read «he looks like the asian version of Dr. Oz) SO TRUE haha

He totally looks like an Asian version of Dr. Oz!
Anyway, he performed surgery on me. Was very professional, nice, and friendly. Unlike some other doctors I’ve been to, Dr. Yee is warm and feels like he cares. My surgery went well. Although my symptoms are still there, my surgery wasn’t painful at all.

It’s unfortunate that when you call a reputable Doctor that you referred too, that you have to deal with a receptionist that has no interest in really helping you. I went to make an appointment with Dr. Yee to take care of a serious situation that I was told needed to be address immediately. This woman told me that the Dr. was too busy for a short-​notice visit. I understood that and asked if she had any recommendations on where to go next. Her answer…“call your doctor back and tell him that Dr. Yee is too important for short notice visits.”
Who says that to someone who is terribly sick… someone who doesn’t give a damn about anyone.