FAQs

Yes. As required by Medicare regulations. You can obtain a referral by visiting your regular/local GP. Your GP referral will be valid for 12 months and if referred by a specialist your referral will be valid for 3 months.

If you already have a referral from your GP or specialist you can call the rooms on (07) 5667 9766 or once received on our end, our team will contact you to book in your initial consultation. If you don’t have a referral and would like to book for an initial consultation please visit your regular/local GP to obtain a referral.

Yes, we accept both uninsured and insured patients. If you are an uninsured patient you are liable for the total costs of your procedure and can use your superannuation or a payment plan to help fund your surgery.

An initial consultation for both weight loss and general surgery is $250.00. If you have medicare you will receive an $86.00 medicare rebate. If booking a consultation for weight loss at the time of booking a $100.00 deposit is required to secure your appointment. This will go towards your initial consultation cost. Your appointment will typically take between 30 – 45 minutes.

Yes, we accept patients who want to access their superannuation for compassionate release of funds. We help with your application process and provide you with a guide on how to complete your application.

Yes, we have partnered with Total Lifestyle Credit to help both insured and uninsured patients to access payment plans to help fund your surgery.

Dr Puhalla operates out of both Gold Coast Private Hospital and Pindara Private Hospital.

The cost of your surgery will depend on which surgery is recommended and right for you. You will need to have an initial consultation with Dr Puhalla to determine this. The fees to consider for your surgery are Dr Puhalla’s surgical fee, anaesthetists fee, hospital/private health insurance excess fee. You may be eligible for a medicare rebate/private health fund rebate depending on your cover. If there is a gap fee you will be required to fund the gap fee. Prior to booking your surgery you will be provided an Informed Financial Consent with a breakdown of costs and estimated rebates.

The Fresh Start Program is a comprehensive mind set coaching program for both our surgical & medical weight loss patients. For surgical patients It is a 2 year program, and for medical patients a 1 year program in which patients have access to webinars, challenges, 1:1 coaching, recipes, resources and more. This program is included in your surgery cost.

Yes, we have a 3 month program for patients who wish to explore a non-surgical and non-invasive solution to weight loss. To determine if you are a suitable candidate for this program an initial consultation with Dr Puhalla is required.

We offer general surgical procedures, including gallbladder removal, hernia operations, anti-reflux surgery and operations on the pancreas and liver. We also offer bariatric procedures including gastric sleeve, gastric bypass, loop-duodenal switch, revisional and the Obera intra gastric balloon.”