Dr. Walter Sartor devotes his expertise to his hometown.
Dr. Walter Sartor has been practicing General Surgery in the Monroe area since 2000.
After graduating from River Oaks High School, the Monroe native earned his bachelor's degree in biology at Tulane University and his medical degree at Tulane University School of Medicine. He then completed his residency at the University of Maryland Medical Systems in 1997. After a brief time in Lake Charles, he moved back to Monroe, where he has been in practice ever since. He received his board certification in general surgery in 2000.
While he has held many local leadership roles, including Chief of Surgery at St. Francis Medical Center and head of the committee on weight loss surgery, he actively participates at the state and national levels. He has been a fellow of the American College of Surgeons since 2006 and a member of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery since 2007, receiving his fellowship in this organization in 2016. Both of these organizations have state chapters in which he actively participates.
Recognizing a need for a comprehensive and local weight loss surgery center, he co-founded a bariatric program that was recognized as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence by the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery in 2007. Dr. Sartor has been actively participating in the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program run by the American College of Surgeons and ASMBS, establishing a high standard of surgical care for weight loss surgery.
Along with Dr. Liles and Dr. Smith (and the other surgeons and urologists at St. Francis Medical Center), Dr. Sartor added robotic surgery to his options for minimally invasive surgery in 2015. He was named a Surgeon of Excellence in Robotic Surgery by the Surgical Review Corporation in the spring of 2021. The SRC is a non-biased group that recognizes surgeons dedicated to safety, high-quality surgical care, and optimal patient outcomes. Dr. Sartor was named BayouLife's Top General Surgeon in 2022.
Dr. Sartor is a partner in The Surgery Clinic of Northeast Louisiana, home of Delta Vein Care, with partners Dr. Bart Liles and Dr. Patrick Smith.
The lasting impact of his work fuels him, Dr. Sartor said.
"A weight loss surgery is one operation, and yet, it can resolve multiple medical problems. When our bariatric patients come to see us 12 months after their operations, they are no longer suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure, or sleep apnea," Sartor said. "They are doing things they never thought they could do, like running marathons. That's one of the main reasons we do this—to make a difference in people’s lives."
His wife Sue and their three children bring him great joy—as do his partners at the surgery clinic.
"Dr. Liles and Dr. Smith are outstanding surgeons. As they are a few years younger than I, I've had the privilege and honor of being a mentor to both. It has been incredibly fun and rewarding," Sartor said. "We share an unmatched camaraderie and a very similar sense of humor and work ethic. Practicing surgery with them has become the brightest spot in my professional life."
