Mohs Surgery
Address
Building 1, 3rd Floor
276 International Circle
San Jose, CA 95119
Contact Us
Appointments: 1-408-972-3275
Advice: 1-408-972-4791
Hours
Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. by referral only
Closed for Lunch
12:15 to 1:15 p.m.
Overview
Welcome to the Department of Mohs Surgery at the Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center. This department was begun in 1981 by Dr. Steven Swengel when he introduced the fresh tissue Mohs technique to Northern California Kaiser Permanente. The department has grown from one physician performing 500 cases a year to a department of 4 Mohs College-trained physicians completing over 2000 cases each year. Each of us is fellowship-trained through the American College of Mohs Micrographic Surgery and we all are members of the Mohs College, an important qualification you should be looking for in your treating physician. We each are supported by a dedicated medical assistant and have the luxury of superb tech support from our licensed histotechs who do all the tissue processing for us during your visit.
Our Mission
The Department of Mohs Surgery is comprised of four Mohs College trained physicians who are skilled in removing and treating cancers of the skin. Over the 20 years we have been offering our services in the South Bay, we have performed over 20,000 procedures with an excellent cure rate and high patient satisfaction with the final results. As a member of Kaiser Permanente, we treat you as we would ourselves expect to be treated if we were the patient. Our department is comprised of a small group of dedicated physicians, medical assistants, RNs and histotechs who actually enjoy coming to work and have had years of teamwork experience with each other. We feel honored to have you choose us as the team you trust to remove your skin cancer. We like to get to know our patients, and since we have the luxury of time for such visits, come prepared to talk, share stories and get to know us as well. We look forward to working with you!
During the Visit
Our office is located on the third floor of Building 1 at 276 International Circle, San Jose, CA. Office hours are Monday through Friday 8:30 am until 5:00pm (or until all cases are completed). Most morning cases are completed by lunchtime and afternoon cases are completed by 5:00pm. Please come prepared to spend at least four hours with us as most cases will be cleared and repaired in one visit. Your visit will be coordinated by our scheduler, Debbi Hansen, who will call you at home to arrange the preop phone call or visit. At that time we will assess the size of your skin cancer, the time we will need to complete the excision and repair, and any potential need to orchestrate our Mohs excision with a more complex repair usually performed by our Head and Neck Surgeon, Plastic Surgeon, or Oculoplastic Surgeon.
We usually recommend that most patients come for the surgery day with a designated driver. Although the surgery is done will local anesthetic only, we find that this additional support at the end of a visit comes in handy. We are more than happy to contact your driver when you are ready to be picked up if they would prefer to run off and do some errands rather than wait in the waiting room. We can reassure you that you will find this visit less intimidating than you expected and in fact, most patients are commenting on what a relaxed, informed and comforting experience they had.
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