When you live in The Villages you will be 2 hours and fifteen minutes from Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fl. They are known around the world and when you drive in their parking lots you see cars from all over the US. If you have heart surgery and need a week or so of recovery, they have a house on the property called the "Gilbert House". You can apply for a reservation there. The one basic requirement is you must have a 24/7 care taker with you such as your wife, friend etc, It has beautiful rooms overlooking a lake, a shuttle every half hour to and from the Mayo Buildings, there are twins queen beds in each room, one for your care taker/companion. About 4 nights a week an organization prepares your dinner and serves it. You have your own refrig and cabinet for dry foods. The price is $50 for the first night and $45 for all other nights. It is beautiful. It was built by the founder and owner of a popular rum business who had a lung transfer and was so happy with the care and treatment at Mayo he had this house built and dedicated it to Mayo. We spent 6 weeks at the Gilbert House when my wife was having radiation at the Clinic and it was a God send. When we were there, there were 2 or 3 waiting for a heart transplant, a couple recovering from heart surgery, also a liver transplant, plus others. It can hold 28 patients at a time and apply at Mayo for a reservation. Anyone who is going to have major surgery might want to see if this is available. We applied at the time and waited 2 days before we were accepted. Good luck to you and welcome to The Villages.
