Quote:
Originally Posted by Bonny
I am so lucky to have found a great Doctor here. It took me 4 trys, but I found him. I go to Dr. John Burress, Lady Lake Family Medicine, on 466. He now has a PA, Sylvia Wallace who is also fabulous.
I think the Drs. will be of better quality now that the hospital is growing. It's attracting some of the better ones.
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Bonny:
Again, I hate to be a "doomsayer", but.....the hospital is NOT growing. Well, structurally it is but here's the scoop. My friend is an RN. She and her husband moved down here knowing they still had 5 - 6 years to work before retirement but decided to go for it. She is (was) a fulltime RN at the Villages Hospital.
Last Monday she was looking particularly tired and I asked her if she was OK. She told me that when she had gone to work (she works nights) the night before, she was told they were closing her unit (Medical Unit) and consolidating patients in the surgical unit...which they did. She was also told that her hours were being cut, her pay was being cut and she had to pay $180.00 more for her insurance and there was a hiring freeze on...NO more help being hired. She said she was the ONLY person on the floor that night. She was the nurse, the aide, the secretary, the tech...everything. She said there were some people she never even got to see...they could have been dead for all she knew.
She also said that the employees that were left were told NOT to speak of this closure/consolidation. Further, she told me there were entire floors of the hospital being unused because of lack of money. Basically, they moved the patients off one floor to another, turned out the lights, shut the door and that's it!!!! I asked her, "how could they build that 3 story cardiac structure addition if they didn't have any money?" She said because it was federal money given to them and they either had to spend it or lose it. I say, "Besides....it looks good to potential new home buyers...yes indeed, very impressive looking." Kind of like a movie set wouldn't you say? Nothing behind the facade. Finally, she said they were told the hospital does not make real money on inpatient care. They make the most of their money on "services" like CT Scans, X-Rays, etc. and that's what they want to concentrate on. Guess that's why my CT Scan at TVRH would have cost $7,000.00+. I called around and found a medical imaging facility that charged $1,500.00. BIG difference...BIG profit.
So...anyhow, I'm just passing on what was told to me last Tuesday by one who should really know.
Just be aware that there ARE other places for medical and lab tests that are highly accredited and are MUCH, MUCH cheaper. Also, there are other hospitals in the area that aren't cutting staff and closing doors to survive!!!