[cappyjon431]

My wife has been an ER nurse for over 20 years and she is currently working in the ER at The Villages Hospital. She said that there is always an ER doc on staff in the ER, but she is concerned that the ER at the Villages Hospital is somewhat understaffed for the population it serves.

While TV frequently bills itself as America's "healthiest" hometown, the truth of the matter is that it is a retirement community and has primarily elderly residents. When my wife worked at other ERs around the country she saw lots of broken bones, cuts, burns, scrapes, etc. These are never pleasant, but for younger patients they are rarely life threatening. For older patients, these types of injuries can be much more serious. Combine that with the increased numbers of heart attacks and other serious health problems that often affect the elderly and it is easy to see why the Villages Hospital ER is not sufficient for its target population.

Another problem with the local hospital is that it is relatively small (I believe they only have 225 beds). While it is possible to take patients into the ER, sometimes there are simply not enough beds to admit patients after they are stabilized in the ER. If there are not enough available beds in the hospital, it is frequently necessary to divert patients to other, larger facilities.

This is not meant to diminish The Villages Hospital. It is a beautiful facility and their staff is excellent. My wife says the staff in the ER rivals any that she has ever worked with in their committment to excellent patient care. It is my understanding that another hospital is on the drawing board for TV south of 466A. Hopefully, with another hospital and ER in TV it will alleviate some of these problems.