Big Black Eye for TV

[shawano1]

My wife and I are six months into our life in TV and everything is better than what we were told or seen, with one exception. For a community so full of life, and affluence, I have never had a worst experience with an ER than I have here.

Last August, while purchasing our property, I needed to go to the ER for a pulmonary embolism concern and waited nine hours in the ER to get an ultrasound and diagnosis. We were seen by a nurse practitioner in a conference room, and witnessed people laying on gurneys in the hallway.

Fast forward to Thursday night, and our visiting daughter and her husband were concerned that their 22 month old daughter might have bronchitis or pneumonia and wanted a chest x-ray taken. We took her to TV Regional Hospital and were greeted with a jam-packed waiting room of suffering people. The check in nurse thought it would be an 11 hour wait. I don't know about you, but getting a toddler to handle a half hour doctor's appointment is pretty challenging. The thought of a tired, sick 22 month old enduring eleven hours in a room of misery was not even an option. So we went home and put her to bed. The next morning the 101 degree fever broke and we thought we were on our way to recovery. However, Friday evening came and our granddaughter just wasn't her usual self and was quite congested, so I went to the ER to scout the waiting time. Not as crowded as Thursday night, but still a five hour wait. We decided to put her to bed and try again in the morning. Finally, Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. we took her in and had a more reasonable hour and a half wait and came home with our anti-biotics.

To see that ER waiting room at night is almost criminal. In talking with others, the recommendation is to get an ambulance to take you to the ER because then you get right into triage. That is a sad testimony to what is suppose to be a premier community.

With a rising and aging population, you would think that our community leaders would have more foresight to serve its elderly population's critical care needs. Shame on all of those leaders who have failed to serve our community in this critical area of support. Having experienced this failure on two separate occasions, at two different times of the year, tells me that this is not a one-time, peak event problem. Our ER needs to expand 300-400% to handle the needs that I witnessed on those three occasions.

For those contemplating a move to a new community, one should not only look at the best that the community provides, they should look at its problematic areas, too. From my perspective, visit the ER some night before signing on the dotted line, in case you might need some critical care in the future.

[JB in TV]

Underlying cause of the over crowding in ER is folks that should not be there. I hate to say this, but your child should have gone to Urgent Care, not ER. ER is for life threating issues. Glad she got some meds, but Urgent Care would have been able to do the same thing.

[BobnBev]

I wonder just how many people were TRUE emergencies? Did you
try any of the walk-in clinics? How about the other area hospitals,
did you try them? I guess a lot of people in the area don't have
family doctors. If you had a real emergency, you should have
called 911, and let the experts handle it.:sigh:

[shawano1]

Urgent care closes at 8:00 p.m. and our daughter's health plan has no coverage other than ER in remote State, like Florida. She was instructed by her insurance company's on-call nurse to go to the ER. Not everyone has golden, public sector health plans.

[shawano1]

Daughter does not have golden, public sector health care benefit. Her insurance company's on-call nurse instructed her to take her daughter to ER because there are no out-of-network providers in Florida under her coverage, except for ER. In addition, Urgent Care and most clinics close prior to 8:00 p.m.

[shawano1]

Urgent Care and walk-in clinics close prior to 8:00 p.m. Besides The Villages Regional Hospital Urgent Care does not provide chest x-rays, they referred us to the ER for that kind of treatment. In either case, daughter's health plan does not cover out of network providers in remote States, like FL. Their call-in nurse line advised her to go to ER for care and coverage.

Finally, would you call 911 for a chest x-ray and an antibiotic? How would a 22 month respond to an ambulance ride to the ER for a chest x-ray?

[getdul981]

. In addition, Urgent Care and most clinics close prior to 8:00 p.m.

That is a problem in itself.

[Marigold]

I think the real concern is over the fact that there are not walk in clinics open twenty four hours a day. So the hospital is the only choice. I have used the same walk in clinic during regular business hours many times in the past three years and have been satisfied with it. I was in the waiting room when a couple brought in a young child and were turned away because they were told that this walk in clinic does not handle pediatrics. Very scary to parents who came in for medical assistance.

Lets face facts, it seems that many of us are from places with smaller populations yet more hospitals in a smaller radius. Hospitals from where I used to live had a twenty minute to be seen triage policy. I have heard first hand from my neighbors of the long hours of waiting in The Villages Hospital. Hopefully the new addition will alleviate this.
As another poster said....we are an aging community and in need of a well run, efficient ER.
Not only is The Villages population increasing but so are the outlying communities as well.

[Carla B]

It seems that most health-care emergencies occur at night. Why couldn't there be at least one urgent care center that could stay open past 8:00 p.m. and take the load off the ER?

[jblum315]

Someone should have advised you to take the child to Leesburg Hospital ER. They have pediatric facilities; TV hospital does not. I know because my little grandson fell ill and TV Hospital sent him to Leesburg by ambulance.

[CFrance]

I agree that there should be an urgent care open 24 hours. One probably wouldn't be enough, though, to handle everything in TV.

I'm thinking the advice the insurance nurse gave to these parents was based purely on finances and not where the toddler needed to be--which seems to be at an urgent care, not in the ER. They could have given her a referral to an x-ray lab. I had this same experience myself.

It's part of the problem of ER overcrowding.

[boomerbaby]

J hope your granddaughter is feeling better. At night that was your only choice because urgent care is not open. I agree that there should be 24 hr. urgent care open in the villages. 11hrs. or more in the waiting room is beyond horrible. I hope I never need to go there.

[gatherer47]

My visiting friend took her eight month old baby to Leesburg Hospital where they have a pediatric emergency department.She couldn't praise it enough.An eleven hour wait is totally unacceptable.

[getdul981]

One probably wouldn't be enough, though, to handle everything in TV.

You're absolutely right, but one is better than none and you have to start somewhere.

[CFrance]

You're absolutely right, but one is better than none and you have to start somewhere.
You are so right.

[Happinow]

First off, I'm so sorry you and your family had to endure such incompetence here in TV. I have heard horror stories from the ER here. I am worried for mine and my husbands health and life living here. I have already told him that if I need care please bring me to Leesburg or Ocala. The fact that the emergency care is so substandard ( in my opinion) is very scary. And, the fact that there is no one to care for a sick child is just as bad. When a child is ill, they need care quickly, if just for the fact that they are children. To add fuel to the fire, health insurances will not pay for Out of Network care. I think we should spread the word that if Urgent Care is open then we should go there if it is not an emergency. If it is after hours then we should go to another hospital where it's not such a cluster. With everything that TV has to offer, they should be ashamed of the so called Medical Care, specifically the Hospital, they provide. I would think that we the residence should voice loud and clear the need of better Emergency and hospital care here in The Villages. Our life could depend on it.

[HMLRHT1]

What is really the problem is the hospital is not built or staffed to handle all of the unexpected snowbirds or visitors that are here. Every winter this happens. It happens anywhere the population of older people increase dramatically. You notice the dinning establishements are jammed packed. I live here full time and after all the snowbirds go home life becomes normal. Normal mind you as the wait times at hospitals and restaurants are greatly reduced. I also lived in the Phoenix Metro area for 30 years and worked 10 of them as a paramedic. Lots of good quality hospitals. But the problems were the same, extremely long wait times and patients in the hallways. An example was the town of Apache Junction. Normal population was about 25,000. With all the snowbirds showing up there the population increased to around 60,000 every winter. That increase was all older people with more medical issues. We increased the number of medic units but still ran calls back to back for 24 hrs. This was from December to April every year. That was just one small town in the Phx metro area. It was like that in all the towns and cities there. Your small towns or large cities up north don't have to deal with this kind of problem with enough beds or staff or even square footage. The hospitals here can't run in the summer time with too much staff and too much equipment and supplies and huge empty buildings. You think your medical bills are high now? If this was to happen you might as well forget about health care here period.

[villagerjack]

No one anticipated the enormous success the Morse Family brought to Central Florida. The infrastructure and hospitals will eventually catch up but in the meantime, opening of more 24 hour Urgent Cares could alleviate the problem. I would stress the fact that in any serious emergency, it is not a good idea to search around for the places covered by your insurance plans...not when lives are at stake. And do not be embarrassed to call 911, that's what they are there for. We saw a tennis acquaintance die because he told his wife to drive him to the hospital instead of calling 911 and he died just outside the gates..,at age 52. It also happened to me, collapsing on the court and a friend had the presence of mind to call 911 to which I am thankful. He did not bother to check my insurance either, thank God!

[KathieI]

At one time, there was a plan to open another hospital within the Brownwood area. Many conversations on TOTV since '08 about it. We could use that hospital now.. What ever happened to that concept. Did the Moffitt hospital take its place???

Here's a few links that give some background -

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/status-brownwood-paddock-square-28158/

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/new-villages-hospital-40256/

[VT2TV]

My wife and I are six months into our life in TV and everything is better than what we were told or seen, with one exception. For a community so full of life, and affluence, I have never had a worst experience with an ER than I have here.

Last August, while purchasing our property, I needed to go to the ER for a pulmonary embolism concern and waited nine hours in the ER to get an ultrasound and diagnosis. We were seen by a nurse practitioner in a conference room, and witnessed people laying on gurneys in the hallway.

Fast forward to Thursday night, and our visiting daughter and her husband were concerned that their 22 month old daughter might have bronchitis or pneumonia and wanted a chest x-ray taken. We took her to TV Regional Hospital and were greeted with a jam-packed waiting room of suffering people. The check in nurse thought it would be an 11 hour wait. I don't know about you, but getting a toddler to handle a half hour doctor's appointment is pretty challenging. The thought of a tired, sick 22 month old enduring eleven hours in a room of misery was not even an option. So we went home and put her to bed. The next morning the 101 degree fever broke and we thought we were on our way to recovery. However, Friday evening came and our granddaughter just wasn't her usual self and was quite congested, so I went to the ER to scout the waiting time. Not as crowded as Thursday night, but still a five hour wait. We decided to put her to bed and try again in the morning. Finally, Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. we took her in and had a more reasonable hour and a half wait and came home with our anti-biotics.

To see that ER waiting room at night is almost criminal. In talking with others, the recommendation is to get an ambulance to take you to the ER because then you get right into triage. That is a sad testimony to what is suppose to be a premier community.


I am a RN with 20+ years experience in the Emergency Department of a Level 1 Trauma Center. I totally agree -I have a lot of concerns about the health care in The Villages in general, and I have not been impressed with the care that several of my friends have received in the ED here.I hope that your grandchild is doing better and I also agree we should have 24/7 non-emergency care in an area of this size. One thing I have to disagree with is the comment about taking the child to the ED for an x-ray and antibiotics. With the interference of politicians and insurance companies, doctors and hospitals are frequently limited to the tests they can order on the first visit. Not all illnesses even bronchitis, require x-rays, and not all illnesses require antibiotics. I am NOT saying your grandchild did or did not, just speaking in general. It is much better, esp. for children if you do not expose them to unnecessary radiation or antibiotics. It is best to leave the course of treatment up to the doctor. It must have been very, very frustrating to have a sick child, and not be familiar with the places to go to make her feel better.

The thing that makes me very, very angry is your neighbor or whoever made the comment about calling 911 because you will get seen faster by the triage nurse. NO, NO, and NO!!!!!!! Several things are wrong with that. Not only are they abusing the system, but may wind up with a much more expensive visit. I can't speak about the ED here, but every patient who came in to our ED by life saving crew did immediately see a triage nurse, but if they did not feel you were an emergency, the crew's stretcher was lowered to the ground and the person was escorted to the waiting area to check in, and wait their turn like all the other patients. Plus, they might have tied up the life saving crew and several fire trucks and all their personnel when they were needed on a real emergency. The life saving squad in our area were not required to take the patient to the hospital if they were not an emergency, although they normally did. Also, and I love this one-- when the insurance company reviewed their claim, it is very probable that they would refuse to pay the fee for a NON-EMERGENCY trip. The patient may find themselves paying for a very, very expensive taxi ride.



With a rising and aging population, you would think that our community leaders would have more foresight to serve its elderly population's critical care needs. Shame on all of those leaders who have failed to serve our community in this critical area of support. Having experienced this failure on two separate occasions, at two different times of the year, tells me that this is not a one-time, peak event problem. Our ER needs to expand 300-400% to handle the needs that I witnessed on those three occasions.


One thing that would help is to pay the emergency doctors and staff better, and attract more quality help. This area of the country has always been guilty of very low pay for nurses. I didn't work around here, but where I worked, it was not uncommon for servers in a lot of the restaurants to make more money in tips than I made in salary. Money is not why people become nurses, but they have bills to pay too.




For those contemplating a move to a new community, one should not only look at the best that the community provides, they should look at its problematic areas, too. From my perspective, visit the ER some night before signing on the dotted line, in case you might need some critical care in the future.

[QUOTE=shawano1;837923]Urgent Care and walk-in clinics close prior to 8:00 p.m. Besides The Villages Regional Hospital Urgent Care does not provide chest x-rays, they referred us to the ER for that kind of treatment. In either case, daughter's health plan does not cover out of network providers in remote States, like FL. Their call-in nurse line advised her to go to ER for care and coverage.


If the insurance companies changed their policies and covered more non emergency care, that would help some of the crowding in the ED. Sorry this is soooo long, but health care in the Villages is one of my "soapbox" topics. I am on my second primary care doctor, and am still not happy with the care. If anyone has a wonderful doctor with office staff that follows through with things when necessary, I would love to hear about them.

[Bogie Shooter]

Crowded ER's are a problem all over the country, not just in The Villages.

[wendyquat]

I've had 3 experiences at the TV ER and all 3 were satisfactory, HOWEVER, all 3 were during normal times and not snowbird season. I was also an inpatient in both TV and Leesburg and Leesburg is far superior to TV. The employees at Leesburg seemed more professional and caring about my welfare than at TV. It seemed maybe there was a morale problem going on at TV! Just my opinion!

[Jayhawk]

$50M Hospital expansion will double size of emergency room - The Villages Daily Sun: Villages (http://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/news/villages/article_5a67f828-b795-11e2-b89e-001a4bcf887a.html)

I seem to recall the state if Florida rejected an application from the developer to build a second hospital, which led to the expansion.

[Parker]

Dr Angel Tafur is a very good doctor with friendly, efficient staff. If you go to the hospital, he manages your care himself and doesn't sign you over to someone else. Good reputation, kind man, roots in the community.

[shawano1]

Thank you all for your responses. Let me tell you more of the story based on your responses.

On the first night, after taking her to TV ER and faced with an 11 hour wait, we did drive to Leesburg, because one of TV nurses said that Leesburg had pediatric care. When we got to Leesburg, we were faced with the same thing. The check in nurse said that they, too had an eleven hour waiting list. So we returned home, and gave our infant granddaughter acetaminaphin and put her to bed.

The next morning, I went to the TV Regional Hospital's Urgent Care across the street, and it wasn't open until 7 or 8 a.m. When I talked to one of the nurses about my sick granddaughter, they said that the ER is the place to go to receive a chest x-ray. That they would not have been able to help her. I then called around to various clinics and found one on HWY 466 and Morse that said they would be able to perform a chest x-ray on a toddler. Going back to our story, by then our granddaughter's fever had broken, so we went into a wait and lets see how she responds mode. Again, because of insurance coverage issues that only allowed for ER coverage pointed us to the ER or out of pocket expenses. By bedtime, our granddaughter was still very congested, but no fever. Our daughter wanted to take her into the ER for a chest x-ray, so I scouted TV ER for waiting time, and again it was five hours on the second night. We thought it would be better to wait until morning instead of having this toddler endure five hours of waiting in an ER waiting room. If no improvement overnight then we were going to take her to TV ER or to the walk-in clinic mentioned above. It ended up being TV ER on Saturday morning, and after an hour and a half wait, she received treatment in an open hallway, with no chest x-ray. We did receive an anti-biotic prescription for an ear infection. Hopefully, it will address the chest congestion, too.

In conclusion, a 24-hour Urgent Care would not have helped. They didn't do x-rays. Leesburg, was just as crowded as TV. Seasonality, has minimal blame. Going back to my original post, I needed ER care last August. I went to Urgent Care across the street, and once they heard pulmonary embolism, they whisked me to TV ER. There I waited nine hours for treatment, which ended up being an ultrasound and some blood work. When I asked personnel at TV ER why such poor service, they said that more snowbirds are becoming full-time residents that the ER can't handle summertime demand anymore either. As for people going to the ER that didn't need to be there and cause this problem, all I ask for those off-the-cuff flippant responses, is just go to TV ER some night. Pick any night, at any time of the year, and see the misery in all of the faces, and you will understand my outrage toward TV planners of how poorly they planned for this critical need. They do a great job in creating all kinds of availability for new housing, but missed terribly in this area. I pray that none of you ever has to go through what we and all of the others in that ER waiting room has gone through.

[The Buckeyes]

$50M Hospital expansion will double size of emergency room - The Villages Daily Sun: Villages (http://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/news/villages/article_5a67f828-b795-11e2-b89e-001a4bcf887a.html)

I seem to recall the state if Florida rejected an application from the developer to build a second hospital, which led to the expansion.

The article is 10 months old....has construction begun? Addition and expanded emergency room supposed to be complete by January 2015....and updates?
:cus:

[The Buckeyes]

What TV needs is what the Cleveland Clinic has done in Twinsburg Ohio. They built a satellite clinic about 30 miles from their main campus. It is very huge with specialists for appointments, ect. The great thing about it is that they have included emergency room facilities an even a heliport if a patient needs to be transferred immediately. I have used the TV emergency facility and have the same horror story everyone else seems to have. Unfortunately, this past year I've had to use the Cleveland Clinic emergency room five times.....never waited more than 10 minutes to start getting treated....great care and always the correct diagnosis. The Cleveland Clinic is a world renown operation. They already have a hospital somewhere in Florida but, I'm unsure where it is. Maybe the Morse family needs to contact the Cleveland Clinic...bonds could be sold and there is plenty of land around Brownwood. It only common sense!
:spoken:

[Parker]

In all that has been said above, please do not blame the nurses and doctors. You can't imagine how difficult their jobs are trying to care for everyone with excellence, which is ALWAYS the goal. The push is always on to process patients through faster, faster, faster. It is exhausting and stressful.

It is a mess, from the sick miserable patients, to the stressed out staff, right up to the scrambling administration who have so many regulations and financial constraints to deal with. The hospital here is just a microcosm of the trouble the healthcare system is in nationally. And strap on the seatbelts, as I fear we haven't seen anything yet.

[rubicon]

It is true that ER's all over the country re experiencing upswings. However it is also true that in central Florida the majority population is over 65 meaning that the need for health is far greater.

[Golfingnut]

The ACA will help Emergency Rooms by putting patients in a DR's office and out of the Emergency Room.

[graciegirl]

The article is 10 months old....has construction begun? Addition and expanded emergency room supposed to be complete by January 2015....and updates?
:cus:



Ground was broken on the expansion project in November. It will double the size of the emergency room and change and better the facilities with additional rooms where patients can even stay overnight if necessary while tests are done to see if they should be admitted. You can build beautiful hospitals but excellent doctors have to want to move here.


The Cleveland Clinic is the number one heart facility in the U.S. and has much research money and doctors "dying" to work there because of the brilliance of it's staff. That is one of the factors that attract excellent physicians, being with excellent physicians and in the best teaching hospitals.

[getdul981]

Shaun01 - You claim that a 24 hour Urgent Care facility would not help you. I believe that if there had been one, there might have been fewer people at the ER and the wait would have been shorter for your grand-daughter. That would help. However, even if there were such a facility, there is no way to tell how many people would use it.

[Taltarzac725]

Thank you all for your responses. Let me tell you more of the story based on your responses.

On the first night, after taking her to TV ER and faced with an 11 hour wait, we did drive to Leesburg, because one of TV nurses said that Leesburg had pediatric care. When we got to Leesburg, we were faced with the same thing. The check in nurse said that they, too had an eleven hour waiting list. So we returned home, and gave our infant granddaughter acetaminaphin and put her to bed.

The next morning, I went to the TV Regional Hospital's Urgent Care across the street, and it wasn't open until 7 or 8 a.m. When I talked to one of the nurses about my sick granddaughter, they said that the ER is the place to go to receive a chest x-ray. That they would not have been able to help her. I then called around to various clinics and found one on HWY 466 and Morse that said they would be able to perform a chest x-ray on a toddler. Going back to our story, by then our granddaughter's fever had broken, so we went into a wait and lets see how she responds mode. Again, because of insurance coverage issues that only allowed for ER coverage pointed us to the ER or out of pocket expenses. By bedtime, our granddaughter was still very congested, but no fever. Our daughter wanted to take her into the ER for a chest x-ray, so I scouted TV ER for waiting time, and again it was five hours on the second night. We thought it would be better to wait until morning instead of having this toddler endure five hours of waiting in an ER waiting room. If no improvement overnight then we were going to take her to TV ER or to the walk-in clinic mentioned above. It ended up being TV ER on Saturday morning, and after an hour and a half wait, she received treatment in an open hallway, with no chest x-ray. We did receive an anti-biotic prescription for an ear infection. Hopefully, it will address the chest congestion, too.

In conclusion, a 24-hour Urgent Care would not have helped. They didn't do x-rays. Leesburg, was just as crowded as TV. Seasonality, has minimal blame. Going back to my original post, I needed ER care last August. I went to Urgent Care across the street, and once they heard pulmonary embolism, they whisked me to TV ER. There I waited nine hours for treatment, which ended up being an ultrasound and some blood work. When I asked personnel at TV ER why such poor service, they said that more snowbirds are becoming full-time residents that the ER can't handle summertime demand anymore either. As for people going to the ER that didn't need to be there and cause this problem, all I ask for those off-the-cuff flippant responses, is just go to TV ER some night. Pick any night, at any time of the year, and see the misery in all of the faces, and you will understand my outrage toward TV planners of how poorly they planned for this critical need. They do a great job in creating all kinds of availability for new housing, but missed terribly in this area. I pray that none of you ever has to go through what we and all of the others in that ER waiting room has gone through.

Thanks for posting this story on TOTV. I had a little medical problem (slight pain near the pubic triangle above the male package) a few weeks back and fortunately went to the closest Urgent Care @ February 11, 2014 which got me a doctor within 10 minutes or so. I had very high blood pressure and constipation. It turned out I just had too much blockage but I had been reading all kinds of things on the Internet trying to figure out what it might be and put myself in a very agitated state. I have no medical coverage of any kind at the moment so we had to pay out-of-pocket. The thorough physician did take a group of MRIs as I had suspected that it might be my prostate. Thankfully, it was not as far as I know. I turned 55 on 2-24. Born on 2-24-1959.

We had to call 911 a few months back as my father fell about 9:30 P.M. and put a couple of gashes which needed 16 stitches near his hairline. He was bleeding profusely from the head so he did get into a doctor quite quickly. Of course, this was not during snowbird season. He went to the Villages Regional Hospital Emergency via ambulance with my mother while I spent about a half hour mopping up the bathroom with towels and bleach. I picked him up that night at about 2:30 A.M and brought him home.

I have heard stories of long waiting times at the Villages' area hospitals, of course.

So glad that your granddaughter is OK. Not sure of what kind of solution is needed.

I am still monitoring my own health after taking two weeks of blood pressure checks (@ Feb 11-Feb 25, 2014) and taking the pills the doctor prescribed. Trying to eat fruit and yogurt for the constipation. I also take regular blood sugar tests with a kit I bought at CVS.

I am looking into doing something about my own lack of medical insurance but this chronic state has never stopped me from seeking medical care. I am very lucky to have family that care for me. Great that you were there for your granddaughter.

[JB in TV]

Thank you all for your responses. Let me tell you more of the story based on your responses.

... It ended up being TV ER on Saturday morning, and after an hour and a half wait, she received treatment in an open hallway, with no chest x-ray. We did receive an anti-biotic prescription for an ear infection. Hopefully, it will address the chest congestion, too.

In conclusion, a 24-hour Urgent Care would not have helped. They didn't do x-rays. .

So, as you said, there was never a chest x-ray done...:shrug:

I agree there should be 24 hour Urgent Care facilities here, and seeing that you didn't have a chest x-ray done, Urgent Care WOULD have helped and much sooner. Even going Friday morning to Urgent Care would have been a good choice. Probably would have made you time with your visiting family more enjoyable. What I don't understand is the strong desire to have that chest x-ray.

It's easy for everyone to look back and see a better way to have done things. Hindsight is always 20/20.

[JB in TV]

...

I am looking into doing something about my own lack of medical insurance but this chronic state has never stopped me from seeking medical care. I am very lucky to have family that care for me. So glad that you were there for your granddaughter.

Have look at ACA (https://www.healthcare.gov/marketplace/global/en_US/registration)
This is a very real possibility for you, forget about pre-existing conditions...you can get medical insurance here. I believe it is required by March 31 anyway. After much time without medical insurance, my wife and I now have it.

[CFrance]

So, as you said, there was never a chest x-ray done...:shrug:

I agree there should be 24 hour Urgent Care facilities here, and seeing that you didn't have a chest x-ray done, Urgent Care WOULD have helped and much sooner. Even going Friday morning to Urgent Care would have been a good choice. Probably would have made you time with your visiting family more enjoyable. What I don't understand is the strong desire to have that chest x-ray.

It's easy for everyone to look back and see a better way to have done things. Hindsight is always 20/20.

I understand/remember that feeling of panic when a baby is ill. Having said that, I too wondered about the fact that it was the baby's mother who decided the child should have an x-ray, not a doctor. If there had been an open urgent care, you might have paid $100 out of pocket but saved your child unnecessary exposure to x-ray.

One of the hospitals where we lived in MI is including in their expansion an on-site urgent care that will be open 24 hours. As patients come into the ER who are not in an emergency situation, they are sent over to the urgent care section.

[Taltarzac725]

Have look at ACA (https://www.healthcare.gov/marketplace/global/en_US/registration)
This is a very real possibility for you, forget about pre-existing conditions...you can get medical insurance here. I believe it is required by March 31 anyway. After much time without medical insurance, my wife and I now have it.

I am part of the way through applying for the ACA. It keeps telling me I am not eligible for Florida Medicaid because I have not filed any Federal Tax forms. I have not made enough money since 1991 to need to file these. So, I have to file an appeal and I am quite worked up about just what I should put in the appeal. That is, I believe, part of why I had the constipation and high blood pressure in the first place. I have been working on-and-off on the appeal for six weeks or so. It is kind of tricky about what to put in it and what to leave out.

I am very glad about the pre-existing medical conditions aspect of the ACA coverage.

The ACA insurance rates quoted for Florida are way too high for me or my family to afford.

[Bogie Shooter]

Them folks up in Tallahasee must share some of the blame. Not approving application for more hospitals makes the problem that much worse.
One poster blamed the Villages planners............if they requested and were denied, how are they to blame?

[Bogie Shooter]

The article is 10 months old....has construction begun? Addition and expanded emergency room supposed to be complete by January 2015....and updates?
:cus:

Hospital begins $57M expansion - Daily Commercial: News (http://www.dailycommercial.com/news/article_a9ebdcf4-4d6f-51c9-a8b2-38494a6ec231.html)

[CFrance]

Hospital begins $57M expansion - Daily Commercial: News (http://www.dailycommercial.com/news/article_a9ebdcf4-4d6f-51c9-a8b2-38494a6ec231.html)
The crane is in place.

But this won't solve the problem of people going to the ER when they don't belong there. We need 24-hour urgent care.

[KathieI]

The crane is in place.

But this won't solve the problem of people going to the ER when they don't belong there. We need 24-hour urgent care.

Strange,,,, we have 24 hour animal clinics in TV and Leesburg, but none for people???? Where's our priorities.

There is an urgent care across from the Walmart on 441/27 in Summerfield that is open until midnight, I think. I have sent a friend there and now he uses them extensively - just loves the docs there and they do everything, I think. But still, only open until midnight...

[CFrance]

Strange,,,, we have 24 hour animal clinics in TV and Leesburg, but none for people???? Where's our priorities.

There is an urgent care across from the Walmart on 441/27 in Summerfield that is open until midnight, I think. I have sent a friend there and now he uses them extensively - just loves the docs there and they do everything, I think. But still, only open until midnight...

Kathie, is it across 441 from Walmart or on the same side of 441? Like in the strip mall that's over there? That's good to know, if it's open till midnight.

[KathieI]

Kathie, is it across 441 from Walmart or on the same side of 441? Like in the strip mall that's over there? That's good to know, if it's open till midnight.

Yes, across 441, it is advertised in the Daily Sun sometimes. I actually got their name from the ER at the hospital when my friend got hurt after 8pm and I called them and they referred me to this Urgent Care. It was the best thing for him, he loves that group. They do everything for him.

[CFrance]

Yes, across 441, it is advertised in the Daily Sun sometimes. I actually got their name from the ER at the hospital when my friend got hurt after 8pm and I called them and they referred me to this Urgent Care. It was the best thing for him, he loves that group. They do everything for him.


That is very good to know. If you can come up with the name of the place, that would be super. I tried googling it but haven't had luck yet.

[GatorFan]

There is a Children's ER in Ocala at Munroe Regional.

West Marion Hospital on Hwy 200 in Ocala had an average wait time of less than 15 minutes.

Both are 30 minute drives from The Villages

[GatorFan]

No it is not the folks in Tallahassee. My cousin is an Administrator of a hospital and the first thing he did when he took over the hospital was get the ER wait time to under 15 minutes. Blame the administration of the hospital.

[cquick]

Someone should have advised you to take the child to Leesburg Hospital ER. They have pediatric facilities; TV hospital does not. I know because my little grandson fell ill and TV Hospital sent him to Leesburg by ambulance.

yes, I agree.

[dillywho]

No it is not the folks in Tallahassee. My cousin is an Administrator of a hospital and the first thing he did when he took over the hospital was get the ER wait time to under 15 minutes. Blame the administration of the hospital.

Might start with the folks that go there for non-emergencies.

True story:

Last March, while walking in to be with my husband in ICU, my daughter and I encountered a couple who wanted to know if one of us had a light. I told them that we didn't, but they could not smoke on the hospital property anyway. Her response:

"Oh, we know, but I have to go to the ER and know that it's going to be a long wait so we wanted to have one last cigarette first." Emergency??!! I think not. It was still daylight so plenty of time to go to Urgent Care. As for the money, they could do without their cigarettes, tattoos, and body piercings because I doubt that the last two are any more free than the cigarettes.

There was a lady in there early one night that had something (elbow, I think it was) that had been hurting for several days, so she finally decided that she might need to see a doctor. Emergency? No.

I have noticed that the hospital now has a shuttle that will take people from the front door of the hospital to the hospital's urgent care facility. Sounds pretty pro-active to me.

[dillywho]

Strange,,,, we have 24 hour animal clinics in TV and Leesburg, but none for people???? Where's our priorities.

There is an urgent care across from the Walmart on 441/27 in Summerfield that is open until midnight, I think. I have sent a friend there and now he uses them extensively - just loves the docs there and they do everything, I think. But still, only open until midnight...

Good point, Kathie. Why don't we?

[terrieb]

There is a Children's ER in Ocala at Munroe Regional.

West Marion Hospital on Hwy 200 in Ocala had an average wait time of less than 15 minutes.

Both are 30 minute drives from The Villages

One of the many reasons after many visits to The Villages that we decided this was not the place for us to live our retirement, was the lack of a hospital that does it all. With that many senior citizen residents of many health issues of various degrees, you would think as part of the Villages development plan would be a hospital that would take care of all needs. Health care at our age is an important factor in determining where you want to retire. Hospitals in different locations other than TV, 30 minutes away can make a difference in a life and death situation. I have had many conversations with many residents that say their family doctors are in Ocala, Belleview, and even in Gainesville because they are not satisfied with the types of doctors in the Villages. I have read many complaints about the Villages Hospital on this Forum and it is a little scary to read. Lots of golf, lots of clubs, lots of restaurants, lots of bragging on lots of things to do in the Villages until you hear (or not hear) about the medical problems. I hope with the addition to the hospital will bring the waiting down to a reasonable time frame and good doctors to the area.

[CFrance]

Might start with the folks that go there for non-emergencies.

True story:

Last March, while walking in to be with my husband in ICU, my daughter and I encountered a couple who wanted to know if one of us had a light. I told them that we didn't, but they could not smoke on the hospital property anyway. Her response:

"Oh, we know, but I have to go to the ER and know that it's going to be a long wait so we wanted to have one last cigarette first." Emergency??!! I think not. It was still daylight so plenty of time to go to Urgent Care. As for the money, they could do without their cigarettes, tattoos, and body piercings because I doubt that the last two are any more free than the cigarettes.

I have noticed that the hospital now has a shuttle that will take people from the front door of the hospital to the hospital's urgent care facility. Sounds pretty pro-active to me.

I'm confused. What hospital was it that had a shuttle to its own urgent care facility? TVRH? If that's the case, why aren't they sending non emergencies over to there?

[dillywho]

I'm confused. What hospital was it that had a shuttle to its own urgent care facility? TVRH? If that's the case, why aren't they sending non emergencies over to there?

Apparently, they are once triaged. I don't know for sure. There is a big sign there on the walkway in about the shuttle....at least it was the last time I had occasion to be at the hospital. They have pretty much always had the shuttles to the parking lot, but this is something different.

Update: I just called the hospital. Yes, there is a shuttle service to the Urgent Care. You go in to the information desk and they will call for the shuttle. I asked if they were sent there from the ER and she said that they are not because you have to pay at the Urgent Care and some are on Medicaid or indigent.

[CFrance]

Apparently, they are once triaged. I don't know for sure. There is a big sign there on the walkway in about the shuttle....at least it was the last time I had occasion to be at the hospital. They have pretty much always had the shuttles to the parking lot, but this is something different.

But Dillywho, are you talking about TVRH, and is there an urgent care facility at the hospital?

[dillywho]

But Dillywho, are you talking about TVRH, and is there an urgent care facility at the hospital?

Yes, TVRH. See update. That's all I know about it. I mentioned to the lady on the phone about the cigarettes, tats, etc. and she said, "I know what you're saying, but we have to take them."

[Madelaine Amee]

But Dillywho, are you talking about TVRH, and is there an urgent care facility at the hospital?

Yes, last October there was an announcement stating: "A new The Villages Regional Hospital Urgent Care opened in October in TV east of 441/27 on the East Campus of The Villages Medical Complex. 1501 US 441 North, Building 1800. 352-751-8863 open 8am to 8pm."

This center is located across 441/27 on the Historic side. They gave a full list of all eight (8) Urgent Care Centers in TV and none of them open later than 8pm.

[billethkid]

I personally do not consider your reason for TV "black eye" as such.

My reasoning is, there are just too many options to remedy the problem.

We for one due to unacceptable personal experience at TV hospital now only consider Leesburg first choice, Monroe Regional second, Waterman third and TV if there is no other option.

For us the real convenience of a hospital when needed just does not have to be the closest one......in our case Leesburg has been all anybody could want or expect in the treatment of a couple of serious encounters we have had.

It is a personal experience and personal choice to be made. But do not limit your views of hospital need be constrained to only TV.

[Wing-nut2]

Even if TV built another hospital, could they staff it? There is a shortage of doctors and nurses nation wide. With the cuts in what insurance company's pay for care, could TV afford to build and staff another hospital?

[getdul981]

Even if TV built another hospital, could they staff it? There is a shortage of doctors and nurses nation wide. With the cuts in what insurance company's pay for care, could TV afford to build and staff another hospital?

This is true, and without getting political, I don't think the prospect is going to get any better considering the ramifications of the ACA.

[buggyone]

This is true, and without getting political, I don't think the prospect is going to get any better considering the ramifications of the ACA.

Sound as if someone has too much "pablum" being spoon-fed to them by a vulpine creature.

Ridiculous to "diagnose" that a toddler NEEDS a chest x-ray and then expect to get it at midnight.

I have to ask what the OP has experienced with the SAME situation in a similar sized city other than The Villages.

[JB in TV]

I am part of the way through applying for the ACA. It keeps telling me I am not eligible for Florida Medicaid because I have not filed any Federal Tax forms. I have not made enough money since 1991 to need to file these. So, I have to file an appeal and I am quite worked up about just what I should put in the appeal. That is, I believe, part of why I had the constipation and high blood pressure in the first place. I have been working on-and-off on the appeal for six weeks or so. It is kind of tricky about what to put in it and what to leave out.

I am very glad about the pre-existing medical conditions aspect of the ACA coverage.

The ACA insurance rates quoted for Florida are way too high for me or my family to afford.

Yeah, I can't speak to not having filed a tex return, but I can tell you from personal experience, if your income is lower, you can get a very cheap plan. Due to a number of reasons, our income came out pretty low last year, and we are paying less than $200 for a very good plan for both me and my wife. Florida Blue. For what it is worth, we are NOT on Medicaid.

Perhaps you can call one of the help lines and one of the advisor/counselers can assist youin your application. You don't want to by fined for not having health insurance by 3/31.

Good luck, I hope it works out for you.

[Abster]

Let's face it...the cement jungle's problems continue to grow. Picture another 20,000 by 2018 (today's paper). How do you think those wait times, appointment scheduling, reservations and traffic will fair - given it is already a hot mess.

[billethkid]

Let's face it...the cement jungle's problems continue to grow. Picture another 20,000 by 2018 (today's paper). How do you think those wait times, appointment scheduling, reservations and traffic will fair - given it is already a hot mess.

those south of 466A can probably consider Leesburg hospital to be just as close as TV.

There is no reason other than proximity, service and quality to consider when choosing a hospital.

[nitehawk]

I have a problem with why this problem exists ....... is it lack of doctor in this country? Is the AMA so strong as to only allowing a certain amount of doctor in this country at any one time as one doctor per 5000 people ...... why cant we produce more doctors .... is their not enough qualified people .....I doubt that ... then what is the problem? ?..we dont have a problem with making laywers.....sorry for getting off subject, but cant understand why one would have to wait such a long time to see a doctor...maybe making more doctors would solve any problem as the result would result in doctors working less hours and charging more money..

[CFrance]

those south of 466A can probably consider Leesburg hospital to be just as close as TV.

There is no reason other than proximity, service and quality to consider when choosing a hospital.

I am happy to hear a positive comment about Leesburg Hospital by someone whose opinion (although I sometimes disagree with) I greatly respect. I have heard Leesburg is a good alternative to TVRH. Now I can believe it.

[graciegirl]

I have a problem with why this problem exists ....... is it lack of doctor in this country? Is the AMA so strong as to only allowing a certain amount of doctor in this country at any one time as one doctor per 5000 people ...... why cant we produce more doctors .... is their not enough qualified people .....I doubt that ... then what is the problem? ?..we dont have a problem with making laywers.....sorry for getting off subject, but cant understand why one would have to wait such a long time to see a doctor...maybe making more doctors would solve any problem as the result would result in doctors working less hours and charging more money..



Because, in my view it takes a lot more knowledge to become a doctor. A lot more skill and a lot more smarts. The law is pretty much static, but medical knowledge is ever fluid and information needed, increasing rapidly. Most doctors are in the top one percent of the population in inate intelligence. They can't be mass produced.

[ilovetv]

Producing more medical school graduates will not solve the problem of too few residency program slots in which to do their primary care or specialty training--which they have to have.

"......A physician shortage in the U.S. was expected even before the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Now the group estimates that there will be a shortage of 63,000 doctors by 2015 and 130,600 by 2025.

The shortage is a result of several factors. A large number of medical professionals are reaching retirement age, as is a large group of patients: Nearly 15 million will become eligible for Medicare in the coming years, the Association of American Medical Colleges reports.

On top of that, there is a lack of residency spots available for students graduating from medical school. In 2011, more than 7,000 were left with degrees that said "M.D." but no place to continue their education, according to the National Residency Matching Program.

Why your waiter has an M.D.

Many residency spots are funded by Medicare, and there's a cap on the number a hospital can claim each year. That number, about 100,000, has remained steady since 1997. While the Affordable Care Act will redistribute some unused residency slots and increase funding for the National Health Service Corps, more needs to be done, advocates say.

"There will be real physician shortages if we don't do more to lift the residency cap," said Dr. Atul Grover, the Association of American Medical Colleges' chief advocacy officer......

Your health care is covered, but who's going to treat you? - CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/29/health/doctor-shortage-affordable-care-act/)

"Medicare funds the vast majority of residency training in the US. This tax-based financing covers resident salaries and benefits through payments called Direct Medical Education payments. Medicare also uses taxes for Indirect Medical Education, a subsidy paid to teaching hospitals in exchange for training resident physicians. For the 2008 fiscal year these payments were $2.7 and $5.7 billion respectively. Overall funding levels have remained at the same level over the last ten years, so that the same number or fewer residents have been trained under this program.

Meanwhile, the US population continues to grow older, which has led to greater demand for physicians. At the same time the cost of medical services continue rising rapidly and many geographic areas face physician shortages, both trends suggesting the supply of physicians remains too low.

Medicare finds itself in the odd position of having assumed control of graduate medical education, currently facing major budget constraints, and as a result, freezing funding for graduate medical education, as well as for physician reimbursement rates. This halt in funding in turn exacerbates the exact problem Medicare sought to solve in the first place: improving the availability of medical care....."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_(United_States)

[Taltarzac725]

Because, in my view it takes a lot more knowledge to become a doctor. A lot more skill and a lot more smarts. The law is pretty much static, but medical knowledge is ever fluid and information needed, increasing rapidly. Most doctors are in the top one percent of the population in inate intelligence. They can't be mass produced.

The law is not static at all, graciegirl. Different kinds of skills and intelligence are needed between a career in the law and one in medicine. I do think it is a lot harder to get into medical school than law school, however, and I will bet there are a lot more law schools than medical schools in the US. https://www.aamc.org/about/medicalschools/ ABA-Approved Law Schools | Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar (http://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/resources/aba_approved_law_schools.html)

203 to 141 as far as the ratio of accredited law schools to medical schools.

A competent malpractice lawyer would probably need to know quite a bit about the current state of medicine in whatever area she practices, for instance. Just as a psychiatrist say would need to keep abreast of changes in that field so would any malpractice lawyer covering changes in psychiatry. I remember quite a number of volumes at the University of Minnesota Law Library that were on malpractice. These would get updates quite often.

[villagerjack]

Let's face it...the cement jungle's problems continue to grow. Picture another 20,000 by 2018 (today's paper). How do you think those wait times, appointment scheduling, reservations and traffic will fair - given it is already a hot mess.

Cement Jungle?

[gomoho]

I am part of the way through applying for the ACA. It keeps telling me I am not eligible for Florida Medicaid because I have not filed any Federal Tax forms. I have not made enough money since 1991 to need to file these. So, I have to file an appeal and I am quite worked up about just what I should put in the appeal. That is, I believe, part of why I had the constipation and high blood pressure in the first place. I have been working on-and-off on the appeal for six weeks or so. It is kind of tricky about what to put in it and what to leave out.

I am very glad about the pre-existing medical conditions aspect of the ACA coverage.

The ACA insurance rates quoted for Florida are way too high for me or my family to afford.

You might want to clarify what you mean when you say "It is kind of tricky about what to put in it and what to leave out". There are so many problems with fraud that statement just didn't sit right with me.

[Taltarzac725]

Yeah, I can't speak to not having filed a tex return, but I can tell you from personal experience, if your income is lower, you can get a very cheap plan. Due to a number of reasons, our income came out pretty low last year, and we are paying less than $200 for a very good plan for both me and my wife. Florida Blue. For what it is worth, we are NOT on Medicaid.

Perhaps you can call one of the help lines and one of the advisor/counselers can assist you in your application. You don't want to by fined for not having health insurance by 3/31.

Good luck, I hope it works out for you.

Thanks. My situation is a little too complicated to handle over the phone. I need to do things in writing and with documentation whenever possible.

I am trying to get this form filled out properly. It is going to be hard to keep the explanation though into the few paragraphs that the appeal form allows as far as I can tell.

This might help explain things. I was called on Federal Jury duty a few years back and told the judge during the voir dire from the bench that I lived in the Villages, had been a law librarian and was single. He could still tell I was hiding something so I was dismissed by the judge. I had not brought any documents or anything to the court as I had not known what kind of case, what kind of questions the judge and lawyers might ask, etc. It often looks like I am hiding stuff whenever I talk about my background and the like.

The case was an employment discrimination matter involving a deputy in a sheriff's office in Claremont who insisted on using Spanish in some of his reports. Some of the other officers seemed to make fun of him for using Spanish in his reports. The jury found against the plaintiff.

What I am trying to say is that what I would have to write would need to be written as carefully as possible because of the perjury element of the forms. I only told that Federal judge what I could back up with documentation at that time.

I am afraid that a call to the ACA advisor might prompt the same kind of problem for me. One of proof of whatever I may claim in it.

The lawyers for instance on the sides of bickering Claremont cops had brought in suitcases of documentation.

[peggyb]

The 441 Urgent Care (located across the street from the Walmart on 441 next to the comcast cable shopping center in Summerfield) is open until midnight. I have used them on 2 ocassions and would recommend them to anyone.

[buggyone]

Currently, there is a record high of students in medical school. Certain specialties do have a shortage but Congress could fix that quickly by striking a Medicare provision dating back to 1997.

BTW, I have not seen any physicians as clients at the local food pantries!

[Vladimir]

I agree with OP. Moved here 2 months ago. Took 2 months for an apt just to sign up with The Villages Health Care and now it will take another 3 months just for the initial "get to know" doctor visit with whose credentials I am not impressed - wow!
So on Friday I tore my achilles heel and went to The Villages ER. I sat there for 3 hours and saw that it was a lost cause and would never get anyone to help me. Went to the Exceptional Urgent Care on Rt 466 and after a 2 hour wait was told it is posibly a tear or rupture, was sent for MRI at the Morse building on Friday (with results not available over the weekend) and was not even told what I should do with the pain and ankle until the offices are open on Monday. I had to look up course of action on line from the Mayo Clinic. Needless to say I am disappointed with the health care here, know it will get worse every where under Obamacare. I will try Leesburg or Ocala hospitals and doctors in the future and hope my health holds up.

[skyguy79]

I've put a shortcut on my computer's desktop for quick access to our hospital wait times in case I need to check them before going. On this homepage of the Central Florida Health Alliance website you'll find the wait times for both the Villages Hospital ER and Leesburg's as well! I can't find any information on how frequently it's updated or about its accuracy, but thought I'd provide it anyway for those who are not already aware of this, and you can decided for yourself if you want to also shortcut or bookmark it like I did.

Central Florida Health Alliance | Leesburg, Florida (http://www.cfhalliance.org/)

[buggyone]

I agree with OP. Moved here 2 months ago. Took 2 months for an apt just to sign up with The Villages Health Care and now it will take another 3 months just for the initial "get to know" doctor visit with whose credentials I am not impressed - wow!
So on Friday I tore my achilles heel and went to The Villages ER. I sat there for 3 hours and saw that it was a lost cause and would never get anyone to help me. Went to the Exceptional Urgent Care on Rt 466 and after a 2 hour wait was told it is posibly a tear or rupture, was sent for MRI at the Morse building on Friday (with results not available over the weekend) and was not even told what I should do with the pain and ankle until the offices are open on Monday. I had to look up course of action on line from the Mayo Clinic. Needless to say I am disappointed with the health care here, know it will get worse every where under Obamacare. I will try Leesburg or Ocala hospitals and doctors in the future and hope my health holds up.

Isn't an Emergency Room for some situation that is life threatening? A stretched or torn Achilles tendon is painful but not life threatening. It is urgent care. Did you ask even them what to do about the pain? If you did, did they say absolutely nothing?

[Cantwaittoarrive]

Someone should have advised you to take the child to Leesburg Hospital ER. They have pediatric facilities; TV hospital does not. I know because my little grandson fell ill and TV Hospital sent him to Leesburg by ambulance.

Depending on where you live in TV it's also closer

[ilovetv]

Currently, there is a record high of students in medical school. Certain specialties do have a shortage but Congress could fix that quickly by striking a Medicare provision dating back to 1997.

BTW, I have not seen any physicians as clients at the local food pantries!

By striking that provision limiting the number of residency slots Medicare will pay a teaching hospital to provide, the funding to pay those residents a small salary (during their 3-5 years of training) has to come from somewhere, and that would be from Medicare. I don't think anybody wants to see more reduction in Medicare dollars after the cuts already on the table, to help pay for the ACA expansion of Medicaid.

[jbdlfan]

Isn't an Emergency Room for some situation that is life threatening? A stretched or torn Achilles tendon is painful but not life threatening. It is urgent care. Did you ask even them what to do about the pain? If you did, did they say absolutely nothing?

You obviously have never torn your achilles. Second, life threatening? Broken leg, arm, fall, about fifty other highly painful accidents that require IMMEDIATE medical attention. But hey, it's normal to wait 11 hours for treatment in your world, not many of the rest of us. By the way, OP, I am not that far removed from a toddler in distress to understand your feelings.
Keep defending.....keep defending.....

[TraceyMooreRN]

My visiting friend took her eight month old baby to Leesburg Hospital where they have a pediatric emergency department.She couldn't praise it enough.An eleven hour wait is totally unacceptable.

So what is acceptable time frame to wait in an ER? For those who use it as an Urgent Care facility (no matter their cause--insurance, no insurance). I believe the national average to be 8-10 hours?-Not sure on my numbers. Pile all the "snowbirds" into a community hospital for non-emergencies--you get a CLINIC. Really sick people waiting hours-due to others making a choice to come to an ER for non-emergencies. I wish all insurance companies would say--go to urgent care, if you go to an ER and deemed not emergency, you should have to pay out of pocket. IMO

I know for a fact--Leesburg has 11 hour waits as well. All ER wait times are hit and miss.

The less peak hours in most ERs are 3am-6am---just a scenario. You can always call ahead and check what the wait times are approximately.

I hope that in the future (maybe 10 years) but in the future--we will get approved for a larger hospital near Brownwood. TVRH does not have pediatrics-doesn't mean they can't treat pediatrics. They have to transfer the sickest children out to Leesburg or Ocala. They don't have neurosurgeon most of the time. They don't offer critical heart cases-(bypass surgery). TVRH is not a trauma center. If we could build what Leesburg has at Brownwood...offering a two door emergency room. One will be CLINIC patients other EMERGENCY patients (those who anticipate admission).

:ohdear: Also- please remember do not use up resources like EMS to provide you transportation unless you are having an emergency. Sad- that some people still think that is going to help? Or would even consider this... Most ERs have Triage in the back and in the front. In other words--calling EMS to transport you because you think you will see a doctor sooner--is a BIG MISTAKE and frowned upon wasting resources that could actually save a life. Taking up the closest ambulance to give you a "ride" for a faster triage infuriates medical care providers. It should also infuriate the other citizens in our community. Waste of a great resource for true emergencies. While one ambulance is taking your 4 day headache to the ER--someone in respiratory arrest now has an ambulance that takes 10 minutes longer because the closest one is out on a "Taxi Ride" :cus:

If you come to the ER and leave--regardless of the wait time--It was not an emergency. There were other alternatives that you choose not to take, but came to the ER. :bigbow:

[TraceyMooreRN]

I've put a shortcut on my computer's desktop for quick access to our hospital wait times in case I need to check them before going. On this homepage of the Central Florida Health Alliance website you'll find the wait times for both the Villages Hospital ER and Leesburg's as well! I can't find any information on how frequently it's updated or about its accuracy, but thought I'd provide it anyway for those who are not already aware of this, and you can decided for yourself if you want to also shortcut or bookmark it like I did.

Central Florida Health Alliance | Leesburg, Florida (http://www.cfhalliance.org/)

Wait times posted are the time you wait to see TRIAGE nurse--not an actual MD evaluation-unless a Physician Assistant is still there --depending on what time you time of day you go.

[57ChevyFI]

100,000 plus people, one hospital, is that the hospitals fault? Reminds me of the 2 hour waits at restaurants in the Villages. Is that the restaurants fault as well? We need another hospital, and hopefully people will learn to not use the emergency room for non emergency symptoms.

[perrjojo]

Even if TV built another hospital, could they staff it? There is a shortage of doctors and nurses nation wide. With the cuts in what insurance company's pay for care, could TV afford to build and staff another hospital?
Shortage of doctors and some wonder why? My son is a physician. He went to school (elementary thru med school) for 20 years. After that he had an internship and a residency. Medical school is very expensive. Interns and residents make small salaries. My son has been a physician for 24 years. Last year he saw more patients and made less money than 10 years ago due to decreased insurance, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. On top of that his staff has increased to handle all of the insurance paper work and referrals. Wonder why we have a shortage of doctors?

[gatherer47]

I'll stand by my original statement-an eleven hour wait for a sick child is totally unacceptable

[Bogie Shooter]

One of the many reasons after many visits to The Villages that we decided this was not the place for us to live our retirement, was the lack of a hospital that does it all. With that many senior citizen residents of many health issues of various degrees, you would think as part of the Villages development plan would be a hospital that would take care of all needs. Health care at our age is an important factor in determining where you want to retire. Hospitals in different locations other than TV, 30 minutes away can make a difference in a life and death situation. I have had many conversations with many residents that say their family doctors are in Ocala, Belleview, and even in Gainesville because they are not satisfied with the types of doctors in the Villages. I have read many complaints about the Villages Hospital on this Forum and it is a little scary to read. Lots of golf, lots of clubs, lots of restaurants, lots of bragging on lots of things to do in the Villages until you hear (or not hear) about the medical problems. I hope with the addition to the hospital will bring the waiting down to a reasonable time frame and good doctors to the area.

So, where is this eden that you decided to retire to?

[Bogie Shooter]

I have a problem with why this problem exists ....... is it lack of doctor in this country? Is the AMA so strong as to only allowing a certain amount of doctor in this country at any one time as one doctor per 5000 people ...... why cant we produce more doctors .... is their not enough qualified people .....I doubt that ... then what is the problem? ?..we dont have a problem with making laywers.....sorry for getting off subject, but cant understand why one would have to wait such a long time to see a doctor...maybe making more doctors would solve any problem as the result would result in doctors working less hours and charging more money..

Do a Google search on "doctor shortage", all of your questions will be answered.

[Bogie Shooter]

Producing more medical school graduates will not solve the problem of too few residency program slots in which to do their primary care or specialty training--which they have to have.

"......A physician shortage in the U.S. was expected even before the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Now the group estimates that there will be a shortage of 63,000 doctors by 2015 and 130,600 by 2025.

The shortage is a result of several factors. A large number of medical professionals are reaching retirement age, as is a large group of patients: Nearly 15 million will become eligible for Medicare in the coming years, the Association of American Medical Colleges reports.

On top of that, there is a lack of residency spots available for students graduating from medical school. In 2011, more than 7,000 were left with degrees that said "M.D." but no place to continue their education, according to the National Residency Matching Program.

Why your waiter has an M.D.

Many residency spots are funded by Medicare, and there's a cap on the number a hospital can claim each year. That number, about 100,000, has remained steady since 1997. While the Affordable Care Act will redistribute some unused residency slots and increase funding for the National Health Service Corps, more needs to be done, advocates say.

"There will be real physician shortages if we don't do more to lift the residency cap," said Dr. Atul Grover, the Association of American Medical Colleges' chief advocacy officer......

Your health care is covered, but who's going to treat you? - CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/29/health/doctor-shortage-affordable-care-act/)

"Medicare funds the vast majority of residency training in the US. This tax-based financing covers resident salaries and benefits through payments called Direct Medical Education payments. Medicare also uses taxes for Indirect Medical Education, a subsidy paid to teaching hospitals in exchange for training resident physicians. For the 2008 fiscal year these payments were $2.7 and $5.7 billion respectively. Overall funding levels have remained at the same level over the last ten years, so that the same number or fewer residents have been trained under this program.

Meanwhile, the US population continues to grow older, which has led to greater demand for physicians. At the same time the cost of medical services continue rising rapidly and many geographic areas face physician shortages, both trends suggesting the supply of physicians remains too low.

Medicare finds itself in the odd position of having assumed control of graduate medical education, currently facing major budget constraints, and as a result, freezing funding for graduate medical education, as well as for physician reimbursement rates. This halt in funding in turn exacerbates the exact problem Medicare sought to solve in the first place: improving the availability of medical care....."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_(United_States)

In addition:
The number of federally funded residency training positions was capped by Congress in 1997 by the Balanced Budget Act. The 26,000 residency positions available for first year trainees will not be enough to provide training for the students graduating from medical school as early as 2016. In addition, Medicare support of graduate medical education (GME) includes paying its share of the costs of training, as well as supporting the higher costs of critical care services, such as emergency rooms and burn units, on which communities rely. Without adequate support, the ability of teaching hospitals to provide essential patient care is threatened.

[Vernster]

I have a problem with why this problem exists ....... is it lack of doctor in this country? Is the AMA so strong as to only allowing a certain amount of doctor in this country at any one time as one doctor per 5000 people ...... why cant we produce more doctors .... is their not enough qualified people .....I doubt that ... then what is the problem? ?..we dont have a problem with making laywers.....sorry for getting off subject, but cant understand why one would have to wait such a long time to see a doctor...maybe making more doctors would solve any problem as the result would result in doctors working less hours and charging more money..

One of the reasons there are fewer physicians now is because of the reduction in reimbursement from insurance companies; particularly Medicaid and Medicare. Private insurance companies pay somewhat more but frequently also reduce their payments. This is a particular problem for primary care physicians who are paid much less than specialists. Most medical docs are over $200,000 in debt when they finish their education and have no money left to open a private practice like was done in the past. The result is multi medical practices owned and run by large corporations. Very few doctors today have the luxury of owning their own practice, hiring their office staff and charging their patients what they wish.

[Bogie Shooter]

Let's face it...the cement jungle's problems continue to grow. Picture another 20,000 by 2018 (today's paper). How do you think those wait times, appointment scheduling, reservations and traffic will fair - given it is already a hot mess.

This is a proud statement of your village community............................

[Bogie Shooter]

I agree with OP. Moved here 2 months ago. Took 2 months for an apt just to sign up with The Villages Health Care and now it will take another 3 months just for the initial "get to know" doctor visit with whose credentials I am not impressed - wow!
So on Friday I tore my achilles heel and went to The Villages ER. I sat there for 3 hours and saw that it was a lost cause and would never get anyone to help me. Went to the Exceptional Urgent Care on Rt 466 and after a 2 hour wait was told it is posibly a tear or rupture, was sent for MRI at the Morse building on Friday (with results not available over the weekend) and was not even told what I should do with the pain and ankle until the offices are open on Monday. I had to look up course of action on line from the Mayo Clinic. Needless to say I am disappointed with the health care here, know it will get worse every where under Obamacare. I will try Leesburg or Ocala hospitals and doctors in the future and hope my health holds up.
How do you know this?
BTW I have been to Urgent Care in the past and have been give a written statement of what to do with the injury. In one case I asked what to do and was told. We do have to take a little responsibility.

[Bogie Shooter]

So what is acceptable time frame to wait in an ER? For those who use it as an Urgent Care facility (no matter their cause--insurance, no insurance). I believe the national average to be 8-10 hours?-Not sure on my numbers. Pile all the "snowbirds" into a community hospital for non-emergencies--you get a CLINIC. Really sick people waiting hours-due to others making a choice to come to an ER for non-emergencies. I wish all insurance companies would say--go to urgent care, if you go to an ER and deemed not emergency, you should have to pay out of pocket. IMO

I know for a fact--Leesburg has 11 hour waits as well. All ER wait times are hit and miss.

The less peak hours in most ERs are 3am-6am---just a scenario. You can always call ahead and check what the wait times are approximately.

I hope that in the future (maybe 10 years) but in the future--we will get approved for a larger hospital near Brownwood. TVRH does not have pediatrics-doesn't mean they can't treat pediatrics. They have to transfer the sickest children out to Leesburg or Ocala. They don't have neurosurgeon most of the time. They don't offer critical heart cases-(bypass surgery). TVRH is not a trauma center. If we could build what Leesburg has at Brownwood...offering a two door emergency room. One will be CLINIC patients other EMERGENCY patients (those who anticipate admission).

:ohdear: Also- please remember do not use up resources like EMS to provide you transportation unless you are having an emergency. Sad- that some people still think that is going to help? Or would even consider this... Most ERs have Triage in the back and in the front. In other words--calling EMS to transport you because you think you will see a doctor sooner--is a BIG MISTAKE and frowned upon wasting resources that could actually save a life. Taking up the closest ambulance to give you a "ride" for a faster triage infuriates medical care providers. It should also infuriate the other citizens in our community. Waste of a great resource for true emergencies. While one ambulance is taking your 4 day headache to the ER--someone in respiratory arrest now has an ambulance that takes 10 minutes longer because the closest one is out on a "Taxi Ride" :cus:

If you come to the ER and leave--regardless of the wait time--It was not an emergency. There were other alternatives that you choose not to take, but came to the ER. :bigbow:

A lot of good advice given here...........some should read all of it a second time!

[jbdlfan]

According to Scripps.....
Time for the ER

“Emergency departments are an essential part of our health care system,” says Shawn Evans, MD, an emergency medicine physician at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. “They are there to provide medical care at any time.”

The emergency department was designed to provide fast, life-or-limb-saving care. Many people, however, use the ER as a place to receive urgent care without realizing it. If you’re ever in doubt, it’s better to be safe and go to the closest ER. These are just a few of the conditions that are medical emergencies:

Persistent chest pain, especially if it radiates to your arm or jaw or is accompanied by sweating, vomiting or shortness of breath
Persistent shortness of breath or wheezing
Severe pain, particularly in the abdomen or starting halfway down the back
Loss of balance or fainting
Difficulty speaking, altered mental status or confusion
Weakness or paralysis
Severe heart palpitations
Sudden, severe headache
Sudden testicular pain and swelling
Newborn baby with a fever
Intestinal bleeding
Falls with injury or while taking blood thinning medications
Loss of vision
Head and eye injuries
Broken bones or dislocated joints
Deep cuts that require stitches – especially on the face
Head or eye injuries
Severe flu or cold symptoms
High fevers or fevers with rash OriginalPoster
Bleeding that won’t stop or a large open wound
Vaginal bleeding with pregnancy
Repeated vomiting
Serious burns
Seizures without a previous diagnosis of epilepsy

You may also be sent to the ER by your doctor if you have an underlying condition, such as hypertension or diabetes, which could complicate your diagnosis and require extra care."

Pretty much sums it up regardless of "opinions."

[buggyone]

One of the reasons there are fewer physicians now is because of the reduction in reimbursement from insurance companies; particularly Medicaid and Medicare. Private insurance companies pay somewhat more but frequently also reduce their payments. This is a particular problem for primary care physicians who are paid much less than specialists. Most medical docs are over $200,000 in debt when they finish their education and have no money left to open a private practice like was done in the past. The result is multi medical practices owned and run by large corporations. Very few doctors today have the luxury of owning their own practice, hiring their office staff and charging their patients what they wish.

Yes, it is terrible to see all those primary care physicians lined up at the Goodwill store, the food pantries, and the soup kitchens. :ohdear:

[buggyone]

According to Scripps.....
Time for the ER

“Emergency departments are an essential part of our health care system,” says Shawn Evans, MD, an emergency medicine physician at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. “They are there to provide medical care at any time.”

The emergency department was designed to provide fast, life-or-limb-saving care. Many people, however, use the ER as a place to receive urgent care without realizing it. If you’re ever in doubt, it’s better to be safe and go to the closest ER. These are just a few of the conditions that are medical emergencies:

Persistent chest pain, especially if it radiates to your arm or jaw or is accompanied by sweating, vomiting or shortness of breath
Persistent shortness of breath or wheezing
Severe pain, particularly in the abdomen or starting halfway down the back
Loss of balance or fainting
Difficulty speaking, altered mental status or confusion
Weakness or paralysis
Severe heart palpitations
Sudden, severe headache
Sudden testicular pain and swelling
Newborn baby with a fever
Intestinal bleeding
Falls with injury or while taking blood thinning medications
Loss of vision
Head and eye injuries
Broken bones or dislocated joints
Deep cuts that require stitches – especially on the face
Head or eye injuries
Severe flu or cold symptoms
High fevers or fevers with rash OriginalPoster
Bleeding that won’t stop or a large open wound
Vaginal bleeding with pregnancy
Repeated vomiting
Serious burns
Seizures without a previous diagnosis of epilepsy

You may also be sent to the ER by your doctor if you have an underlying condition, such as hypertension or diabetes, which could complicate your diagnosis and require extra care."

Pretty much sums it up regardless of "opinions."

Your post 78 was kind of eroded by this posting of yours. Glad you looked up what constitutes an emergency. Keep it up.

[CFrance]

This is a proud statement of your village community............................
Snort!!!!!!:laugh:

[CFrance]

According to Scripps.....
Time for the ER

“Emergency departments are an essential part of our health care system,” says Shawn Evans, MD, an emergency medicine physician at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. “They are there to provide medical care at any time.”

The emergency department was designed to provide fast, life-or-limb-saving care. Many people, however, use the ER as a place to receive urgent care without realizing it. If you’re ever in doubt, it’s better to be safe and go to the closest ER. These are just a few of the conditions that are medical emergencies:

Persistent chest pain, especially if it radiates to your arm or jaw or is accompanied by sweating, vomiting or shortness of breath
Persistent shortness of breath or wheezing
Severe pain, particularly in the abdomen or starting halfway down the back
Loss of balance or fainting
Difficulty speaking, altered mental status or confusion
Weakness or paralysis
Severe heart palpitations
Sudden, severe headache
Sudden testicular pain and swelling
Newborn baby with a fever
Intestinal bleeding
Falls with injury or while taking blood thinning medications
Loss of vision
Head and eye injuries
Broken bones or dislocated joints
Deep cuts that require stitches – especially on the face
Head or eye injuries
Severe flu or cold symptoms
High fevers or fevers with rash [CO LOR="Yellow"]OriginalPoster[/COLOR]
Bleeding that won’t stop or a large open wound
Vaginal bleeding with pregnancy
Repeated vomiting
Serious burns
Seizures without a previous diagnosis of epilepsy

You may also be sent to the ER by your doctor if you have an underlying condition, such as hypertension or diabetes, which could complicate your diagnosis and require extra care."

Pretty much sums it up regardless of "opinions."
Perhaps one of the nurses on TOTV can verify this. The baby had a 101 fever. When our kids were toddlers, I thought a fever of 103, 104 was indicative of ER intervention, but 101 ws to be treated at home.

I also thought the severe flu symptoms requiring ER had to do with dehydration. I could be wrong.

[TraceyMooreRN]

My specialty is certainly not pediatric or labor and delivery ....but as an RN any fever that can't be treated or stabilized at home with rotation of Children's Motrin and Children's Tylenol is certainly a need for a MD visit. Any fever of 103 is alarming. Children crash quick--especially asthmatic children. Nobody should ever smoke around children who have asthma. Not even in the car--or hold children in their arms if they are a smoker. I hate seeing children come in sick with parents who smell like a cigarette factory and they say "I only smoke outside". BIG DEAL if you are carrying your child on your shoulder.

There are many factors in triage-regardless if it is a fever or not. Most suffering children (emergent) are what we call lethargic or sickly. Sleepy-not crying as much, not as many wet diapers in a day, dry lips, flushed face/ears....Temp of 101 can certainly be pneumonia or teething. You have to look at the child and put the story together--if something isn't adding up--it is possible critical and that child would not wait 11 hours in any ER.

Dehydration sets in quick with elder population as well. Vomiting 12 times in 2 weeks is not dehydration. Vomiting 12 times in one day is alarming.

[ilovetv]

Yes, it is terrible to see all those primary care physicians lined up at the Goodwill store, the food pantries, and the soup kitchens. :ohdear:

You purposely miss the point in order to ridicule.

The insurance, Medicare and Medicaid paperwork, documenting to CYA in case of malpractice lawsuits, and now electronic medical records are making the drs. spend their time on everything but patient care. This is part of the problem at TVRH and every E.R.:

"Robert G. Hill Jr, MD, from St. Luke's University Health Network, Allentown, Pennsylvania and colleagues analyzed time use in their emergency department and found that physicians spent 43% of their time, on average, performing data entry, or roughly twice as much as that spent on direct patient care. Their study was published online September 23 in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine.

During a busy 10-hour shift, their calculations suggested that a physician might perform a finger-numbing 4000 mouse clicks entering data.

"Emergency department physicians spend significantly more time entering data into electronic medical records than on any other activity, including direct patient care," the investigators note. "Factors such as operating system speed, server/mainframe responsiveness, typing skills, user-friendliness of system, interruptions, extent of training, opportunity to delegate tasks, and various environmental attributes can influence data entry time. Efficient use of the EMR system will increase physician productivity and hospital revenue," they maintain.

Although EMRs are now the federally mandated standard for medical records, they are still controversial, with hefty up-front costs and uncertain benefits, according to the investigators......"

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/811841

[dillywho]

So what is acceptable time frame to wait in an ER? For those who use it as an Urgent Care facility (no matter their cause--insurance, no insurance). I believe the national average to be 8-10 hours?-Not sure on my numbers. Pile all the "snowbirds" into a community hospital for non-emergencies--you get a CLINIC. Really sick people waiting hours-due to others making a choice to come to an ER for non-emergencies. I wish all insurance companies would say--go to urgent care, if you go to an ER and deemed not emergency, you should have to pay out of pocket. IMO

I know for a fact--Leesburg has 11 hour waits as well. All ER wait times are hit and miss.

The less peak hours in most ERs are 3am-6am---just a scenario. You can always call ahead and check what the wait times are approximately.

I hope that in the future (maybe 10 years) but in the future--we will get approved for a larger hospital near Brownwood. TVRH does not have pediatrics-doesn't mean they can't treat pediatrics. They have to transfer the sickest children out to Leesburg or Ocala. They don't have neurosurgeon most of the time. They don't offer critical heart cases-(bypass surgery). TVRH is not a trauma center. If we could build what Leesburg has at Brownwood...offering a two door emergency room. One will be CLINIC patients other EMERGENCY patients (those who anticipate admission).

:ohdear: Also- please remember do not use up resources like EMS to provide you transportation unless you are having an emergency. Sad- that some people still think that is going to help? Or would even consider this... Most ERs have Triage in the back and in the front. In other words--calling EMS to transport you because you think you will see a doctor sooner--is a BIG MISTAKE and frowned upon wasting resources that could actually save a life. Taking up the closest ambulance to give you a "ride" for a faster triage infuriates medical care providers. It should also infuriate the other citizens in our community. Waste of a great resource for true emergencies. While one ambulance is taking your 4 day headache to the ER--someone in respiratory arrest now has an ambulance that takes 10 minutes longer because the closest one is out on a "Taxi Ride" :cus:

If you come to the ER and leave--regardless of the wait time--It was not an emergency. There were other alternatives that you choose not to take, but came to the ER. :bigbow:

My husband was still hospitalized last year over the Easter weekend. Guess what? The ER was virtually deserted every time I passed by. Come Monday...overflowing again. "Emergencies" take holidays, too?

Your thought of having non-emergency being taken care of through the urgent cares by insurance is right on. It would definitely cost less all around and free up ER's for the emergencies. (Also, the lady at the hospital when I called about this discussion, said that those on Medicaid and those with no insurance at all have to pay at the urgent care so they come to the ER.) It will also take urgent care facilities to take up longer hours. Maybe it should be a requirement that they be manned from 6 in the morning to midnight, at least in order to be licensed.

Something that many don't realize, either, is that when a nurse's shift is say 6-12, that does not mean that nurse gets to walk out the door at 12:00 or come scootin' in at 6:00 to get started. (I'm sure you can attest to that, Tracy.) So before anyone starts complaining to or about nurses not doing enough, think about that. They have to give a report to the oncoming nurse about each patient that she/he has been responsible for during the shift, then finish up all the paperwork before leaving. And, if they are attending to one of those patients at 12:00, they don't just quit right in the middle of what they are doing. They finish and then do all the other stuff they have to do just to get to leave. That goes for all areas of the hospital.

I, for one, am eternally grateful for all the devoted men and women who serve us in this or any other medical community. Thank you!

[jbdlfan]

Your post 78 was kind of eroded by this posting of yours. Glad you looked up what constitutes an emergency. Keep it up.

Pretty much confirms prior post, that was the reason for the confirmation. Thank you for the blessing.

[Parker]

Yes, it is terrible to see all those primary care physicians lined up at the Goodwill store, the food pantries, and the soup kitchens. :ohdear:


I am curious at the hostility of this post toward doctors. Some doctors are very well paid. Some aren't. Either way, having observed the dedication and very hard work of many of them, I say 'Good for them'. They, and others who also work hard in any field, should profit from it.

Notice I don't necessarily say they should get rich, but as long as they do it honestly and earnestly, more power to them. I, for one, don't want to see my doctor lined up at Goodwill.

[buggyone]

I am curious at the hostility of this post toward doctors. Some doctors are very well paid. Some aren't. Either way, having observed the dedication and very hard work of many of them, I say 'Good for them'. They, and others who also work hard in any field, should profit from it.

Notice I don't necessarily say they should get rich, but as long as they do it honestly and earnestly, more power to them. I, for one, don't want to see my doctor lined up at Goodwill.

I guess the sarcasm was not seen. What I meant was even though doctors have a lot of student debt, they recoup it through their salaries and tax write offs within a few years. Doctors earn good salaries and their is now a record high enrollment of medical students.

[Big47moe]

Seems to me if TV hospital wanted to do satellite locations of their own this could eliminate some of the overcrowding. Staffing late hours may be a problem but a regional center may be a solution for less serious conditions.

[salferg]

My experience with Leesburg hospital is as bad, if not worse, than TV!

[CFrance]

My experience with Leesburg hospital is as bad, if not worse, than TV!
How so? Can you give a report on your experience?

[billethkid]

My experience with Leesburg hospital is as bad, if not worse, than TV!

Emergency room?
Outpatient?
In Patient?
Doctor(s)?
Nurse(s)?
As asked above....how so?

[Vernster]

You purposely miss the point in order to ridicule.

The insurance, Medicare and Medicaid paperwork, documenting to CYA in case of malpractice lawsuits, and now electronic medical records are making the drs. spend their time on everything but patient care. This is part of the problem at TVRH and every E.R.:

"Robert G. Hill Jr, MD, from St. Luke's University Health Network, Allentown, Pennsylvania and colleagues analyzed time use in their emergency department and found that physicians spent 43% of their time, on average, performing data entry, or roughly twice as much as that spent on direct patient care. Their study was published online September 23 in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine.


During a busy 10-hour shift, their calculations suggested that a physician might perform a finger-numbing 4000 mouse clicks entering data.

"Emergency department physicians spend significantly more time entering data into electronic medical records than on any other activity, including direct patient care," the investigators note. "Factors such as operating system speed, server/mainframe responsiveness, typing skills, user-friendliness of system, interruptions, extent of training, opportunity to delegate tasks, and various environmental attributes can influence data entry time. Efficient use of the EMR system will increase physician productivity and hospital revenue," they maintain.

Although EMRs are now the federally mandated standard for medical records, they are still controversial, with hefty up-front costs and uncertain benefits, according to the investigators......"

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/811841

THANK YOU Ilovetv
I don't like to be ridiculed. Your entry is entirely correct and well stated. Thank you.

[buggyone]

THANK YOU Ilovetv
I don't like to be ridiculed. Your entry is entirely correct and well stated. Thank you.

Vernsters post had to do with doctors having a great deal of school debt when beginning a practice and therefore most had to join a large firm. He also said that doctors could no longer set up their own office and charge patients whatever they wanted.

[kja966]

As an urgent care physician in Wisconsin I am not surprised by the overcrowding in the ER. Building new facilities would make sense except medicare is being slashed, hospitals are moving to extreme cost savings mode, and frequently the ER is used inappropriately for common problems. Everyone coming in is triaged and the serious illness goes first and less serious are left for later. Having an urgent care center open later may make some sense if financially viable but that raises a whole new set of problems. People with serious illnesses start showing up at urgent care (usually to save ER costs) and end up being referred on to the ER, sometimes in an ambulance, because their problem cannot be handled at that level. That just leaves patients frustrated. I personally would rather pay directly for a convenient clinic to be seen rather than play the insurance game to save $50 and wait hours. Most stand alone urgent cares bill clinic office rates while anything attached to or part of a hospital is at ER rates. That can mean $200 vs $2000 for something like bronchitis. Florida is also known as a malpractice nightmare state.

[ilovetv]

New York Times:

Emergency Rooms Are No Place For The Elderly

"......The number of older people seeking health care is expected to increase significantly over the next 40 years, doubling in the case of those older than 65, potentially tripling among those over 85.

In a health care system already critically short of primary care providers and geriatrics specialists, many of these older patients will likely end up in emergency rooms.

But given longstanding trends in American medicine, it’s hard to imagine a health care setting more ill suited for the elderly than today’s emergency rooms.

Over the last five decades, quality emergency care has become synonymous with speed. Survival rates for patients in the throes of a stroke, heart attack or traumatic injury depend on the number of minutes needed to triage, diagnose and treat. Even the physical environment where emergency care takes place has become a paragon of medical efficiency — large echoing spaces that can be divided at a moment’s notice with panels of curtains, slick linoleum floors that can be mopped up in minutes and bright fluorescent lights.

More recently, as overcrowding has become a significant problem, the drive for efficiency has become more pronounced, with doctors and nurses having to work as quickly as possible simply to see all the patients.

But when it comes to elderly patients, it is nearly impossible to work quickly. Many are plagued by multiple chronic diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, take numerous prescription drugs that can cross-react in potentially dangerous ways and suffer from ills like dementia that can make the answer to even the simplest of questions – What brought you to the emergency room today? – difficult to understand......

See Full Story:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/emergency-rooms-are-no-place-for-the-elderly/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&ref=health&_r=1

[Carl in Tampa]

I'll stand by my original statement-an eleven hour wait for a sick child is totally unacceptable

Of course it is. You were a 90 minute drive from Tampa, which has many 24 hour urgent care facilities as well as three major Hospital Systems (Tampa General, St. Joseph's and Florida Hospital) which each has multiple locations. Your chances of being seen sooner might have been improved in Tampa. Some phone calls may have paved the way.

However, it has been my experience that all three hospital ERs become swamped at night, worse on weekends, by indigent patients.

My most recent experience at TVRH, arriving at 6PM with a friend awaiting admission, was sitting in the ER waiting room for three hours to see the Triage Nurse and not getting back to a treatment room until around 2AM, and then the friend was admitted the next morning when a current patient checked out. And this was with a referral from a doctor at Urgent Care for admission.

The ER problem at TVRH is bad, but it is characteristic of similar problems elsewhere and does not qualify as "a black eye" on TV.

[sr1436]

Go straight to Leesburg or Ocala. TV hospital sucks.

[buckscounty]

The villages emergency is the worst and i hear the hospital isn't any better.

[GrandmaP]

Can't address the pediatric issue but my husband was sent to ADMITTING with a diagnosis of acute appendicitis ( he had blood tests and CT scan results in hand and a call from the physician's office was made) He was put in the ER waiting room and after a 4 hour wait, his appredix ruptured.

[CFrance]

Can't address the pediatric issue but my husband was sent to ADMITTING with a diagnosis of acute appendicitis ( he had blood tests and CT scan results in hand and a call from the physician's office was made) He was put in the ER waiting room and after a 4 hour wait, his appredix ruptured.
That is horrendous. I hope he is okay.

[ilovetv]

Can't address the pediatric issue but my husband was sent to ADMITTING with a diagnosis of acute appendicitis ( he had blood tests and CT scan results in hand and a call from the physician's office was made) He was put in the ER waiting room and after a 4 hour wait, his appredix ruptured.

And now. What caring and competent primary physician wants to send another of their patients to that ER, knowing another patient can likely experience that or WORSE??

Seems like everyone ought to be looking at whether their doctor can refer them to another hospital and ER, or if they can ONLY refer to this one!!

And who's going to clean house on this hospital's administration that forms/maintains a set-up like this, that exposes patients to unnecessary dangers, and exposes the hospital and ER doctors and nurses to huge malpractice possibilities?

Administration isn't going to fire themselves. I think the Morse Family needs to get involved and make heads roll. They would never keep sloppiness like this in management of their TV enterprises that get things DONE, and done right!