The Villages Hospital

[rvriley2000]

Last week i came down with kidney stones, let me say they are very very painful. The attack came on fast. With the pain i went to the Villages Hospital. I was told there is a five hour wait in the emergancy room yes 5 hours.

I drove to Leesburg hospital and it was almost an hour. I can"t believe five hour wait. I was in buisness for years and this sounds like mismanagement. With the amount of people and the age in the villages its just not right. Befor i decided to tell this i called to se how much of a wait the other night. I didn"t get the answer i was hoping for. It was the same about five hours. Been talking with nieghbors and seems people know this is more common than not.

I enjoy the Villages and how nice it is But know i am scared to get hurt here with this situation. Would like to hear from others.

[graciegirl]

Last year when we took our grandson with an Asthma attack they took him in immediately and treated him...before our daughter completed her insurance verification.

Our next door neighbors house guest had a gall bladder attack and he was seen right away, admitted and had surgery the next day.

They said that to you? That there was a five hour wait? Like at a restaurant?

Oh MY!!

[nitakk]

A couple of years ago, my doctor ordered a lumbar myleogram which involves a lumbar puncture with a needle to get to the spinal fluid. After the procedure, you are supposed to lay flat for 4 hours to make sure the spinal leak plugs up. If you don't, you can get the world's worst headache that only eases when you lay down. Within one minute of elevating your head, the headache is so severe you get nauseous. Well, the Villages Hospital had me up and out of there 45 minutes after the procedure, and actually called me 1/2 hour after I got home to come back in as some CT pictures needed to be redone. So up I got and went down there where I reported to everyone I had a headache and could I lay down. No, there were no beds available and they made me wait 45 minutes for the CT to be available. Three days of the most excrutiating pain I have ever had later, they had to do a blood patch which is injecting your own blood to coagulate and patch the spinal fluid leak. I couldn't sue because there was no permanent damage so I wrote a complaint letter to every organization imaginable. While I received the most heartfelt of apologies from Lake Medical Imaging, no one at the hospital ever called to simply say "I'm sorry". Because of this, we will never use that hospital again and only go to Munroe Regional in Ocala.

[BogeyBoy]

That there was a five hour wait? Like at a restaurant?

Oh MY!!

Graciegirl, this was my 1st reaction, you beat me to it!

[ladylake1]

Went to TVH with severe tachycardia. Had to wait one hour until finished with insurance and finally got seen. Totally unacceptable.

[graciegirl]

..

[Talk Host]

When my wife broke her arm, we arived at TVRH ER at 7:30 p.m. She was seen at 2:30 a.m. We went home at 4 a.m.

The hospital apologized. Over and out.

[starflyte1]

We have just experienced two visits to the ER in March and spent approx 16 hours total in the ER. It is my opinion that the ER is not that busy. It is used as a holding area for people that need to be admitted into the hospital. They try to only take someone from the waiting room into ER when there is a vacant bed, which only happens when someone checks out of the hospital. There is even a TV set in every ER room and meals are brought in for patients.

The first time we were taken back within 30 minutes, but my husband needed attention. The ER halls were lined with beds and all were full. The place was packed.

The second time, we first went to an Urgent Care Center, to avoid the ER. They found my husband to be in CHF (congestive heart failure) and possible pneumonia, and sent him directly to the ER where we waited FOUR hours. I was quite concerned, but the triage nurse did not consider it urgent. IOW, no room at the Inn. When we did get into the ER, he had a bed in the hall for a short time. The halls had several occupied beds, but it was not as packed as the first visit.

I do think the care was good, once you get into the ER, and they are not going to let you die while you are waiting, but there is just no room to take you in ER.

For broken bones and cuts, go to an Urgent Care Center. For life and death problems, go to the ER, by AMBULANCE. You get in the back door.

My husband is doing well, after a total of eight days in the hospital. We are going to Mayo next week to see his cardiologist.

This is the height of the season, and our 1st trip was on a Saturday afternoon and the next, on an early Friday afternoon.

[Talk Host]

Comparing a "bad night" in a restaurant to a "bad night" at the hospital is absurde.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Smith, the heart surgeon was having a bad night, your husband is dead. I'm sure you understand, things happen. Give us another chance on another day, we really do better. Everybody has a bad day once in a while." :shocked:

[graciegirl]

Comparing a "bad night" in a restaurant to a "bad night" at the hospital is absurde.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Smith, the heart surgeon was having a bad night, your husband is dead. I'm sure you understand, things happen. Give us another chance on another day, we really do better. Everybody has a bad day once in a while." :shocked:

I couldn't figure out what you meant...Bad night at a restaurant..reread everything and then ....decided you were talking about my post.

I did say in a post on this thead.

"That is what they said? A five hour wait? Like in a restaurant? "

I meant it to sound absurd. It seems so incredible.

I was trying to envision someone saying that at a hospital. "There will be a five hour wait."

I have waited in many an emergency room, not here but in my life. I have waited for hours. I am guessing that the triage nurse did not rate my injury or my family members emergency as serious as others. But no one ever said it would be a five hour wait, or a ten hour wait.

I don't know how a staff member could gage just how long a wait it would be.

Colin was taken in right away because breathing emergencies are seen first.

As well as a bleeding emergency or a person in shock.

I never thought I was being picked on, or that the hospital was understaffed. I just thought that someone else was dying and we weren't.

Nurses were busy and clerical personnel when quizzed would say something like "We are really busy tonight". That was in those other hospitals in other emergency rooms.

[JohnM]

Is the message coming through all these posts that, given the size and demographics of the TV population, we need a larger hospital or a second hospital? When we initially looked at TV a couple of years ago, we toured TVRH and, if memory serves, occupancy was far below 100% implying that beds were available immediately ... apparently that has changed as the population has grown ...

[swrinfla]

The tone here worries me. I see a return to conditions which the folks at the POA spent so many newspaper columns condemning a while back!

My last visit to an ER in St. Louis ended up taking over 8 hours from arrival to hospital admittance. The largest and most widely-respected hospital in a city with many, many facilities. I was absolutely appalled and at my wit's end; but, in the end, my wife received superb care.

As I personally believe she would have had here, had she even been here to accompany me to TV!

SWR
:beer3:

[ilovetv]

I remember clearly, reading in all the outcry about the developer and bringing Moffitt Cancer Center here, that many here think it is outrageous and a waste of money and "duplication of services/facilities" to build the 2nd TVRH hospital in the southern end of TV, south of 466A.

Now we see reality coming to the surface in living color. But I suppose the experts here still maintain they know more than TVRH and TV management.

Want small wait times at existing ER, and don't want a 2nd hospital to be built because you're "right" about knowing more about how to run the hospital system.

Can't have it both ways.

[same]

Why not just go to one of the "urgent care" facilities in The Villages, and if they can't take care of the problem, they will call 911 and you will be taken to the hospital and probably be seen right away.

[nkrifats]

Here in RI and most other area's I have been associated with over last few years. If you go to an ER, unless you are in serious shape. You can expect a wait. That is just a fact of life today. If it is serious enough you will be seen in a timely manner.

Just my thoughts

[Hancle704]

Believe that if you are uncomfortable or in pain, you likely will not get seen as soon as someone in a life threatening situation. That being said,a 10-12 hour wait on a gurney in the ER hallway while they free up a bed seems a bit much.

If you go to Urgent Care Facility for a non life threatening situation and subsequently get sent to hospital, there is still no guarantee that you will have a short wait before being admitted.

I think it is a virtual certainty that if you call 911 and have shortness of breath or sign of stroke or heart attack you will be seen very soon after arriving at hospital. In these situations I don't think it is wise to take yourself to Urgent Care or drive to hospital. Call 911. They can start treating you before you arrive at ER

[whartonjelly]

In the three emergency rooms I have worked in the past, no employee would ever estimate how long a wait the patient would have. It depends on so many factors. The RED flags must stand out in understanding the severity. i believe it is all in how you describe your symptoms, severity, length of time you have been hurting. I want to give you an true example.

Two brothers were high on a scaffolding when they came in contact with electric wires. Their boss tried to knock them away to save their lives. We worked on the brothers desparately trying to save their lives. There was all this commmotion going on and most of the Er was filled . One demanded that he be seen immediately due to a fish hook caught in his face. The wives of the brothers were screaming and it was chaos. The Brothers died. They were young. When all was settled down and the ER was back to normal, a man walked up and asked to be seen. It was the brothers boss. His feet were burned because his shoes blew off trying to save the brothers! He was in severe pain but had been waiting patiently because he was not dying. He got it.

No one knows what is going on, when you are on the outside ,waiting to get inside the ER.

[Billyg]

I don't think that the Urgent Care places are open all evening.
We are then stuck with the ER no?

[SALYBOW]

Monday and Tuesday I spent the whole day in orientation for my job as Chaplain at TVRH. I found out during that time what the cause of the wait time is there.

1. Some people use the ED as their own personal doctor, coming in with things that should be taken to an urgent care. This clogs things up.

2. And most importantly, for the past 4 months or so, the hospital has been over capacity. When the ICU beds fill up, potential ICU patients have to wait in the ED because they need such a high level of care. This takes up an ED room bed.

It is hard to have a hospital that can accomodate the low and the high seasons in a cost effective manner.
This hospital is a "not for profit" institution. I can assure you that it is not mismanagement. The current CEO and Board of Directors work very hard to trim any little bit of waste or unproductivity out of our system.

As you have read both here and in The Sun, CFHA petitioned for a new hospital down in the Brownswood area. Due to the number of days at overcapacity, the request was approved right away and not one has challenged it. That leaves us scrambling to get all our ducks in a row about one year before one would have expected the approval.

When the new hospital opens it will add 90 more beds and will have the space to expand 4 or 5 times that big.

As are many of the churches in the area, TVRH is suffering growing pangs as The Villages grows out so quickly.

By the way, I took hubby there for dehydration a week after we arrived. We were seen within 1/2 hour. The length of time we were there was due to the number of bags of fluid he needed. Our care was very good.

This is a situation that is vexing to all concerned. :(

[graciegirl]

In the three emergency rooms I have worked in the past, no employee would ever estimate how long a wait the patient would have. It depends on so many factors. The RED flags must stand out in understanding the severity. i believe it is all in how you describe your symptoms, severity, length of time you have been hurting. I want to give you an true example.

Two brothers were high on a scaffolding when they came in contact with electric wires. Their boss tried to knock them away to save their lives. We worked on the brothers desparately trying to save their lives. There was all this commmotion going on and most of the Er was filled . One demanded that he be seen immediately due to a fish hook caught in his face. The wives of the brothers were screaming and it was chaos. The Brothers died. They were young. When all was settled down and the ER was back to normal, a man walked up and asked to be seen. It was the brothers boss. His feet were burned because his shoes blew off trying to save the brothers! He was in severe pain but had been waiting patiently because he was not dying. He got it.

No one knows what is going on, when you are on the outside ,waiting to get inside the ER.

You are a good nurse.

[Billyg]

Are there any urgent care facilities open all night? Or at least late?

[jgbama]

We have some friends who moved to TV in 2005. The wife worked for a doctor's office here in Montgomery. Anyway, she said part of the problem is TVRH is not just for TV residents, but must take anyone in the surrounding area. Like here at the ER, as another post stated, many people use it as "their doctor" and go there with a bad cold or a slight fever.

Our friends stated they go to the hospital in Leesburg when they have to use a hospital.

It is a baffling situation for sure, and is certainly frustrating when you need care immediately.

[whartonjelly]

I want to work there. I toured it and was impressed. We put our house up this Monday!!!!
I am optimistic that it will sell soon. Good location, within a mile of the Hospital, a park is visible from our all our back windows , the pond is behind us and down a hill. It is beautiful here and we bought this place because of the beautiful view and convenience to meeting all of our needs! Swimming, tennis, football, soccer, picnics, trails, and bicycling.

[SALYBOW]

Good luck with the sale of the house. Looking forward to seeing you around the hospital.

[barb1191]

Many times I've waited and waited in ER, 8 hrs the first time when I first moved here. Next time 6 hr wait. I swore never again. I am a cancer patient and moved from Boston where the hospitals are some of the best. My expectations here in FL were not expected to be as good, but never expected TVRH to be so horrible.

One more time my oncologist sent me to TVRH because my blood count was extremely low and I was so weak I could hardly move. I came in the ER in a wheelchair and waited 1/2 hr and then questioned how long this wait is expected to be since I was THE ONLY patient waiting in ER!!!! She told me not long now.

Another half hour went by and by this time I could hardly hold my head up so weak and still no other patients in the ER waiting room. I went to the desk and told her I has leaving and to cancel these reservations. THEN I get told, "Oh don't go; there are six beds empty and we're just waiting for them to be sanitized!!!! With that I swore I would NEVER go there again!!!

Leesburg is so much better than TVRH. When I first moved to the TV, TVRH turned me away after waiting EIGHT HOURS in ER to be seen and then tell me that they are not facilitated to handle a patient with a double port imbedded for infusions and that I would have to go to Leesburg Hosp.

These are just two incidents that I have experienced and there are a number of other incidents that I could go on and on, but I think that you get my drift.

My question is.....with Moffitt here and no staff from Moffitt to handle the influx, if TVRH can't handle the ER now, how could they ever handle the Moffitt patients? This seems to be a disaster waiting to happen. Thank goodness I've found my niche with Ocala Oncology who are wonderful at their satellite office on Rte 441 across from Walmart in Oak Park.

[StarbuckSammy]

Many of these stories are quite troublesome. It seems that there is a bad situation at the ER and needs immediate management attention.

[JenAjd]

Why not just go to one of the "urgent care" facilities in The Villages, and if they can't take care of the problem, they will call 911 and you will be taken to the hospital and probably be seen right away.

ALOT of times....and I'm not reading all the posts here...people go to the ER when in fact they should have gone to Urgent Care first. Up north, where I'm from, this is what is encouraged. "IF" you need to be admitted then they'll send you over to the ER/hospital and then the "big guns" get involved. So many go for what they deem "important" and then have to wait. For instance===a few years ago my spouse had an incident where he needed medical attention. We were in a strange town and Urgent Care is where we first went. This was what we needed to do. They said they couldn't take care of us and we'd need to get to the hospital ER. When we got there..."spouse's" case wasn't "LIFE Threatening" so while they ministered to us, we had a loooonnnggg wait before we really had the care we were there for. BUT there were car accidents and other more serious things happening. The triage was being done in order to the seriousness of the cases. We, as lay-people, don't see that thus our frustration. I've heard VERY good things about TVH and I'm keeping a very open mind to that report. I will say in our case (up north) after it being said and done...our situation was cared for and eventually we were sent on our way.

[graciegirl]

And another thing that sometimes happens and I am not saying anyone on this forum is guilty of it.

If a person had first seen their family doctor, and not allowed their foot to abcess, their fever to go on, their painful foot to continue for several hours after a fall, their cough to worsen...

Than they would have not had to go to emergency...

That being said....the town is growing fast with two to four hundred homes a month being sold...so perhaps that second hospital is needed.

I wonder how the recently announced association with the University of Southern Florida will help....?

[Auntmimi]

Last week i came down with kidney stones, let me say they are very very painful. The attack came on fast. With the pain i went to the Villages Hospital. I was told there is a five hour wait in the emergancy room yes 5 hours.

I drove to Leesburg hospital and it was almost an hour. I can"t believe five hour wait. I was in buisness for years and this sounds like mismanagement. With the amount of people and the age in the villages its just not right. Befor i decided to tell this i called to se how much of a wait the other night. I didn"t get the answer i was hoping for. It was the same about five hours. Been talking with nieghbors and seems people know this is more common than not.

I enjoy the Villages and how nice it is But know i am scared to get hurt here with this situation. Would like to hear from others.

The problem with ER's is the fact that they are "for emergencies" and too many people use ER's when they should be going to an Urgent Care.
One of our loved ones works in an ER in another state and she said that it infuriates docs when people come in for simple procedures that should be taken care of by their primary physicians or at an Urgent Care. Trying to filter through all the minor problems, causes long waits, at times, for true emergencies.

411 Urgent Care on 441 across from Wal Mart is open all night and they are
friendly and efficient. Please pass it on.

[Russ_Boston]

Seems strange that Leesburg and TRVH would be so dissimilar in their ED's. Same company so you would think same policies.

[kaydee]

Are there any urgent care facilities open all night? Or at least late?

Billyg...I believe the Urgent Care Facility on 441 across from Walmart is open until midnight. On second thought...I just found the newspaper article I had clipped that indicates that facility being open 24/7. their phone # is 693-2340 The location in the ad indicates Spruce Creek Plaza and like I mentioned, it's across from Walmart.

[ilovetv]

Friends who are ER drs. and nurses often talk of how elderly patients are in multi-system failure and have so many complex things to work up that they are in ER for hours and hours and hours. Also, they talk a lot about how they have to wait and wait for labs and things to come back from other departments....and sluggish computer systems that lag behind the drs.' work pace seem to be the norm. When all the information is in the computer (as is the case most places now), and the software is slow, slow, slow, they can't access the needed info fast enough, and then other depts. like lab and radiology etc. often don't get results back to them in a reasonable time. And then they have to wait for people upstairs to get people admitted and out of the ER when everything is full.

It doesn't sound easy at all to me, but people often demand service as fast as McDonalds. Traumas, heart attacks, strokes etc. cannot be viewed like serving burgers.

[elevatorman]

Sounds like they need an urgent care attached to TVRH.

[whartonjelly]

Seems strange that Leesburg and TRVH would be so dissimilar in their ED's. Same company so you would think same policies.

I wonder if the budgets are the same since Leesburg is well established and TV Hospital keeps outgrowing their staffing budgets. Also i keep looking at how many Nurses positions are open.:read:

[whartonjelly]

Sounds like they need an urgent care attached to TVRH.

They did this in my old home town, now people don't go to their primary Care Physician or even establish one. The Urgent Care is abused and now long waits there also. My brother practices there and also a family practice associated with the hospital too. He says that people just use urgent care. Now there is a way to find out about the drug seekers from a program. They can track all the scripts a person has attempted to obtain by going to ERs and the Urgent care. These are the patients tying time up faking pain. Also the new computer technology takes up valuable time verses a quick note and on to the next patient.

[scrapple]

A back up in he ED usually reflects not only the state of the hospital, but many times, of the community. Depending on what level of trama they are certified at, they may be mandated to hold so many beds available for an actual emergency, especially if other area hospitals are on divert. Another scenario is that all in-patient beds are full. It wasn't uncommon at our hospital that the full work-up was done in the ED and the patient was admitted and discharged right from the emergency room. Another factor is the number of nurses staffing the beds. There might be beds open, but if there's no one to staff them, no patient gets them. A 5 hour wait to me seems pretty average.

[getdul981]

My wife worked as a nurse for over 27 years and I have learned a lot from her about not just letting the hospital staff just push you aside. She has always gone to Dr. visits with me and I with her. There is always something you forget and the other person will remember. It is also a good practice that if you care about someone, never leave them alone in the hospital for very long. Patients are in pain and on medications and may not know exactly what is being told to them or what is going on. It is always advisable to have someone else there.

[swimdawg]

Last week i came down with kidney stones, let me say they are very very painful. The attack came on fast. With the pain i went to the Villages Hospital. I was told there is a five hour wait in the emergancy room yes 5 hours.

I drove to Leesburg hospital and it was almost an hour. I can"t believe five hour wait. I was in buisness for years and this sounds like mismanagement. With the amount of people and the age in the villages its just not right. Befor i decided to tell this i called to se how much of a wait the other night. I didn"t get the answer i was hoping for. It was the same about five hours. Been talking with nieghbors and seems people know this is more common than not.

I enjoy the Villages and how nice it is But know i am scared to get hurt here with this situation. Would like to hear from others.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Having worked in the healthcare field for over 40 years (yikes!), I'm going to offer some advice to y'all. No matter what healthcare facility you are at, you need an advocate to fight for you. When I started working, it was about the patient....and I loved every minute. When I retired, it was about the paperwork. The patient was on the back burner.......very sad. I was so glad to retire because of all the changes in the healthcare field.........and I'm sorry to say it, but it is going to go from bad to worse. YOU NEED AN ADVOCATE TO FIGHT FOR YOU!:spoken:

[Russ_Boston]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Having worked in the healthcare field for over 40 years (yikes!), I'm going to offer some advice to y'all. No matter what healthcare facility you are at, you need an advocate to fight for you. When I started working, it was about the patient....and I loved every minute. When I retired, it was about the paperwork. The patient was on the back burner.......very sad. I was so glad to retire because of all the changes in the healthcare field.........and I'm sorry to say it, but it is going to go from bad to worse. YOU NEED AN ADVOCATE TO FIGHT FOR YOU!:spoken:

Excuse my ignorance but could you explain what you mean? If I'm going to go to the ED I need an advocate with me? I think I missed your point.

I'm a RN in an urgent care facility here in MA. We take the strain off of our local hospital ED. Our providers take care of everything from the everyday cold to broken bones to foot care to dermatology to lab work etc. etc. I apologize to patients if their wait is longer than 30 minutes. Yes there is paperwork (actually all computer work now) but we do a great job. Are there frustrations? Of course, but you're dealing with ill people. In our state everyone must have some sort of insurance coverage (mandated by state law) so perhaps it is easier than FLA.

[jblum315]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Having worked in the healthcare field for over 40 years (yikes!), I'm going to offer some advice to y'all. No matter what healthcare facility you are at, you need an advocate to fight for you. When I started working, it was about the patient....and I loved every minute. When I retired, it was about the paperwork. The patient was on the back burner.......very sad. I was so glad to retire because of all the changes in the healthcare field.........and I'm sorry to say it, but it is going to go from bad to worse. YOU NEED AN ADVOCATE TO FIGHT FOR YOU!:spoken:

I don't quite know what you mean by advocate - if you mean a friend or relative to go with you, I agree, you shouldn't go by yourself. If you mean some kind of legal advocate, I think that would just slow things down.

[swimdawg]

I don't quite know what you mean by advocate - if you mean a friend or relative to go with you, I agree, you shouldn't go by yourself. If you mean some kind of legal advocate, I think that would just slow things down.

```````````````
Sorry I wasn't clear. And.........I should have added IMHO. No.........I'm not talking about a legal advocate. I'm talking a relative or friend.....someone who has your best interest at heart. ( I probably need someone to fight for me now -an advocate- as I have a Buffalo headcold & probably shouldn't have written what I did.) Anyway....yes, you need someone with you. Generally, you're not at your mental best when you're ill. Perhaps it is different in Mass....and hopefully, in Florida.....but in New York, the Health Care Professionals are so bogged down with paperwork that the patient often isn't coming first. I'm particularly talking about hospitals ,nursing homes...and even private MD's, Physical Therapists, Visiting Nurses, etc. In New York, the Health Care Professionals have to justify everything they do to the insurance companies to get reimbursed. This requires reams of paperwork whether it be computer or hand. Sorry for any confusion...........and my advice was truly IMHO. Back to the Kleenex! :)

[graciegirl]

```````````````
Sorry I wasn't clear. And.........I should have added IMHO. No.........I'm not talking about a legal advocate. I'm talking a relative or friend.....someone who has your best interest at heart. ( I probably need someone to fight for me now -an advocate- as I have a Buffalo headcold & probably shouldn't have written what I did.) Anyway....yes, you need someone with you. Generally, you're not at your mental best when you're ill. Perhaps it is different in Mass....and hopefully, in Florida.....but in New York, the Health Care Professionals are so bogged down with paperwork that the patient often isn't coming first. I'm particularly talking about hospitals ,nursing homes...and even private MD's, Physical Therapists, Visiting Nurses, etc. In New York, the Health Care Professionals have to justify everything they do to the insurance companies to get reimbursed. This requires reams of paperwork whether it be computer or hand. Sorry for any confusion...........and my advice was truly IMHO. Back to the Kleenex! :)

I understood just what you meant SwimDawg. Once after Helene had a heart surgery, she was almost mistaken for someone else. They read your wrist tags and our last name was similar to another child who had just had heart surgery too. The other child was getting tachy from low potassium so a shot was ordered. I was glad I was there.:shocked: I wouldn't have been anywhere else.

Our ex son in law was hospitalized last summer for kidney stones and was on some really heavy pain medication. I stayed with him because his parents are gone. You do need someone to watch out for you because frequently you are in pain or drugged and a couple of times his breathing was very strange due to the heavy meds. A person who cares can even answer for you about menu and little things.

Someone who knows you makes you feel safe and can help the nursing staff get ice and water and other things that do not require expert care.

Plus, when you are feeling better, they can sneak in a cheeseburger.

I certainly understood your post Swimdawg, and you made many excellent points.

[ilovetv]

I've needed an advocate many times in various hospitalizations.....

An advocate to go to the nurses' station to speak for you when you've had the call button/light on for 45 minutes and nobody has come in to see what's wrong;

An advocate to speak for you when you're drugged up on pain meds and can't talk right;

An advocate to tell certain nurses that you are a human being who has a name they should know and use, and that you are not just a lump of flesh and bone lying there;

An advocate to tell somebody in charge that you've been lying there writhing in pain and the meds have worn off and it was time for the next dose two hours ago.

An advocate to go out of the exam room and ask for a blanket for you because the exam room temperature is 50 degrees and you have been sitting on the end of the exam table wearing nothing but a wax paper hankie that you have to clutch across your chest, while you're clutching the bottom piece of wax paper between your legs and are trying to keep warm but your teeth are chattering and you can't go out into the hall naked to ask for help.

An advocate to call the doctor's office and tell him/her that the staff is doing things contrary to what the dr. has ordered.

An advocate to call the dr. and tell him that the first year intern's skills and sensitivity toward the patient are so lacking that you wouldn't let him/her treat your dog.

It's not the norm that these and other aggravations happen, but when it does, it is a miserable time in the hospital and you completely lose confidence in their ability to get you well enough to go home eventually.

[Russ_Boston]

```````````````
Sorry I wasn't clear. And.........I should have added IMHO. No.........I'm not talking about a legal advocate. I'm talking a relative or friend.....someone who has your best interest at heart.

Agreed.

As a nurse I try to be an advocate for my patients but it doesn't always work that way.

[barb1191]

The expansion of TV community has nothing to do with TVRH's problems since these problems have been around long BEFORE South of Rte 466 was built!! Was also BEFORE the TVRH building addition!!

Now there's Moffitt coming in and TVRH can't even handle what they have! And, it's TV who is responsible for staffing Moffitt at TV. Not very encouraging. Can only see this going from bad to worse.

Leesburg Hospital is EXCELLENT, as well as Ocala Regional. These are better choices for hospitals than considering TVRH.

I speak from experience as well as IMHO.

[Russ_Boston]

I still wonder why TVRH is that much different considering both Leesburg and TVRH are actually CFHA. In fact they use the same recruitment staff for both hospitals (I know because I'm currently working with them for jobs at both hospitals).

So if everyone is correct about Leesburg being that much better I'd like to find out why. I will certainly ask this question when I meet with them next month.

[swimdawg]

Agreed.

As a nurse I try to be an advocate for my patients but it doesn't always work that way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I want YOU for my nurse......if or when I become ill. I will be the tall blond with the self-diagnosis of DBD (Dumb Blond Disease)!!!:D

[Russ_Boston]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I want YOU for my nurse......if or when I become ill. I will be the tall blond with the self-diagnosis of DBD (Dumb Blond Disease)!!!:D

Careful what you wish for:)

[villages07]

Russ ... I wonder if it is a result of maturity of processes. Leesburg has been around a long time and has mature procedures and processes for doing business. TVRH has grown very quickly .... perhaps its facilities have grown faster than the human ability to manage and hone an operation of this size. And then there is the challenge of dealing with seasonal fluctuations in population.

I have no direct experience with the hospital so this is just speculation.

[Russ_Boston]

Russ ... I wonder if it is a result of maturity of processes. Leesburg has been around a long time and has mature procedures and processes for doing business. TVRH has grown very quickly .... perhaps its facilities have grown faster than the human ability to manage and hone an operation of this size. And then there is the challenge of dealing with seasonal fluctuations in population.

I have no direct experience with the hospital so this is just speculation.

Possible - Since I'm a 'process' guy maybe I can help. Another angle to use in my interview. I do know that the daily census is way down during the summer months.

[dillywho]

I still wonder why TVRH is that much different considering both Leesburg and TVRH are actually CFHA. In fact they use the same recruitment staff for both hospitals (I know because I'm currently working with them for jobs at both hospitals).

So if everyone is correct about Leesburg being that much better I'd like to find out why. I will certainly ask this question when I meet with them next month.

I guess everyone's experiences are different, but I will tell you mine. I wrote about this in a similar thread, but don't know what happened to that thread.

My husband had a heart attack in 2009. Had we listed Leesburg as the only place we would go, his outcome may have been not so good or not at all. His attack occurred around 1:30 a.m. and he was in the Cardiac ICU by 4:30 with another stent. He was transported by ambulance a little after 2 and the cath team, along with a cardiologist, had been notified by the time we left here. ER was waiting for him when we got there; he was assessed, prepped, and in the cath lab around 3:00. It was a 10-minute ride to TVH vs 35-45 to Leesburg.

We have only been there for true emergencies, but everything went like clockwork. Sometimes we were there for several hours, but those hours involved x-rays, lab work, etc. which all take lots of time.

[barb1191]

Russ

Possibly it could be that the two hospitals are not run by the same in-house executives. Each hospital has their own President and VIP staff.

Two separate entities as far as procedures and possibly policies go. This information one can confirm online.

I speak only from my own experience and no hearsay, and we are so fortunate to be able to be our own advocate and make our own choices for ourselves and our loved ones. ....b

[swimdawg]

```````````````
Sorry I wasn't clear. And.........I should have added IMHO. No.........I'm not talking about a legal advocate. I'm talking a relative or friend.....[B]someone who has your best interest at heart.
[QUOTE=Russ_Boston;345603]Agreed.
As a nurse I try to be an advocate for my patients but it doesn't always work that way.

Not to belabor the point but I just returned from taking my aunt to the neurologist. She is in one of the best-rated nursing homes in NYS. When I looked at her medication list for the neurologist to review, the nursing home paperwork had another patient's meds listed. When I returned to the nursing home, the higher-ups apologized and said, "human error".

While I was there, I received a phone call from a neighbor saying we had a terrible windstorm in our area and part of my roof blew off. Material things can be repaired or replaced. Tomorrow I will be raising the roof with the Administrator of the nursing home!

Bottom line: You need an advocate.

[Forsyth]

Went to TVH with severe tachycardia. Had to wait one hour until finished with insurance and finally got seen. Totally unacceptable.

I usually don't contribute, but I couldn't resist the need to make a correction. No hospital may ask insurance information or request a co-pay prior the patient being seen by a medical professional (Nurse Practitioner, Physician's Assistant, or Physician). This is the law.

You memory may be cloudy about the details because you were under stress, but, by the registration clerk you were only asked your name, birthdate, and reason for presenting to the ER. The triage nurse asks more questions of a personal nature within the triage room. After the patient is seen by a Provider, then the secretary may ask for your insurance card and for your co-pay.

[SALYBOW]

Possibly it could be that the two hospitals are not run by the same in-house executives. Each hospital has their own President and VIP staff.



The Villages Regional Hospital and Leesburg hospital are run by the same administartive team. That team is located in the corporate offices in LSL overlooking Lake Sumter. Any wait at the hospital seems like an eon because you are under stress. I have worked in hospitals most of my life and none of them were without waiting. It is the nature of the beast. We definitely need another hospital in TV. Luckily we will be getting one in two years or so.

[bxmt54]

Several people here have recommended going to an "Urgent Care" facility....in my experience that can be even a worst case option. Three weeks ago my aunt fell during the night. The next day, Tuesday, when I went to see her she was very sore and having trouble walking. I took her to the urgent care facility on Buenos Aires for xrays. We waited there for about three hours to be seen and after the xrays were done the dr. came in and said he didn't see anything wrong but would send the xrays to a radiologist for further screening and call us within 24-48 hrs. if anything was found. She continued to feel bad the remainder of the week but because of her age, 82, we assumed she was just sore and bruised from the fall. One of the nurses at the Springs of Lady Lake decided on Friday to get another X-ray (thank God) and guess what it showed....her hip was fractured. She was immediately taken by ambulance to the TVRH emergency room and admitted. Imagine my surprise when Sunday morning around 9 am the dr. from the urgent care center called me to tell me they just got the radiologist report and it showed there was a fracture....5 days after our original visit. So....in my opinion if it is anything you consider very urgent - go to the hospital as opposed to an urgent care center.

[bkcunningham1]

I usually don't contribute, but I couldn't resist the need to make a correction. No hospital may ask insurance information or request a co-pay prior the patient being seen by a medical professional (Nurse Practitioner, Physician's Assistant, or Physician). This is the law.

You memory may be cloudy about the details because you were under stress, but, by the registration clerk you were only asked your name, birthdate, and reason for presenting to the ER. The triage nurse asks more questions of a personal nature within the triage room. After the patient is seen by a Provider, then the secretary may ask for your insurance card and for your co-pay.


I can say with all honesty; I have never heard, nor experienced this before. Any and everytime I have been to an ER (either as a patient or with the person seeking treatment) the first person I speak to always asks for insurance info.

[jblum315]

I can say with all honesty; I have never heard, nor experienced this before. Any and everytime I have been to an ER (either as a patient or with the person seeking treatment) the first person I speak to always asks for insurance info.

I agree. In my experience, every visit to a hospital, doctor, urgent care facility or even to a dentist begins with insurance information. When your doctor sends you to a radiology lab for an ultrasound or MRI, even though you have the doctor's prescription in hand, they first get the insurance information. I don't kno w what happens to people without insurance, never having been in that situation. Do they ask for a credit card? Don't know.

[graciegirl]

I agree. In my experience, every visit to a hospital, doctor, urgent care facility or even to a dentist begins with insurance information. When your doctor sends you to a radiology lab for an ultrasound or MRI, even though you have the doctor's prescription in hand, they first get the insurance information. I don't kno w what happens to people without insurance, never having been in that situation. Do they ask for a credit card? Don't know.

We have been fortunate always to have health insurance and that is true, we are always asked first when entering a hospital for any service. That just makes sense. Their employees don't work for nothing.

Twice our family were not asked. Once with grandson with asthma symtoms and once when I was having an allergic reaction to shellfish. I guess because both situations needed immediate attention because each was potentially life threatening.

[batman911]

If the ER people ask for your insurance first, that may be your best indication that you should not be in the ER.

[Sherman931]

Every hospital encounter my wife and I have ever had involved a request by a clerk for health insurance info. That said, I worked in EMS for over 20 years and have never seen a patient denied treatment regardless of insurance coverage. Asking for the info has no impact on whether you are treated nor the quality of care. Clerks do "clerk stuff" and "providers do health care". Never heard an ER doc asking a patient about health care coverage....they just dive in and do their job and let the bean counters worry about how they will get paid.

[Russ_Boston]

Any decent hospital has trained triage RN's who are skilled at tackling the work load. We don't ask for an insurance card when a serious case comes in. If you are ambulatory then, yes, you will check in with the unit secretary who starts you into the process and part of that is a scan of your card (if not already on file). But we must treat regardless.

Even in my physicians only practice we won't turn away a walk-in even though we are supposed to treat only known registered patients. I've never had a provider say no when asked to treat pro-bono.