The Villages Hospital Posting ER Wait Time

[StarbuckSammy]

I just noticed on The Villages Hospital (CF Alliance) web site that they are now posting the ER wait time. As of July 11 at 5:27 PM the wait time is 6 minutes. The wait time is defined as from arrival to medical practitioner.

I do understand that this does not represent the time to be admitted etc but does give you a sense of expectation of how long or short of a time it may be.

I tip my hat off to the Administrator for incorporating this feature and I apologize if this item had been there previously.

[KARENNN]

Could you post a link?
Thank you!

[kittygilchrist]

I went in recently w/ a friend in distress. She was triaged immediately and completed tests, diagnosed, and sent out with RX in less than 40 minutes. Staff said it's not always like that in high season.
I'm from Gainesville, so highly thought of for ERs, where I never spent less than 6 hours waiting.

[gomoho]

Proves Russ' point - they are highly competent - but grossly overwhelmed in high season.

[njbchbum]

perhaps in the high season they could post the wait time at the curb by the door to the e.d. so one knows whether to wait, go to an urgent care center or go home and call an ambulance!

our motor vehicle station has a machine that posts the wait time to the inspection bay so you can decide whether to wait or come back or go to another inspection site!

[thelegges]

in most hospitals the wait time is when a doctor sees you...which means he comes in says hello i am Dr so and so..may not mean you will be treated any quicker..

[Blessed2BNTV]

Could you post a link?
Thank you!


Central Florida Hospitals | Leesburg Regional | Villages Hospital | Central Florida Health Alliance (http://www.cfhalliance.org/index.html)

Link for wait time.

[rubicon]

I commend the hospital first for recognition that they have a problem and then for making a commitment to correct the problem . finally for have the foresight to produce their results.

However, ER are characteristically wild west shows by nature. So it would seem that along with the postings the hospital makes now should be a benchmark against what occurs among all ER around the country.

It would appear that again that the law of large numbers apply. A respectable period of time will be needed to develop a pattern vis a vis other ER's.

From my view point the measurement should be from the moment of arrival until a patient begins treatment with a respective medical provider.

Another measure would be the appropriateness of the triage.

[gomoho]

[QUOTE=njbchbum;706669]perhaps in the high season they could post the wait time at the curb by the door to the e.d. so one knows whether to wait, go to an urgent care center or go home and call an ambulance!

Why would you go to the emergency room in the first place if you had other options?

[TraceyMooreRN]

The Emergency Room is for EMERGENCIES and for when Urgent Care Centers are closed. Urgent Care Centers are capable of treating fractures. They now have CT scans, Xray Machines, ability to take labs, urine samples, blood sugar samples and an MD there on site. If you passed out (fainted) and feel okay--urgent care can assess you and determine the need for the hospital.
If we could all spread the word--ER is for true emergencis. Possible STROKE patients, Acute Chest Pain...
When to go to the ER vs Urgent Care:
Coughing for a week, then decide you "can't take it anymore"--URGENT CARE
Trouble urinating --either pain, discomfort, lack thereof--URGENT CARE
Fever for a few days--URGENT CARE
Abdominal Pain--Scale of 10 (worst in your life THAT JUST STARTED)--ER..if the pain has been there and getting worse--URGENT CARE
Chest Pain- Left Arm Pain, Numbness/Tingling in Arm, Jaw Pain, Shoulder Pain--All new and nothing can be related to injury---ER, (CALL 911)
Unable to speak, slurred speech, weakness on one side of body (ER, CALL 911)

These are my opinions only as a RN. My opinion is --if you feel that you need to call 911 then you should be calling or head to the ER. If you feel you can drive yourself or get your neighbor to drive--then most times Urgent Care can meet your needs. If not- they will call 911 and transport you. Never delay treatment--if you feel something isn't right with yourself or a loved one--it probably isn't right and you need medical attention.

I hope with the new expansion of the TVRH ER department that the flow will work better for the community. However, without the community awareness of when to go to the Emergency Room vs Urgent Care--then you will continue to fight the long lines. :D

[njbchbum]

[QUOTE=njbchbum;706669]perhaps in the high season they could post the wait time at the curb by the door to the e.d. so one knows whether to wait, go to an urgent care center or go home and call an ambulance!

Why would you go to the emergency room in the first place if you had other options?

it was a joke! and not a solicitation for criticism.

[Russ_Boston]

As I've said before: Posting wait times is strictly a marketing gimmick. It makes you feel good but doesn't really change any of your ER experience. If you go when it's busy and see a doctor within X minutes you will still have to wait a very long time after that if your condition is not emergent. But they SAW you in X minutes.

Plain and simple - law of supply and demand in any business.

[rubicon]

As I've said before: Posting wait times is strictly a marketing gimmick. It makes you feel good but doesn't really change any of your ER experience. If you go when it's busy and see a doctor within X minutes you will still have to wait a very long time after that if your condition is not emergent. But they SAW you in X minutes.

Plain and simple - law of supply and demand in any business.

Russ: I agree wit you ergo my comments regarding this thread to wit benchmarks etc.

[Jerseygirl08]

The Emergency Room is for EMERGENCIES and for when Urgent Care Centers are closed. Urgent Care Centers are capable of treating fractures. They now have CT scans, Xray Machines, ability to take labs, urine samples, blood sugar samples and an MD there on site. If you passed out (fainted) and feel okay--urgent care can assess you and determine the need for the hospital.
If we could all spread the word--ER is for true emergencis. Possible STROKE patients, Acute Chest Pain...
When to go to the ER vs Urgent Care:
Coughing for a week, then decide you "can't take it anymore"--URGENT CARE
Trouble urinating --either pain, discomfort, lack thereof--URGENT CARE
Fever for a few days--URGENT CARE
Abdominal Pain--Scale of 10 (worst in your life THAT JUST STARTED)--ER..if the pain has been there and getting worse--URGENT CARE
Chest Pain- Left Arm Pain, Numbness/Tingling in Arm, Jaw Pain, Shoulder Pain--All new and nothing can be related to injury---ER, (CALL 911)

Unable to speak, slurred speech, weakness on one side of body (ER, CALL 911)

These are my opinions only as a RN. My opinion is --if you feel that you need to call 911 then you should be calling or head to the ER. If you feel you can drive yourself or get your neighbor to drive--then most times Urgent Care can meet your needs. If not- they will call 911 and transport you. Never delay treatment--if you feel something isn't right with yourself or a loved one--it probably isn't right and you need medical attention.

I hope with the new expansion of the TVRH ER department that the flow will work better for the community. However, without the community awareness of when to go to the Emergency Room vs Urgent Care--then you will continue to fight the long lines. :D

Well stated TraceyMRN. The UC's in TV are very good. Unless I was having a heart attack, stroke, or traumatic injury, anaphylaxis, etc., I'd much rather go to UC. I'm sure many will appreciate your post, even though it might be a little passionate (nurses are passionate about what they do).

[champion6]

Could you post a link?
Thank you!Use this link: TVRHFasterER (http://www.tvrhfaster.com)

[gomoho]

[quote=gomoho;706841]

it was a joke! and not a solicitation for criticism.

I wasn't criticizing merely asking a question - sorry didn't get the joke!!!

[Mudder]

There is an app for your phone too to check out wait times. It's a start.

[OurHappyHome]

Central Florida Hospitals | Leesburg Regional | Villages Hospital | Central Florida Health Alliance (http://www.cfhalliance.org/index.html)

Link for wait time.

Wow I just looked at the page and its 56 min wait in Leesberg and 4 min in TV

[redwitch]

Seeing the nurse for triage should be very quick. To me, the wait time is how long to get treated or at least see a physician, not how long to have someone see you to determine how much of an emergency your visit really is. So, I'm not convinced how much relevance this link really has.

[ilovetv]

This is silliness. What good is it to get seen and put in an ER bed if all the other rooms are filled with critical or complicated patients the doctors and nurses are attending to, while lab and other test turnaround times are taking hours, and there are no beds upstairs to which the patients can be sent if they're being admitted??

It's the hospital--not just the ER--that is constipated.

[Russ_Boston]

This is silliness. What good is it to get seen and put in an ER bed if all the other rooms are filled with critical or complicated patients the doctors and nurses are attending to, while lab and other test turnaround times are taking hours, and there are no beds upstairs to which the patients can be sent if they're being admitted??

It's the hospital--not just the ER--that is constipated.I've been saying this for years but everyone says "why don't they post wait times like GOOD hospitals do". Nothing but PR.

[ilovetv]

Originally Posted by ilovetv
This is silliness. What good is it to get seen and put in an ER bed if all the other rooms are filled with critical or complicated patients the doctors and nurses are attending to, while lab and other test turnaround times are taking hours, and there are no beds upstairs to which the patients can be sent if they're being admitted??

It's the hospital--not just the ER--that is constipated.

I've been saying this for years but everyone says "why don't they post wait times like GOOD hospitals do". Nothing but PR.

And the cure for constipation is a darn good enema--an administrative enema!!!!

I feel sorry for the nurses and doctors on the front lines, whose reputation gets constantly smeared because administrators sit in meetings and come up with P.R. crap like this, that makes the clinicians look like they're not even capable of keeping pace at a fast-food joint.

Human beings that are sick in many different ways within one single body are a lot more complex and variable than cranking out hamburgers on a grill and assembly line!

[StarbuckSammy]

If posting a wait time in an ER is just "PR" as a few posters state..then so be it. As I type Leesburg Hospital wait time is 56 minutes compared to The Villages Hospital of 4 minutes.....which would you select...all things being equal?
Opps...as I was double checking the times I noticed that the wait times as indicated are for July 12, 9:12 PM....As I write this it is 2:55 PM, July 13!
Now I am disappointed....

[asianthree]

There is an app for your phone too to check out wait times. It's a start.

yeah people who work in a hospital use that app on their way into work to see how the day will be:thumbup:

[kittygilchrist]

[quote=gomoho;706841]

it was a joke! and not a solicitation for criticism.

I get tired of saying it was a joke. I'm in an irritable mood waiting for the GZ verdict. anyway keep joking, and if I don't get it, smack me.
Ktty

[kittygilchrist]

As I've said before: Posting wait times is strictly a marketing gimmick. It makes you feel good but doesn't really change any of your ER experience. If you go when it's busy and see a doctor within X minutes you will still have to wait a very long time after that if your condition is not emergent. But they SAW you in X minutes.

Plain and simple - law of supply and demand in any business.

but, but, but Russ, I'm from Gainesville, medical mecca of the universe and after uncountable waits in ERs in a lifetime of social work, family, self, never had less than a 6 hr wait (sans chest pain sx), never got full scale triage before giving ins info outside in the lobby for the patient before the wait began..

I may be coming from zero medically, but a couple weeks ago, TV triaged my friend immediately without asking ins info, put her in a bed, advised of likely kidney stones, then took ins info at BEDSIDE, and did diagnostics (ct scan?), sent an articulate md who was the first of many to help my friend know her medical options from then and scientifically how to decide between them, and discharged w/ comprehensive info and meds..
IN 38 minutes?
that's no marketing gimmick. Is it? Tell me it's not..
triage told me they cannot always work so quickly in season. If it was just a marketing gimmick they should shut her up.
Kitty
ps I want calzone. Will trade time with therapy boxer dog and hot tubbing for you and wife? or I'll beg..?