[Bonnevie]

well, my friend who had such a horrible experience at Leesburg was taken the next day by ambulance to The Villages. I was worried given all that I've read. I have to give credit to them. she was put in the ER with fluids started and made comfortable. it's almost been 24 hours and she's still there because there are no beds. but she has been monitored and given more fluids had some tests. Everyone was kind, caring and attentive despite being under insane work load. Just having the volunteers checking every so often is a help. the patient doesn't feel like they are being forgotten and the volunteers can get someone if needed. The volunteers even brought me a heated blanket because I got cold. It was hours before my friend was seen but once she was, we were impressed by the practitioner and she felt comfortable being there. the nurses, the techs, had infinite patience. the place is clean, bright. and there were people in the waiting room but it looked like they actually had their vitals taken routinely (unlike Leesburg where they say they are taken every 2 hours). Yesterday, Ocala and Leesburg were only open for trauma. The bigger problem is and will remain, the inadequate medical facilities for a population who are sicker than a normal heterogeneous population. The people we saw we really sick and needed admission and there's no beds anywhere. If you keep building more villages then the
expansions being done are already inadequate. But I must say, I was impressed with the care and attitudes of The Villages staff and I would now not hesitate to be taken there.

[justjim]

Good to hear that you are pleased with the "attention" your friend is getting at TVRH. Not enough hospital beds now doesn't bode well for the winter season.

I just read where Sumter County has the highest percentage of over 65 persons of any county in Florida. I did not fact check this but it's easy to observe that there is a shortage of both doctors and hospital beds in the area.

I wonder given the recent expansion announcements if a hospital in south TV is back on the drawing board after apparently being "scrapped" a couple years ago. Just a thought......

[Villager Joyce]

The problem as I see it is the lack of employee pool. We have no city to draw from. You can build whatever business you want, but if there is not a source of employees, the business will fail. I am a lover of the Villages and our lifestyle, but these are cold hard facts IMHO.

[Taltarzac725]

I have a friend who might be one of those nurses. I know she went back to work after a hiatus as a nurse but am not sure which Villages' area hospital she is at. There are so many nurses needed here in the Villages and more and more will be needed in the future with all the medical facilities they are putting in all over the Villages.

She did work at the Villages Regional Hospital in the past.

Good to hear that they have a lot of volunteers. I did some hospital volunteering back in 1977-1978 at the Veterans' Hospital in Reno, Nevada and might try that again at some point. Not in the middle of the night though.

[billethkid]

Originally Posted by Bonnevie

well, my friend who had such a horrible experience at Leesburg was taken the next day by ambulance to The Villages. I was worried given all that I've read. I have to give credit to them. she was put in the ER with fluids started and made comfortable. it's almost been 24 hours and she's still there because there are no beds. but she has been monitored and given more fluids had some tests. Everyone was kind, caring and attentive despite being under insane work load. Just having the volunteers checking every so often is a help. the patient doesn't feel like they are being forgotten and the volunteers can get someone if needed. The volunteers even brought me a heated blanket because I got cold. It was hours before my friend was seen but once she was, we were impressed by the practitioner and she felt comfortable being there. the nurses, the techs, had infinite patience. the place is clean, bright. and there were people in the waiting room but it looked like they actually had their vitals taken routinely (unlike Leesburg where they say they are taken every 2 hours). Yesterday, Ocala and Leesburg were only open for trauma. The bigger problem is and will remain, the inadequate medical facilities for a population who are sicker than a normal heterogeneous population. The people we saw we really sick and needed admission and there's no beds anywhere. If you keep building more villages then the
expansions being done are already inadequate. But I must say, I was impressed with the care and attitudes of The Villages staff and I would now not hesitate to be taken there.

And this is our recently expanded hospital.

What needs to be addressed is the facility is inadequate for the size and demand of TV.

In addition to winning awards for several categories of what ever, they also need to address the hospital needs with the same vigor as they pursue obtaining land to build more, bring more people in, etc.