[HMarie]

Anyone know about Dr. Betancourt leaving? If anyone sees Dr. Villa what is your experience? Any other Doctors in this practice you see?

[nancydrew]

I saw Dr. Betancourt last week and he told me he will be leaving in one month.

[Trish Miller]

DO NOT SEE DR. VILLA!!!!!
She is horrible and very uncaring!!!

[Carl in Tampa]

Originally Posted by nancydrew

I saw Dr. Betancourt last week and he told me he will be leaving in one month.

He is my pulmonologist and a fantastically caring physician. Did he say where he is going?

Is he leaving the area?

I drive all the way from Tampa to be seen by him.

.

[Halibut]

I think people's feelings and reactions to their physicians are even more individualized than their restaurant preferences, so this is only my opinion, but I swore I would never go back to Villa Medical after a bad experience there with Dr. Villa. To me, she's more interested in the business and marketing aspects of running her practice than the patient aspect.

I later broke that vow because my GP referred me specifically to Dr. Betancourt, but I found him to be patronizing. He would ask a question and then interrupt and not listen to the answer while spending most of his time talking to and explaining to his nurse what to enter in the computer. BUT I only saw him twice for a consult and testing to rule out pulmonary issues, and I think he found my non-problem to be trivial and not worth his time. He is widely respected and well liked, so my experience seems not to be the norm.

[gomsiepop]

Originally Posted by Carl in Tampa

He is my pulmonologist and a fantastically caring physician. Did he say where he is going?

Is he leaving the area?

I drive all the way from Tampa to be seen by him.

.

On my husband's last visit with Dr. Betancourt we found out the doctor was leaving his practice in The Villages. Our decision is to follow him to Winter Garden for treatment. Dr. Betancourt has been my husband's pulmonologist since we moved to The Villages 1 1/2 years ago. My husband has several life threatening health issues which affect his breathing. Since he is a lung cancer survivor he has been under a pulmonologist's care since 2000 with several different doctors. Dr. Betancourt was the first doctor to do testing of his sputum. The results were astonishing. My husband had a bacteria growing in his lungs which left untreated can destroy whatever is remaining of his lungs. Dr. Betancourt treated my husband with a combination of antibiotics (oral and intravenously) that helped clear up his current condition. Yes, it will take us about an hour traveling time to see Dr. Betancourt but he is the only doctor I trust to treat my husband.

[Carl in Tampa]

Originally Posted by gomsiepop

On my husband's last visit with Dr. Betancourt we found out the doctor was leaving his practice in The Villages. Our decision is to follow him to Winter Garden for treatment. Dr. Betancourt has been my husband's pulmonologist since we moved to The Villages 1 1/2 years ago. My husband has several life threatening health issues which affect his breathing. Since he is a lung cancer survivor he has been under a pulmonologist's care since 2000 with several different doctors. Dr. Betancourt was the first doctor to do testing of his phlegm. The results were astonishing. My husband had a bacteria growing in his lungs which left untreated can destroy whatever is remaining of his lungs. Dr. Betancourt treated my husband with a combination of antibiotics (oral and intravenously) that helped clear up his current condition. Yes, it will take us about an hour traveling time to see Dr. Betancourt but he is the only doctor I trust to treat my husband.

When I was hospitalized in TVRH, Dr. Betancourt was assigned to my case by the hospital. I was impressed by his concern and his thoroughness. In follow-up at his office he reviewed his treatment plan for me and explained the purpose of everything he ordered. And, he ended with a sentence that resonated with me, "We want to keep you well and out of the hospital."

I intend to continue under his care when needed.

.

[HMarie]

Thank you all for your replies.
If some of you are going to drive all that way to see him, let's pray not, but what if you need hospitalized?
I really liked him myself. I actually heard he was going to Orlando and teach, but not sure about that. I never got a letter from the office.
I have an appt. today, but I thought he was leaving today, so maybe I will be seeing Dr. Villa. I have heard she is really good, but Trish65 has now scared me a bit.

[Carl in Tampa]

Originally Posted by HMarie

Thank you all for your replies.
If some of you are going to drive all that way to see him, let's pray not, but what if you need hospitalized?
I really liked him myself. I actually heard he was going to Orlando and teach, but not sure about that. I never got a letter from the office.
I have an appt. today, but I thought he was leaving today, so maybe I will be seeing Dr. Villa. I have heard she is really good, but Trish65 has now scared me a bit.

Will be interested in what you learn.

He may still be in the extensive connective practice of the Leesburg Regional Medical System, which includes TVRH, and still able to practice here. Unless he moves his residence, he still lives on the outskirts of TV.

[gomsiepop]

I was told that Dr. Betancourt was awarded a position at Florida Hospital in Orlando and will also open a private practice in Winter Garden. My husband and I will travel to see him and in the event of a hospitalization we will still use Dr. Betancourt. My husband and I traveled to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ to be treated and drove an hour and 20 minutes to get there. There is no substitute for good health care.

[nicoletta]

...
i firmly believe every post of the bad experiences that many brave people have posted ..to help others especially the ones that say DO NOT GO TO THIS PRACTISE!

I AM BLESSED OR CURSED WITH SEEING THINGS OTHER DO NOT ..EITHER WAY I SEE THEM

[nicoletta]

many Doctors have left the practice

[swrinfla]

Let me begin by clarifying that Dr. Villa has been both my primary care doctor and my pulmonologist since late 2005, early 2006.

Positives: she knows her medicine; she is caring; she researches your record before seeing you; she will, under pressure, answer your questions carefully.

Negatives: not a good business woman (many changes in her offerings, in staff, programs, over the years); does employ many "compatriots" who may be less than stellar; is notoriously bad with over-scheduling (I recently waited in the waiting room for just over an hour, then another 45 minutes in the examining room, with the technician as frustrated as me, and finally saw Dr. Villa for less than 10 minutes); tends to want any tests, etc., done in her own office, which may delay them; many other small things.

All of the above said, she takes good care of me, doesn't nag me about whether I take my meds, and always fist-bumps with me!

My bottom line: I'll stick with her out of pure loyalty, but am watching for signs of real problems since Dr. Bettancourt (whom I've met but never been seen by) has left and maybe Dr. Dean will, too.

The list of Pulmonologists which I maintain for The Villages Airheads COPD Support Group may well show some significant changes when I update early next year!

SWR

[SusanOfWoodbury]

We saw Dr Bentancourt about a month ago through a referral... He told us he was leaving that day and taking a teaching position in Orlando.

[Ruthtomnorma3]

I have received excellent care from DRS VILLa and DEAN through the URGENT CARE practice.. Since we moved here 1yr ago... 2 times each,and I hope they are there when I have an urgent care need in the future...
If one respects the doctor ...respect is given...