How much do you want to bet I know of much, much worse?????

Sadly healthcare in Fl is awful. Shands and Mayo are the best. I do all my healthcare up north because of that.

Wow is all that can be said about your experience!

LOL...you want top hospitals/top care, move to Boston and be stuck indoors for 6 months. See what that does to your health.

And even there I could share some horror stories from Beth Israel, Mass General and some Mount St. Elsewheres. Same in NYC----and I'll match this one against any in Florida----a woman went to her ophthalmologist with a small "scratch" ion her cornea and 2 weeks later was dead with both legs amputated

The closest hospital with an A rating is AdventHealth/Waterman, in Tavares, which is 45 minutes from my home near Buena Vista and 466A. It might be closer for you. After all, if you live South of the Border in the brand new homes, you may be a half hour or more from our local hospital. I had a hip replaced at AdventHealth/Waterman and was very pleased. It’s beautiful, and they work harder to avoid infections than does our local hospital. If your primary care doctor is on staff there, he or she can easily refer you to the specialists not only there but else where in the huge AdventHealth system, including AdventHealth/Orlando, the top-rated hospital in the state. I have to have a major surgery don’t next month using the DaVinci Robot, and it will be done at the AdventHealth/Winter Park hospital because the specialist there does about five of those specific surgeries a week and is extremely good at it. I wish it were closer, but so it goes.

In 2018 I had a little heartburn on my morning walk. Went to my PC at TV Colony Health Center. My PC put through a battery of testing and 17 days later I got a triple bypass (Widow Maker was 95% blocked!) I’ll put that up against any timeline back up in the Boston/Eastern Massachusetts area where I’m from!

Well NYBob there are trade-offs. You can have great care in NY but living up North adds tremendous stress, IMO, to your health. Here, I find the care is more than adequate, but the beautiful easy-going life is a heck of a lot easier on my body!

Thanks for Advent Health info
 

[QUOTE=midiwiz;2392578]I am finding a few issues with this thread. First off, is the golf cart thing, if you strap yourself to golf cart reachable logic you're pretty much screwed with a couple exceptions. I think it's funny that people here fly back home to get care, when they could have saved that money and gone somewhere down here for the same or better care. The problem is golf cart or bust in most of those cases, the other half is like yours reading this and that and not knowing the reality.

Well over the last 3 years I have lived that reality in a multiple circumstance view. First and foremost I have medical practitioners in my family. So their input was a factor in my results. I have come to find the following, also knowng that YMMV.

I have noticed there are a lot of "money grabbers" in a 50 mile radius, mostly is due to TV residents much like the companies that perform work at the residences. The hear TV and it's bonus time.

Next is personal experience with UF - Leesburg, TV and Gainsville. All of these do not communicate properly. Actually in our cases that was an F. Gainsville is Shands for only 1 part not the whole thing (another misnomer). Also this is a teaching facility, which means they have a habit of keeping you longer so that their overflow of students get clinical hours easier. This is not a good practice, I lost my mother from these 2 items. So there for the UF to me stands for "U f*cked. "

So that posed a major problem this year when I was faced with my own choice for something I never in my life expected, having to choose for my life. Trust me this wasn't easy but with some very reliable input and a prayer I went to Advent Health. Yes that meant going into the Orlando area, Ocala is for horses LOL. I have been to AH Winter Garden, Winter Park and Celebration. While I will easily admit (and so will they) that the cafeteria food is worse than dog vomit, the rest was a complete blessing. Everything that UF didn't do properly, AH did the right way, I should know I had my medical hawks watching them.

I also asked - What if something happens to me at home? Their actual answer was "You call me (care coordinator) and I will have you picked up and brought here immediately". I find that comforting that they 'wrap' you in total care, survey that is surveyed regularly, and are extremely caring people.

Am I a bit biased? Yes, they saved my life otherwise I wouldn't be writing this right now. Did they work with some deathly fear issues in a manner that was amazingly not like any one I have ever met? Yes. I trusted them blindly with my life and they proved worthy of that trust.

So that's my 2 cents, hope it helps.[/QUOTE

The Villages and nearby areas have foreign doctors that do not meet American qualification requirements. BEWARE FOREIGN “DRs” HERE AND FLY HOME TO YOUR STATE OF ORIGIN TO LEGITIMATE PHYSICIANS.
I went to Mayo in Jacksonville for 2 joint replacements & would fly back to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland for any more surgery, or eye care like Wilmer Eye Institute.
I sought doctor care soon after I moved to The Villages and AFTER SEEING THE “DOCTOR” I DISCOVERED HE WAS A FLORIDA REGISTERED NURSE who practices as an actual doctor and set up facilities in Mulberry, Colony and now at Urgent Care in Summerfield.
His staff calls him doctor, but he’s an RN and he does not have a full-fledged MD on site as law requires, to diagnose and authorize prescriptions.

I recently spent 4 days in The Villages Hospital (not called that now). The care was was top notch. I had zero complaints.

My husband needed a specialist for his health. None of the cardiologist here in TV had the specialty. However 50 minute drive to Orlando did have the specialist, which is an easy drive down the Turnpike. If you are wanting to buy in the new area below 44, Orlando is closer than Ocala and has extensive medical facilities. Orlando Health has satellite offices in The Villages.

I don't think Urgent Care facilities in FL are required to have a Physician on-site at all times.

& as of 2020, APRN's in Florida can open their own practices, without a Doctor. They can also write prescriptions on their own.

Write to your congressman or local elected officials if you don't like the law ... & in the mean time, you maintain your right to not see a "nurse", if you want a doctor.

I’ve been in the UF hospital here in The Villages five times in the past 3.5 years and each time the care had been better. Since the UF has taken over Shands, (The Villages Hospital (now called Spanish Plains) and Leesburg, more staff has been added. Everything from a blood clot to, cancer and a heart attack has all been handled here with great results. Yes, there are cases that have fallen through the cracks, but that happens anywhere.

Something to consider about hospital ratings. Remember that The Villages hospital has an abundance of senior care. This demographic would have higher than normal medical issues and worse outcomes due to aging regardless of the quality of care given.

I went to UF Leesburg last summer for a cardiac issue, and they were fine. Wait wasn't unexpectedly long. The tests ordered were reasonable. Results communicated clearly, and the plan of care was reasonable. Ultimately, I had my surgery up north because that's where my primary cardiologist was, and Upstate NY is pretty in the summer :) . I've seen several doctors while living here, and they've all be fine and responsive. Check backgrounds, get input from friends, get established as a patient before you "need" them for something, and see how they do; you can always change if they're not a good fit for you! I suspect you'll find that, just like up north, there are the hospitals you want to go to for cardiac but not cancer, ortho but not GI, etc. After nearly 40 years in healthcare, I've seen doctors, nurses, services within the same hospital that range from excellent to "hell no!" Be your own ACTIVE advocate, get informed about your care and care plan, communicate your concerns, bounce things off your PCP to get their opinion, speak with the hospital's Patient Advocate about concerns, and don't just lay there like a sponge hoping.

You would think TV who focuses on over 55 would have a better health system. The hospital rates a C You wait forever for a doctor appointment. Even the people in leesburg complain TV is sapping their health care system. Very sad