[Sage327]

I am a future Villager and I am concerned about the quality of healthcare in TV. I was wondering what you thought about the physicians, is it easy enough to get appointments, are there long waits in the office? And more importantly do they have good credentials? I read that some Drs. only come in once a week because they have offices elsewhere. Thanks...

[mrfixit]

In my humble opinion.......The Villages and the immediate nearby area.....has the BEST selection of QUALIFIED and BOARD CERTIFIED DOCTORS. I fell off the map of Michigan and THANK GOD I landed in The Villages. For several years back North I had complained of symtoms to Docs and they were clueless.
I LUCKILY found Dr. Asad Qamar (pronounced Kummer) at the Sharon Morse annex of The Villages Hospital area. Within 5 minutes of describing my symptoms he had 2 nurses in the room writing scripts for tests and procedures. AND referred me IMMEDIATELY to Dr. John Galat of the OCALA Heart Institute. ( Dr. Qamar took out his cell phone and called Dr. Galat personally) Within 36 hours I was SCHEDULED for QUADRUPLE BYPASS to be performed by Dr. Galat at Munroe Regional Heart Center in Ocala. This in mid-April. I was told that had I not had the good fortune of finding Dr. Qamar in the villages, I would have met my maker by mid-July. I have since had stents in legs by Dr. Qamar. THE MEDICAL Expertise in the VILLAGES AREA ROCKS.

[skip0358]

Before I moved to TV people from NY told me the medical care wouldn't be as good. Well I'll tell you they were wrong. My cardio doc. was great, nice office, short wait, very modern equipment,and had a great office staff. My regular MD same story. My wifes new Dr's were the same deal. The only wait I had was when I was sent for Lab work. I wouldn't worry about it at all. My neighbor had to stay over night in TV Hosp. and he had nothing but good to say about the hospital and staff.

[villages07]

Kathy....in the 4 years I've been here, the availability, efficiency, and quality of medical care seems to be getting better. I used to believe it was a "lagging factor", i.e. medical services lagged behind the needs (unlike leading factors like amenities and shopping being built prior to the need).

I am very happy with my primary doc, orthopedic docs (and 2 surgeries in the past 18 months), imaging labs, dentist etc.

Like Skip, it was a concern at first but no longer. Of course, when you come down you will have to find all new providers at once. Will they all be a perfect fit .... perhaps not and you may have to make changes if you're not happy. If you've lived where you are for some period of time, it took awhile to create your cadre of medical providers.

[graciegirl]

Kathy.

That is one of my concerns too. The villages hospital is lovely and well staffed but it is NOT a level two hospital. The closest large teaching hospitals are in Gainesville, and in Tampa.

That being said, I have heard good things about The Villages hospital and you read frequently now about doctors opening practices here. As 07 has said it is improving but since it is a small town there will not be the number of heart surgeries that are performed at Cardiac centers in large cities which I'm told is how to judge a facility for your best chances, by it's volume in certain procedures and of course it's success. We do not live full time there and I have not yet changed my oncologist or other specialists. I know of friends who have had surgeries at Sharon Morse Hospital , a gall bladder removal and a back surgery. They said that the staff was courteous and efficient and they were in and out and feeling better very soon.

I may continue to return to Cincinnati for our daughter's and my oncology check ups. Fortunately that is yearly now.

Everyone knows that I love this place, and as Village07 says, it is getting better all of the time.

Oops...I was so concerned about your question and my answer I forgot to welcome you. I hope you make the RIGHT decision. This place is Paradise.

Kindest wishes for your continued good health.

Gracie

[Avista]

Have had 2 surgeries at The Villages Hospital. One was planned, and one an emergency. Extremely pleased both times.

I see my oncologist at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. This is a wonderful hospital connected with the University of South FLorida. The drive is a little over an hour on the north side of Tampa. Drive is very easy. http://www.moffitt.org/

[swrinfla]

Many Villagers of long-standing whom I've talked to still retain the view that our hospital cannot possibly have any good doctors associated with it! I am persuaded that that's a sad attitude.

I will caution that many physicians here have some language difficulties (meaning that they were not born in the U.S., and didn't receive all their medical training here) but their qualifications are superior.

TVRH, our own hospital, has made so many strides in the last few years. My "up north" hospital connections included a huge "teaching" hospital, staffed, supposedly, by the "best" in the country. I am convinced that, in many specialities, TVRH has the most qualified and capable in the entire state of Florida.

Yes, in certain areas it is better to head to Tampa General, but the Mayo in Jacksonville is also superb. Many swear by Shands in Gainesville (because of its affiliation with the University of Florida). BUT, please do not think that you are coming to "Hicksville."

SWR

[champion6]

Kathy327, these links might not answer your questions, but they should help you anyway.

The Villages Hospital and Leesburg Regional Medical Center are affiliated with each other.
http://www.tvrh.org/

The map at this link shows the location of all the medical and professional plazas. The names of each plaza are links that will show more details of each plaza.
http://www.thevillages.com/lifestyle/wellnessMap.asp

This site contains a comprehensive list of medical and health service providers.
http://www.hoptothevillagesrx.com/

[jmitchell]

Didn't Gary Morse say at this year's talk that he was trying to bring a local affiliate of Moffit Cancer Center to TV?

[Pturner]

I know a great nurse who is moving to TV...

[getdul981]

Me too.

[islandgal]

....for The Villages Hospital and Leesburg Regional Medical Center

http://leesburgregional.photobooks.c...rgregional.pdf

[mac9]

First, talk to your insurance carrier to determine who is a participating physician. Then ask your friends and neighbors if they have any recommendations. Once you have a name, go to the state site for professional licensing http://ww2.doh.state.fl.us. You can plug in the doctor's name to determine whether or not he/she has a current Fl license. You can do a complete search which will show if there has been any disciplinary action in the past 10 years. You will also get a complete educational history as well as if the doctor has a license in any other state.
I have been here for 4 years and have found all of my doctors this way. I had knee replacement surgery last year. I do not have the luxury of going "home" to see my doctors as home is here.

[getdul981]

This healthcare issue has really been an issue for my wife. She has never lived anywhere except here in Roanoke, VA. She is an RN and has gotten to know most of our doctors and has pretty much hand picked the ones we go to see. This is something that has her extremely concerned as we both have issues that need to be addressed pretty much on an ongoing fashion. I have told her that there have got to be good Dr.s there or they wouldn't last. There are folks there in the same boat as us as far as our issues go. She's all ready to get going, but is still concerned about our new Dr.s. We'll have to start searching for new ones pretty much as soon as wse hit the ground. I'm sure we're not the first or only ones. In spite of this we're looking forward to changing our lattitde. On a little bit of a side note, she's concerned about leaving the Vet that we've been using for over 30 years also.

[Russ_Boston]

Originally Posted by Pturner

I know a great nurse who is moving to TV...

Small world - I know someone too!