[Sandy and Ed]

Originally Posted by Sabella

There are about 5 million new citizens in the United States and most of them have not had any medical care their whole life so they are in need of medical care.

Sorry - not sure if this includes our newest “immigrants” from warmer climes that are predominantly settling in our Southern states who may receive “free” access our healthcare facilities. Please elucidate.

[Berwin]

Please remember to schedule your medical emergencies for when the snowbirds are leaving instead of when they are flowing in. But seriously, North Florida Regional is just a few miles down the road from Shands and has been good for us.

[FosterMomma]

Originally Posted by Pugchief

There are stories of folks in Canada having to wait 3 YEARS to see an oncologist.

Assume there are some Canadians on this board; I would be interested in your take.

You only wait in Canada for elective surgeries (as you do here). To say otherwise is simply untrue.

[Oneiric]

Originally Posted by billethkid

After primary care referral review (2 weeks) I was advised the first available appointment with a neurologist would be 5/21/2024!!!

I worked very hard to control whether to gasp or laugh out loud. I asked what one could do to appeal for an earlier consideration...adding my name to their cancellation list was offered.

When pursuing a need to see a medical provider one does not expect to be offered something over 6 months away.

It is somewhat a concern that a medical provider would not think twice about offering such a lengthy wait.

I was just not prepared for such long lead times.

Makes the 2.5 hour ride to Mayo in Jacksonville look more and more acceptable.

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Sorry Billethekid, this is quite normal when you are in an HMO or health plan requiring a referral.

[collegeref]

Try Dr Geliga in Leesburg

[vonbork]

Believe it or not, you are lucky. I had to wait for 2 years! Just got seen this past August. Frankly I was surprised that they still had me down for an appointment. I was on the cancellation list too, never received a call.

[Indydealmaker]

Originally Posted by Sabella

There are about 5 million new citizens in the United States and most of them have not had any medical care their whole life so they are in need of medical care.

Not citizens.

[Dusty_Star]

Originally Posted by Indydealmaker

Not citizens.

I was wondering where these 5 million citizens came from. Maybe there was there a huge birth boom that I missed hearing about. I thought there might have been a birth boom in 21, since people were forced to stay home in 20, but it seems like it was more of a baby blimp than a boom.

[KSSunshine]

Sorry this is happening. I waited 5 months for my Neurologist appointment in Gainsville. I asked to be placed on the waiting list and stayed there until my appointment this past August. I would guess that if this was life threatening, I would've been seen earlier, but don't know that for sure. It was 5 months waiting time for a Villages Neurologist as well. So two different practices had the same wait time.

[La lamy]

Originally Posted by Pugchief

There are stories of folks in Canada having to wait 3 YEARS to see an oncologist.

Assume there are some Canadians on this board; I would be interested in your take.

I think that's exaggerated, but Covid made a huge damper on healthcare wait times. A lot of doctors and nurses have burned out. Hopefully the next generation comes up with innocent and zealous ideals as to what the profession can offer them.

[DonnaMBryant]

It took me 6 months to get appts with a neurologist and rheumatologist in Ft Lauderdale a couple of years ago, with primary care referrals. I had blood clots and weird issues with my legs. It took only days to get an appt with an orthopedic guy. It seems part of the problem with the neuro/rheum guys is that they treat people for life, so they have very few appts available for new patients. Once you get that first appt, you are able to get treatment as needed. In my case, after 6 months, nobody could figure out the issues and they finally luckily resolved themselves.

[billethkid]

Originally Posted by Oneiric

Sorry Billethekid, this is quite normal when you are in an HMO or health plan requiring a referral.

The referral is/was the requirement of Shands....my insurance does not require one!

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[Lovey2]

Kinda judgy..."Medicare dis-advantage plans". Those plans work well for a good number of people. I don't have it because of a prior illness, but with Medicare and a supplement, I had to wait 3 1/2 months for a Cardial MRI. Both Shands and Orlando Health were booked out till then.

[RockyGeans]

You might try asking specifically for Dr. Solomon, excellent Neurologist. Also, I spent 2 years trying to find out what was causing my challenges of feeling unsteady, my body and sight uncoordinated, sitting at a light in my car and feeling light headed. Anyway, after 2 years I found the problem and the therapy solved it. If you have these kind of symptoms and would like to discuss, let me know.

[PVR]

Originally Posted by mrf0151

Sounds like you must be on one of those Medicare Dis-Advantage plans. Sorry to hear it is taking so long. Almost like living in Canada it would seem.

You have no idea how Advantage Plans work. My husband and myself have been seen immediately when it was needed.
Have had several illnesses and have had top of the Line doctors too. Cancer, radiation, back surgery and now shoulder replacement. Choose to go to doctors outside of the Villages most of the time. Includes Dental, eye glasses, hearing aides,
meds, OTC meds and vitamins, transportation and more. No copay for primary or Specialists.
So before you bash something you know nothing about, do some research.