[Aloha1]

Originally Posted by Licismom

Rating of TVRH The Villages Regional Hospital in The Villages, FL | US News Best Hospitals

It amazes me that at a hospital where there is the potential for a significant number of Emergency Department visits, there is not ONE certified Emergency Department Physician on staff??

[NYGUY]

Originally Posted by Aloha1

It amazes me that at a hospital where there is the potential for a significant number of Emergency Department visits, there is not ONE certified Emergency Department Physician on staff??

You have to remember we sell houses, we promote health care!!

[ColdNoMore]

\\\

[goodtimesintv]

Originally Posted by Aloha1

It amazes me that at a hospital where there is the potential for a significant number of Emergency Department visits, there is not ONE certified Emergency Department Physician on staff??

Not a fan of TVRH and Leesburg hospitals at all, but to be fully informed, the actual hospital directory of drs. by specialty of Emergency Medicine is more informative......

There are 31 and most are board certified:
Leesburg Regional Medical Center | Central Florida Health Alliance | Leesburg, Florida

[outlaw]

Originally Posted by Aloha1

Tuesday night, 5/17. Serious rain storm. Managed to break a toe at 7PM by banging it into a table leg at the Townplace Suites at Spanish Springs. Toe was at a 90 degree angle ( not good) and immediately went to TVRH Emergency. Sat there for over an hour before someone came to take me to X-ray. After X-ray, waited another hour before the attending Physician came in. After determining that I was from out of state , she did not even bother to try and reset the bones but simply put a very loose wrap around the toe and said "go see your Dr. when you get home". My Orthopedic appointment at 40 hours after the injury was basically "WTF? They didn't even reset the bones??". We are now contacting Morgan & Morgan.

The bottom line is The Villages uses the proximity of health care as a selling point. The "family" needs to do a serious review of that issue and use their influence to fix this before people die due to incompetence. For the record, my wife is a retired medical professional, my son is a primary care physician and my daughter is a well trained Emergency Department physician.I was on staff at the American College of Emergency Physicians. None of the personnel we encountered at TVRH ER would have been hired or maintained on job at a serious hospital.

One more thing, I was the only person in the waiting room.

Wow! You definitely have medicine in your DNA. You could have a real "family practice". Too bad about your experience. I am disappointed regarding health care in this area. When I moved here, I thought the health care was going to be one of the benefits of living in TV. But it has turned out not to be the case. After finally finding a doctor that I felt good about, I got the extortion letter. Now I'm back to looking for a good primary care physician. I had such good, experienced doctors and specialists in my previous home area. I'm seriously considering driving back there once a year for checkups/procedures.

[outlaw]

Originally Posted by NYGUY

You have to remember we sell houses, we promote health care!!

Beautiful health care buildings too.

[RickeyD]

Originally Posted by Aloha1

Tuesday night, 5/17. Serious rain storm. Managed to break a toe at 7PM by banging it into a table leg at the Townplace Suites at Spanish Springs. Toe was at a 90 degree angle ( not good) and immediately went to TVRH Emergency. Sat there for over an hour before someone came to take me to X-ray. After X-ray, waited another hour before the attending Physician came in. After determining that I was from out of state , she did not even bother to try and reset the bones but simply put a very loose wrap around the toe and said "go see your Dr. when you get home". My Orthopedic appointment at 40 hours after the injury was basically "WTF? They didn't even reset the bones??". We are now contacting Morgan & Morgan.

The bottom line is The Villages uses the proximity of health care as a selling point. The "family" needs to do a serious review of that issue and use their influence to fix this before people die due to incompetence. For the record, my wife is a retired medical professional, my son is a primary care physician and my daughter is a well trained Emergency Department physician.I was on staff at the American College of Emergency Physicians. None of the personnel we encountered at TVRH ER would have been hired or maintained on job at a serious hospital.

One more thing, I was the only person in the waiting room.

Wow ! Your story sounds like you were in Mexico without a credit card.

[dbussone]

Originally Posted by outlaw

Wow! You definitely have medicine in your DNA. You could have a real "family practice". Too bad about your experience. I am disappointed regarding health care in this area. When I moved here, I thought the health care was going to be one of the benefits of living in TV. But it has turned out not to be the case. After finally finding a doctor that I felt good about, I got the extortion letter. Now I'm back to looking for a good primary care physician. I had such good, experienced doctors and specialists in my previous home area. I'm seriously considering driving back there once a year for checkups/procedures.

There are numerous competent physicians in the area of TV if you do your homework and the right research. If you don't like the physicians here, there are superb docs in Gainesville, Orlando, and Tampa. But you still have to do your homework.

It's no different than in any other community where you might live, except we are not an urban area and have fewer to select from.

[784caroline]

We also had a situation with the TV hospital where they wanted about $600 for elective surgery. They demanded payment up front. I actually called BCBS in Jacksonville and they were very helpful in trying to talk sense to the the hospital. MY argument is that is they are a "Preferred" hospital within the BCBS system, and we should be able to wait for the BCBS Explaination Of Benefits (EOB) before we make any payment. I also wrote a letter to BCBS and the HOspital Administrator voicing my concerns about the billing practice.....and these practices are being applied to people with fairly decent insurance!!!!!!!!!

On the day of surgery at check in, the hospital person said I see you have been in touch with our administrators regarding your copay...I said yes. They "asked" me ...yes asked me if I would like to make any pre payment and I said I will pay $100 and await the EOB before I make final payment. They accepted the $100...had the surgery and I paid another $150 or so that was my copay...but not the $600 they originally were asking.

Suggest you complain to BCBS or write them a letter explaining what happened and send a copy to the hospital administrator. IF BCBS gets enough of these, the hospital could be in Jeapordy of losing there preferred BCBS status...and I don't think they want to lost that. The hospital will try and get as much as they can from you up front...fight back and use BCBS's help if you need it.

[Bjeanj]

Since moving here a year ago, I have seen an almost constant series of threads complaining about the emergency room -NOT the surgical/post surgical/illness part of the hospital. This caused me to do some research, as my husband and I both have had need of an ER in the past. Note that I had a knee replacement done at The Villages Hospital. Super experience, totally separate from the ER.

As I write this, the "average" wait time at Ocala ER is 3 minutes to see a medical practitioner (About | Ocala Health | Ocala, FL), Leesburg is 7 minutes wait time and Villages Hospital is 23 minutes (Central Florida Health | Leesburg, Florida). If my spouse is having a heart attack or has a bone protruding from his skin, I'd let the ambulance take him to the closest ER. However, if we were in pain but could hold off treatment for a bit, I am leaning toward going to Ocala (30 minute drive) due not only to probable shorter wait times, but general attitude/professionalism that I seem to be picking up from local comments. Before we moved it took about 20 minutes to get to an ER, so it doesn't seem like much of a stretch to go to Ocala.

I think it is prudent to at least have a plan in place. Everyone is different. This is just my plan.

[Aloha1]

Originally Posted by goodtimesintv

Not a fan of TVRH and Leesburg hospitals at all, but to be fully informed, the actual hospital directory of drs. by specialty of Emergency Medicine is more informative......

There are 31 and most are board certified:
Leesburg Regional Medical Center | Central Florida Health Alliance | Leesburg, Florida

Thanks for that link. I was queuing off the post listing the staff. Too bad none of them were on duty Tuesday.

[Aloha1]

Originally Posted by RickeyD

Wow ! Your story sounds like you were in Mexico without a credit card.

That would be our previous abode, Maui. 1 hour to the only hospital on island via a 2 lane road thru the mountains that could be closed at any time by a landslide, brush fire, or accident. When my wife had a medical incident that required me to get her to the ER ASAP, it took one hour. Fortunately it turned out to not be a life threatening issue but it caused us to rethink our retirement plans and so that's why the Villages.

[Aloha1]

Originally Posted by dbussone

There are numerous competent physicians in the area of TV if you do your homework and the right research. If you don't like the physicians here, there are superb docs in Gainesville, Orlando, and Tampa. But you still have to do your homework.

It's no different than in any other community where you might live, except we are not an urban area and have fewer to select from.

From my brief research, I absolutely agree with you. The concern is in the front line Emergency Department system at TVRH. EM trained and certified Physicians should be on staff at all times, IMHO. One does not plan the unexpected and when it occurs, it does not matter how good your regular Docs are. They won't be in the ED to treat you.

[nana13]

I will not go back to the ER at TVRH. My experience was a nightmare, however I will say my son came to visit and had a heart attack while he was here visiting,(he has a history of heart problems) When we arrived at the ER I told them he had a history of heart problems and thought he might be having a heart attack, he was immediately admitted, and sent upstairs and within hours had two stints put in. He is a Vet. and we did not have time to take him to Gainsville. He received very good care, however, a year later I was in the same place,(for different reason) and my experience turned into a nightmare, not to speak of all the roaches that were in the room, plus old syringes under the bed. I will not go any further, but will go to Ocala from now on.

[dbussone]

Originally Posted by Aloha1

From my brief research, I absolutely agree with you. The concern is in the front line Emergency Department system at TVRH. EM trained and certified Physicians should be on staff at all times, IMHO. One does not plan the unexpected and when it occurs, it does not matter how good your regular Docs are. They won't be in the ED to treat you.

I don't know their qualifications in the ER, but you are absolutely correct.