[mommieswamie]

The 411 Urgent Care Center, which has two locations - one in Summerfield and one in Buffalo Ridge, has a hospital employee who will pre-register you for hospital services if staff at 411 Urgent Care determine that you need to be seen in the ER or you need additional tests only offered at the hospital. I have been the recipient of these services several times - pre-registered, fitted with an armband and given paperwork which allowed me to simply say "hello" to the registration staff at the hospital, thereby expediting my necessary visit to the hospital to be seen in the ER or to have tests/x-rays, etc.

Adam Santos and his brother, John Santos, at 411 Urgent Care have taken excellent care of both me and my husband on several occasions. The most dramatic of which was when I went to see them obviously quite ill. I did not realize exactly how ill I was, but Adam did. He called an ambulance and I was admitted through the ER with systemic MRSA. Yes - MRSA - isolation in the hospital - a pic line - the whole 9 yards - and I lived to tell about it.

I do not know that this is the urgent care center that the OP is referring to, but it has been my personal experience that this is one urgent care center that can make it a bit easier to bypass some red tape at the hospital.

On an additional note, I have been inpatient in The Villages hospital 3 times since living here. All 3 times, I received excellent care. My husband has been inpatient also and received excellent care.

[StarbuckSammy]

Mommieswammie, very interesting post and thanks for sharing your story.

Do I understand that at 411 Urgent Care pre-registered you to The Villages Hospital ?

[Avista]

I've been admitted to our hospital twice. The first time was for scheduled surgery. The second time I came through the er. I had prompt and good care both times.

[mommieswamie]

It was a Villages Hospital employee at 411 Urgent care that preregistered me to be seen in The Villages Hospital ER and/or to have tests such as x-rays, blood work, ultrasound looking for a blood clot, etc. The staff at 411 does not have the authority to admit anyone to the hospital. Arriving at The Villages Hospital with registration papers, an armband and test orders certainly made things much easier. Of course, if 411 can take care of your medical needs, they do. I do not believe that 411 Urgent care is in any way part of The Villages Hospital system, but the staff there are quite attentative and have devised ways to make things easier should a trip to the hospital be necessary. I certainly am not qualified to give definitive answers about the services at 411, so maybe a call to either Adam or John at the center might be a good idea. Just tell them it was the lady with the MRSA who recommended them.

[rubicon]

Like many here in The Villages I have moved around. Unlike many of you I have had the unfortunate experience of having a hospital stay in every state in which I moved. What I have learned is that the support staff is curcial and that nurses are truly angels, It just impressed me to watch them work under such stressful situations; especially when dealing with ungrateful and demanding patients. True they all make mistakes. In fact the hospitals in Minneapolis began to report errors annually in the local papers. I suspect to alleviate lawsuits and to gain the support of the community. I am not sure that they still engage in that practice.

The choice of hospital like most things is a personal one. I am taken with the Munroe system. I have found doctors and their staff in this system and the hospital itself to be upbeat and competent . Yes my record stands I have had the opportunity to have two stays at the Munroe Hospital

[ilovetv]

Originally Posted by mommieswamie

The 411 Urgent Care Center, which has two locations - one in Summerfield and one in Buffalo Ridge, has a hospital employee who will pre-register you for hospital services if staff at 411 Urgent Care determine that you need to be seen in the ER or you need additional tests only offered at the hospital. I have been the recipient of these services several times - pre-registered, fitted with an armband and given paperwork which allowed me to simply say "hello" to the registration staff at the hospital, thereby expediting my necessary visit to the hospital to be seen in the ER or to have tests/x-rays, etc.

Adam Santos and his brother, John Santos, at 411 Urgent Care have taken excellent care of both me and my husband on several occasions. The most dramatic of which was when I went to see them obviously quite ill. I did not realize exactly how ill I was, but Adam did. He called an ambulance and I was admitted through the ER with systemic MRSA. Yes - MRSA - isolation in the hospital - a pic line - the whole 9 yards - and I lived to tell about it.

I do not know that this is the urgent care center that the OP is referring to, but it has been my personal experience that this is one urgent care center that can make it a bit easier to bypass some red tape at the hospital.

On an additional note, I have been inpatient in The Villages hospital 3 times since living here. All 3 times, I received excellent care. My husband has been inpatient also and received excellent care.

I always look up healthcare practitioners at the state medical licensing board lookup at this page:
Healthcare Practitioner License Search

When I see that an urgent care practitioner is actually a registered nurse practitioner or a physician assistant, I'm going to look up next the Supervising Physician under whom they must practice, and I'm going to look and see where that supervising physician is on hospital staff or not.

If I'm seriously injured or seriously ill, I'm going to the E.R. There, if I get suddenly worse (like having a heart attack or stroke), they are equipped with all other departments ready to intervene and treat immediately. This is when price and wait times are a secondary concern of mine.

Just one person's observations.

[mommieswamie]

Yes - I am aware that John and Adam are nurse practioner and physicians assistant. Frankly, I forget which is which. Yes - there is a supervising physician - Dr. William Goellner. Yes - if I am seriously injured or ill I am going to the ER, but there are times when an urgent care center is an appropraite place to seek medical care. Of course those times are a personal decision.

I do not know what urgent care center the OP visited, but he stated that he arrived at the hospital with paper work designed to ease the registration process at the hospital. It was questioned whether or not that was possible at an urgent care center. I was merely relating my personal experience and confirming that indeed it was possible.

It is not my intention to facilite a debate about the merits of an urgent care center vs. an ER. As all things in life there are choices and one must make the best choice given the circumstances, whatever they are.

[Irishmen]

Last night took wife to emergency room. Got there at 4:30p. Got to see a physician at 1:15am. They need a fast track system.

[skip0358]

One thing I'd like to say. I can't believe how many people I've met that haven't looked into setting up their Doctors even after a years time. It is very important to take care of B4 you are I'll. Also be sure they can practice at the local Hospital. A call to your Dr. before going to ER can speed things up and quite possibly your Dr. will show up there. As I've said earlier abuse of the ER deffinatly leads to delays of needy persons.

[Mudder]

Irishman, I hope your wife is ok......no matter what the problem that is just VERY unacceptable to have to wait that long to see the doctor. Then again, while I was a patient in TV hospital I had to wait one day for 5 hours to get a Tylenol!

[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by ladylake1

I am glad that someone had an experience other than the disaster I had. Went to ER with major arrythmia. Had to wait a while before MD showed up. In meantime nurse put IV in my arm and neglected to remove touriquet. When MD finally did arrive he was ready to leave and wanted nurse to inject meds to stop arrythmia on her own. Both nurse and I had to protest and he stayed while they injected me and my heart returned to normal. Were admitting me so I had to wait amost three hours for a bed. Feeling discomfort in my arm after a couple of hours I called nurse who flushed out my IV. When pain didn't stop and my arm was getting numb made her come back and it was then she realized that the tourniqet had not been removed. It was a nightmare for me and to make matters worse the shift was having some kind of food event and everyone kept going back and forth to get goodies. Next time I was in distress I went to another hospital.

I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad experience at TV hospital. But look at the bright side: You're still alive! It is estimated that about 195,000 people die every year due to medical mistakes while in the hospital. And that's just the number of deaths for hospitals. If you include medical errors at clinics, nursing homes, doctor's offices, in home care, prescription drugs from pharmacies etc., it's over 500,000 deaths per year. (It's about the equivalence of 3 jumbo jets crashing every day and killing 1,500 people.)

Anyone interested in this subject should read the following book: "Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them" I just started reading the book yesterday and I can't wait to get back to it.

The last thing Villagers should do, in my opinion, is go around thinking or trusting that everything will somehow be okay. Doctors and nurses with the best of intentions can make mistakes. So your best mind-set is one of caution: Ask lots of questions to make sure the right things are being done.

[ilovetv]

Originally Posted by Villages PL

I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad experience at TV hospital...
Anyone interested in this subject should read the following book: "Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them" I just started reading the book yesterday and I can't wait to get back to it.

The last thing Villagers should do, in my opinion, is go around thinking or trusting that everything will somehow be okay. Doctors and nurses with the best of intentions can make mistakes. So your best mind-set is one of caution: Ask lots of questions to make sure the right things are being done.

There should also be a book titled, "Top 1,000 Cases Where Doctors Did Everything Textbook Perfectly, But Sh*t Happened Anyway".

[Halle]

Originally Posted by ilovetv

There should also be a book titled, "Top 1,000 Cases Where Doctors Did Everything Textbook Perfectly, But Sh*t Happened Anyway".

[2BNTV]

Originally Posted by skip0358

Just had to drop a note about the Villages Hospital. I had to go there for some surgery on my knee the other day. All I can say is I was VERY impressed with the Hospital,check in was quick,piano music in the lobby as your waitng, nursing staff was great etc. Very clean,bright. My prep nurse was very attentive as was my charge nurse after surgery.She even called the next day on her day off to see if I was doing alright. Having come from Long Island and the supposed big Hospitals I found TVRH to be far superior to that of LI. I wouldn't hessitate giong there again at all. KUDOS

I am very happy to here this as I am from New York orginally, and one doctor told me the medical care in Florida is sub-standard.

IMHO - One must be their own best advocate when seeking medical care. I have experienced several family members, who go to the doctor and don't have a clue as to what kind of questions that need to be asked. When I say, they should make a list of questions prior to going, they look at me like I am from another planet.

Today's doctors have only ten minutes to give you as they feel they are losing money. It's best to be prepared as opposed to going home and then thinking, I meant to ask the doctor this. I have found it extremely difficult to get my doctor on the phone after a visit.

Just sayin..........

[Jim 9922]

Originally Posted by 2BNTV

I
Today's doctors have only ten minutes to give you as they feel they are losing money. .

Just sayin..........

Looking at the rates Medicare and medicare insurance supplements pay, I'd say that after 10 minutes doctors ARE probably losing money. Even more so when it takes them another 20 minutes to fill out all the insurance claim forms and then fight to get paid , maybe 3 months later. If you want the old fashioned hand holding, you probably have to buy into a boutique physicians practice; $20,000, or more, annually up front for all the service you can use.
Great if you can afford it.
Awhile back The Villages Hospital was listed as one of the few hospitals that is almost 100% medicare dependent. Tight reimbursements equal tight service levels. We are getting what we are paying for. ---just saying.