Suspicious Withdrawal
 

My husband was a urology patient at TVH a while back. When we came to the emergency room at 1:00 a.m., he was in agony. No one seemed able to give him the attention he needed--not the ER doctor, his PA, or the nurses. Our urologist is a member of the Advanced Urology group, and he is excellent. By the time the hospital called him, and because he lives in Ocala, he didn't get down here until 5:00 a.m. When he arrived and was ready to do the necessary procedure, the Emergency Room staff couldn't find the urology cart! Meanwhile, my husband was still in agony. While the staff was searching all over the ER for the cart, the doctor became visibly upset. It was easy to see his disgust and frustration. He eventually was able to help my husband in spite of the incompetence, but I have a feeling this was only one of many such incidents between Advanced Urology and TVH.

If you or a loved one were suffering a cardiac event or another medical emergency here in TV , which hospital would you ask to be transported to by the EMT`s . Say within a 30 minute trip by ambulance door to door ? Thanks ,

For cardiac, I'd suggest Leesburg. They are rated as having the 3rd best open heart program in FL. Where I'd go for other emergencies depends on the type of problem. You can get to TVRH by ambulance, get stabilized, and go by helicopter to any number of really good hospitals in Tampa, Orlando, and Gainesville.


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Amazing the different experiences that people have had at the various hospitals around The Villages. I had 2 surgeries performed by one of the Doctors at AUI (Dr. Taub) at Munroe in Ocala, and at the time I was in danger of suffering total kidney failure and being on dialysis the rest of my life.

During the first surgery I had an RN come in to give me my medications; I looked at the little cup and saw 3 tablets; I asked why there were three, and she replied that I take 3 of them a day, so there they were. I advised her that yes, I take three a day, but 8 hours apart. This was a heart medication; it probably would have killed me if I took all three at once.

The second surgery was to remove part of one kidney due to a tumor. At that time, it was critical to keep my bladder drained and not allow urine to back up and further damage my kidneys; the Doctor told the nursing staff to be sure to keep the urine collection bags emptied to avoid back pressure on my kidneys ... the only reason they were emptied is because my wife stayed overnight and did it herself, as the nurses did not. The next morning my Doctor appeared, saw the bags full (as my wife had fallen asleep) and went down the hall to the nurses station screaming at them.

I have been in The Villages Regional Hospital several times for other problems. During every one of those hospital stays I received excellent care and could not have been happier with the care and the facilities. I have been to Leesburg Hospital once, and while the care was good, the facilities were nowhere as comfortable or as nice as TVRH.

Based on my experiences, I would choose TVRH every time over Munroe or Leesburg unless I needed open heart surgery, which TVRH does not presently perform ... in which case I would go to Leesburg.

I think so much of the Urologist I have at AUI that I will go wherever he wishes should I need additional surgery, but I will be very unhappy to have to go to Munroe again.

Diving time from my house to Ocala Regional (level 3 trauma) is 35 minutes.

I have had only one personal experience at TV hospital - enough to NEVER go there again while I am conscious. I wound up in Orlando Regional during my experience and received excellent care and results. Have also had good results at Ocala Regional and Florida Hospital in Orlando.

I have also been personally involved in two other events occurring in TV hospital. Fortunately neither resulted in death although both were close calls. IMO in each case the patient nearly died due to poor communication and/or treatment.

Ask around and listen to as many personal experiences as you can. Some will be good and some will be bad but try to be as informed as possible before choosing TV hospital.

No Da Vinci Robotic Machine??
 

Severalyears ago, a well-qualified local urologist told me that among other reasons he wouldn't practice at TVRH because they refused to purchase a DaVinci robotic machine for the use of surgeons for robotic surgery. The DaVinci is commonly used by urologists for prostate cancer surgery.

I thought I'd read in one of the local publications that they now have this capability. I could be wrong...maybe someone else can clarify though.

You are correct.

They positively have the robotic surgery for prostate surgery.

Saved Twice
 

As for cardiac: My husband was saved twice by those at TVRH, once when he was already a patient in for observation. He went into cardiac arrest and it took 10 minutes to get him stabilized. The Code Blue Team was there in SECONDS, not minutes. As soon as he was stabilized, he was taken to the cath lab and received two new stents where another had blocked. Dr. Williams told me at the time he had no idea if my husband would even survive the procedure but that he would do his best to save him. That was in 2013 and he is still here. When he had his first heart attack, he would never have survived the trip to Leesburg or Ocala.

Things happen ANYWHERE, but that does not mean that a hospital is "bad". Many, many of the same doctors practice both in Leesburg and TVRH (Dr. Williams for one). Some of them even have privileges in other hospitals as well. Dr. Williams placed a stent for me this year in TVRH. I was going to be scheduled in Leesburg for the next week, but he had an opening in TVRH for the next day; smooth as glass and back on my feet in no time.

Just as an aside: Someone from our church had to spend a couple of days in the ER this month in Leesburg because the hospital was full. Sorry, but it is not just TVRH that has problems and overloads.

I was probably too brief in my response. I meant that if I required open heart surgery I would prefer Leesburg. TVRH would be a reasonable stop, but Leesburg, without a previous stop, would be better.


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