[zcaveman]

Originally Posted by Billyg

Is Munroe in Ocala.? Will the ambulance transport to that location?

When I went they asked me which hospital I wanted. I said Munroe. They took me. But then I live in Marion county. I am not sure which ambulance service picked me up.

[obxgal]

Munroe Regional Medical Center
1500 S.W. 1st Avenue Ocala, FL 34471
352.351.7200

Here is Monroe hospitals websit
http://www.munroeregional.com/

[rubicon]

M brother had two major operations both at Munroe. I also had two operations and will tell you that Munroe is the only hospital in the area that I have any confidence.

Unfortunately for me it turned out that I ended up with at least one hospital stay in every state my company transfered me to. My last move was from the metropolitan Minneapolis, Mn area.

Munroe does an excellent job. The staff are competnet and friendly.

A condition for me in choosing a doctor is that he must be associated with Munroe.

[rubicon]

Billyg My previous post was not clear of intent I was attempting o tell you your husband would recive good care at Munroe and not about me. Iam sorry for that oversight.

Mastoiditis can be effectively treated and appears to be somewhat persistent. it also appears that given the so called "superbug" a number of different anti-botics might be offered.

Good luck to you and your husband and I trust all will go well. Please post again to let us know how your husband is doing,

P.S. The reason i strayed is because I was posting while watching the 49'ers Saints game

[bonrich]

As a former Director of Nursing at a hospital in NYS, I find it extremely unsettling that your husband had to wait in the ER hallway for 9 hours. The Standard of Practice for ER's across the US is approximately 3-4 hours, either discharged to home or admitted to a bed in the hospital. I am questioning whether hospital personnel gave your husband the "clot buster" to dissolve clots that occur during a stroke as he appeared to have symptoms indicative of a stroke. I am unclear as to whether this hospital administers the "clot buster" in appropriate instances as there must be a neurologist available 24/7. It is important to be aware of other hospitals within a reasonable radius of TV that can provide the necessary care that one needs.

[Billyg]

I am so appreciative of the support, help, opinions and caring that you have all offered. This is a wonderful site. I didn't realize how much I needed some support through this ordeal. Sometimes one doesn't realize the stress of being the care-giver and how important support is.
Part of the reason I chose TV Hospital was because it was close to home. I knew that the travel would add to the stress and I don't drive as well at night as I used to.
These are all tough decisions, but now I don't feel so alone in making them.
Thank you all.

[KathieI]

I just had surgery at Florida Waterman Hospital in Eustis. My doctor and the nurses were the best I have ever had, the technicians, staff and procedures were the best I have ever seen. I received great information upon being discharged and received a follow up call the next morning from the head nurse, and another call a week later. They are truly a fantastic facility. Its a bit of a trip, but wellllll worth it. My goal is to have all my medical specialists connected with this hospital. I'm currently looking for a neurologist through their website.

[cappyjon431]

I am so sorry to hear of your husband's poor experience at the TV hospital. I was glad to hear the the ER nursing staff was good (my wife is an ER nurse there).

I certainly would not offer any excuses for being in a hallway bed for nine hours, that is completely unacceptable. missing an important diagnosis and relying on a nurse to convey the information is unacceptable. That being said, it is just my opinion, but I think the TV hospital has been outgrown by the rapid growth of TV. There are only a limited number of beds and during snowbird season there are simply not enough beds (in the ER or in the hospital itself if a patient needs to be admitted) to meet the demand.

My wife has been an ER nurse for over 20 years and she gets very stressed by the limited capacity of the hospital. The TV ER is unlike any hospital she has ever worked. Because of the older age of most of the patients a higher percentage of the patients that arrive are critical. In other places my wife has worked if a twelve year old shows up with a broken arm they would simply patch the child up and send him on his way. With an older patient population this is not always possible--frequently these patients have to be admitted for additional care. In addition, there are frequently underlying causes which could cause these injuries (back to the 12 year old with the broken arm: Usually it is pretty cut and dried, the 12 year old might have broken an arm playing football. With an older patient exhibiting the same broken arm it is often necessary to see if the broken arm was caused by an underlying health issue (such as falling due to stroke or other neurological issues). The large size of TV's population combined with the small size of the hospital combined with the relative fragility of many of the patients frequently make it a tough place to work. That being said, my wife enjoys working there because patients seem to be extremely thankful for the care they do receive in the ER. Compared to the drug seeking crackheads, drunks, domestic abuse victims, gunshot victims, etc. that she has experienced at other ERs, TV hospital is a decent place to work.

As far as neurologists, I recently needed to see one and Dr. Smirnoff came highly recommended from the hospital staff. I tried to get an appointment but he was backed up for weeks so I saw his associate, Dr. Valencia, who seemed competent. I've only seen him a couple of times, but so far I have been pleased.

[schotzyb]

Originally Posted by cappyjon431

I am so sorry to hear of your husband's poor experience at the TV hospital. I was glad to hear the the ER nursing staff was good (my wife is an ER nurse there).

I certainly would not offer any excuses for being in a hallway bed for nine hours, that is completely unacceptable. missing an important diagnosis and relying on a nurse to convey the information is unacceptable. That being said, it is just my opinion, but I think the TV hospital has been outgrown by the rapid growth of TV. There are only a limited number of beds and during snowbird season there are simply not enough beds (in the ER or in the hospital itself if a patient needs to be admitted) to meet the demand.

My wife has been an ER nurse for over 20 years and she gets very stressed by the limited capacity of the hospital. The TV ER is unlike any hospital she has ever worked. Because of the older age of most of the patients a higher percentage of the patients that arrive are critical. In other places my wife has worked if a twelve year old shows up with a broken arm they would simply patch the child up and send him on his way. With an older patient population this is not always possible--frequently these patients have to be admitted for additional care. In addition, there are frequently underlying causes which could cause these injuries (back to the 12 year old with the broken arm: Usually it is pretty cut and dried, the 12 year old might have broken an arm playing football. With an older patient exhibiting the same broken arm it is often necessary to see if the broken arm was caused by an underlying health issue (such as falling due to stroke or other neurological issues). The large size of TV's population combined with the small size of the hospital combined with the relative fragility of many of the patients frequently make it a tough place to work. That being said, my wife enjoys working there because patients seem to be extremely thankful for the care they do receive in the ER. Compared to the drug seeking crackheads, drunks, domestic abuse victims, gunshot victims, etc. that she has experienced at other ERs, TV hospital is a decent place to work.

As far as neurologists, I recently needed to see one and Dr. Smirnoff came highly recommended from the hospital staff. I tried to get an appointment but he was backed up for weeks so I saw his associate, Dr. Valencia, who seemed competent. I've only seen him a couple of times, but so far I have been pleased.

Great post and observation. My wife is also a Nurse working at the Villages Hospital but not in the ER. She expresses the same concern about size and number of beds available for such a large population in the winter months. She works the 7am to 7 pm shift 3 days per week and rarely does she get home before 8:30-9:00pm.

[MichVisitor]

The Villages Hospital is a disgrace to an otherwise wonderful community.

My mother experienced the 9 hrs of ER waiting room hell there also. Then several days of one blunder after another. Trust me, never again.

If The Villages have any desire for quality hospital health care, they will shut this dump down, fire every single staff member, bring in a complete new management and medical staff and start over from day 1. Which will never happen, so just do yourself a huge favor and stay far away from this nightmare of a hospital.

Quality healthcare is worth a 30 min drive.

I can't tell you how many people I have ran into with similar stories... we
went there because it was close.... then the nightmare began.... half a day in the waiting room, days waiting for a specialists, wrong tests, need another specialist...who may be here in a day or two... get me the hell out of here! Where's a doctor who can release me? Maybe he'll be in later today...?

The food is good there. Health care though is beyond disgraceful.

[suebanj]

All I can say is that I had my upper lobe of my lung taken out 2 1/2 years ago at The Villages Hospital and I had excellent care. We hear alot of the bad experiences but alot of posters don't bother to tell the good.. I think we are very lucky to have this hospital and when they start the new one by Brownwood, perhaps the ER wait won't be as long......

[Jim 9922]

Originally Posted by suebanj

We hear alot of the bad experiences but alot of posters don't bother to tell the good.. I think we are very lucky to have this hospital and when they start the new one by Brownwood, perhaps the ER wait won't be as long......

Quite frankly, there should not be such bad experiences in any hospital. If it is as bad as reported in the prior posts, our hospital has a lot of correcton to make. If it is too busy for proper care, route admittances to other hospitals; if the specialists are poor, get rid of them. Wrong tests and missed results is malpractice.
I assume that Florida has a Hospital Regulation Board that investigates and monitors quality of care. Lets hope they are doing their job. I would think the annual ratings/reports are public. Lets investigate before we get too excited.

I realize that half of the physicans in practice graduated in the bottom half of their class. I just hope they are all not practicing here!

[suebanj]

I agree that there should not be these problems at the hospital but I am sure every hospital unfortunately has there issues... Lets hope The Villages Hospital looks into these issue....

[blueash]

I think that nurse may have been overstepping her training. She read a report which may have indicated a finding in the mastoid, however, CT scans are well known to over indicate problems like sinusitis and mastoiditis. Any patient with a simple sterile middle ear fluid will often have fluid in the mastoid air cells of no clinical significance Radiologists will usually report any anomaly they notice, no matter how unlikely it is to be an actual cause of the patient's symptoms. It is the job of the physician to interpret the information they receive balancing the CT scan and the clinical presentation and the other lab work and the physical exam. The CT is one piece only. I have no opinion on whether or not depression or stress is a correct diagnosis, but I would like to express my concern and caution at the manner in which the findings on a scan were given to you. It does make one wonder whether the nurses trust the doctor and whether they are working as a health care team. If a nurse questions the actions of a physician there are proper ways to address her ( or his) concerns. I would encourage you to get a local primary care doctor as you may have put your Maine doctor in a difficult situation... He neither saw the patient nor the CT scan and is being asked to make important medical judgements based on second hand information. I am sure that the hospital could send the records up to Maine but it is unlikely they did so this quickly. I understand my comment my seem like I am defending the doctors, I am not. I am just saying that what the nurse told you may be incorrect or misunderstood by her. Notifying the hospital patient advocate and telling her about your experience may help improve the care of the next patient.. Time in ER, taking wrong patient to the CT, nurses over interpreting chart information and going behind the doctors vs doctors missing important information. Hmm. I hope as does everyone on the website that all works out wonderfully and that someday you'll look back and have a story to tell

[Billyg]

If I decide to voice my complaints, where do I start?

An update. We saw a Neurologist last week. I brought the Hospital records with us (which I had to pay for by the page. $50. For 1/2 the file)
My husband DID have a mini stroke (TIA) which he is now being treated for.
This after the hospital Dr. Told us everything was fine and my husband should see a psychologist. Unbelievable.