[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by ilovetv

How exactly would one attract the doctors, nurses, technicians, administrators and specialists to a city of 85,000 that does not allow the above people to live here if they have children under age 19??? (And for the record, I'm not advocating that kids be allowed to live here.)

The Charter Schools here are a brilliant concept to attract the professionals and clinicians needed.

The recent alliance made between TV and the USF Medical School, which agrees to accept TV Charter High School graduates into med school is a nice way to attract the parents who are professionals needed here, too. But the bottom line is, the students cannot live here in TV with their parents.

Then, how would one attract physicians and professionals here when 85% of patients at TV Hospital are on Medicare, and Medicare reimbursement to hospitals and doctors keeps getting cut more and more every year...which leads to constant belt tightening and staffing cuts at the hospitals....and more cuts of $500 billion are part of the new law??

Again, Ilovetv,...another articulate post with exactly the most logical bottom line assessment. You can build a dandy hospital but "THEY" have to agree to come.

Another thing too, there exists the finest large teaching facilities across the country such as Harvard Medical and Cleveland Clinic and Sloan Kettering, MD Anderson etc.etc. that are kind of the ultimate in prestige for physicians to be employed there. There are other not quite as wonderful, but still great hospitals that are located in areas where people enjoy a lot of the things that only hugely populated areas offer. The best and finest in abilities usually gravitate to those places.

The middle of Florida in not a hugely populated area is not the greatest draw for people who have spent many years of post graduate time being educated and can write their own ticket.

So we can't make the developers miracle makers.

but close.

[shcisamax]

So if you are really ill, where do you go. Not for emergency care but where is the best hospital in FL? Is there an equivalent to Mass General or Sloan Kettering or Mayo in FL? This is not judgmental; I am just trying to understand what the options are.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by shcisamax

So if you are really ill, where do you go. Not for emergency care but where is the best hospital in FL? Is there an equivalent to Mass General or Sloan Kettering or Mayo in FL? This is not judgmental; I am just trying to understand what the options are.

I have heard friends who are physicians say they go to Shands associated with the Medical School at University of Florida in Gainesville. Gainesville is about an hour away. There is a branch of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, and the main site of Moffitt is in Tampa.

[Skybo]

Does anyone have experience with or an opinion of Leesburg Regional ER? I assume that is the closest emergency room outside of TV.

[Bettiboop]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I have heard friends who are physicians say they go to Shands associated with the Medical School at University of Florida in Gainesville. Gainesville is about an hour away. There is a branch of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, and the main site of Moffitt is in Tampa.

I was going to mention Shands too. It was very highly recomended to us too. We were/are several hours' drive away at the present time but that was not an issue for us when we wanted the best care. From my research (including all those Gracie mentioned) I feel pretty comfortable with the level of hospital care that is available "fairly" close to TV when the need arises.

I am, however, a little bit worried about being able to find decent primary care, dental, and other care providers in or close to TV.

[shcisamax]

Thanks for the info. It makes moving in to the area easier knowing your way around in the event of medical issues.

[Bogie Shooter]

Come on people, there are a lot of good doctors here in or near The Villages.
I have friends who have been treated for cancer right here and they are now cancer free. I'm sure others can say the same thing.
To say one has to travel to get good care is just not true.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter

Come on people, there are a lot of good doctors here in or near The Villages.
I have friends who have been treated for cancer right here and they are now cancer free. I'm sure others can say the same thing.
To say one has to travel to get good care is just not true.

You are right Bogie. But it takes awhile to find the best docs, and sometimes there is a waiting list for them.

[dillywho]

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter

Come on people, there are a lot of good doctors here in or near The Villages.
I have friends who have been treated for cancer right here and they are now cancer free. I'm sure others can say the same thing.
To say one has to travel to get good care is just not true.

Thank you, Bogie. My husband is alive today following a heart attack in 2009 when he was transported by ambulance to TVRH, had a stent placed, and was in CCU in about two hours total. The outcome would not have been so good had he gone to Leesburg or Munroe because of the time involved in transporting (not the care he would have received).

Wait times would be much less if those without life-threatening problems would use the urgent care clinics instead of the ER. If the clinic determines that you have a real emergency, they will call an ambulance. (Chest pain always warrants a trip to the ER, preferably by ambulance.) While I was in the waiting room that same evening of my husband's attack, some lady was in there complaining about the wait time. She was telling them that her back had been hurting for a couple of days and she decided to come in to see about it.

[skip0358]

The problem isn't with the Hospital it seems to be the ER Department. But why? People from TV aren't the only ones who use it, some people don't have a doctor to go to when they don't feel well because they haven't gotten one yet, some go to the urgent care who sends them to the ER for tests. The ER is there as an Emergency. You fell,were in an accident, had a stroke or heart attack, cut yourself or called an Ambulance and that's where you were taken.
If not an Emergency the ER Dept. gets backed up,non emergency people have to wait because Emergency cases come in. There aren't enough beds in the Hospital so your stuck in the ER. TVRH isn't the only Hospital with ER problems. Having come from Long Island and riding with the Ambulance for many years I can tell you this is the norm. You can wait hours just to be called then hours more to be cared for. As medical insurances change and doctors get bussier, the population ages this is only going to get worse. As Russ stated there's a new man in charge. The Villages can only make certain changes. The state has the final say. I guess I'm lucky my visits have all been inpatient and I have had only great sevice. Be patient and remember the ER is for emergencies. Just my opinion!

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by dillywho

Thank you, Bogie. My husband is alive today following a heart attack in 2009 when he was transported by ambulance to TVRH, had a stent placed, and was in CCU in about two hours total. The outcome would not have been so good had he gone to Leesburg or Munroe because of the time involved in transporting (not the care he would have received).

Wait times would be much less if those without life-threatening problems would use the urgent care clinics instead of the ER. If the clinic determines that you have a real emergency, they will call an ambulance. (Chest pain always warrants a trip to the ER, preferably by ambulance.) While I was in the waiting room that same evening of my husband's attack, some lady was in there complaining about the wait time. She was telling them that her back had been hurting for a couple of days and she decided to come in to see about it.

And you are right too Dillywho.

Our Helene was born with a congenital heart abnormality that is very rare and she still is seen, at the age of 46, at Children's Hospital in Cincinnati.

So it is hard to transfer her care to a new Cardiologist, because a pediatric cardiologist is the one who kind of "speaks that language".

I am sure Bogie that there are great doctors here and we are satisfied with the GP we are seeing. And the dentist, and more than admire the highly qualified, Dr. Alex Ghazal an oral surgeon.

Keep posting all of the good things here folks. We are all trying to learn this place....and the bad things too.

[graciegirl]

...

[Bettiboop]

I'm happy to see that a lot of you have found local physicians that you are happy with!! I like to read that it is possible to find a good one. That helps to lessen my fears in that regard.

From reading posts over the past few years I got the impression a lot of people were having a difficult time finding docs they were happy with...and it seemed like the good ones were not taking new patients.

I hope it won't be a problem to find ones we like and trust when we get to move there.

[ARedheadedMermaid]

Originally Posted by 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.

TVRH is a stroke center (so we do have a neurologist available 24/7) and our protocol is to immediately obtain a CT of the head and make the right choice to give "clot busters" if the patient meets that criteria. There are many times that the patient does not meet that criteria and it would be life threatening to give certain medications. Just because a patient appears to have a stroke doesn't mean they are having one, there are many illness that cause the same symptoms...you do not treat a TIA as they resolve on their own. You do not treat Transient Global Amnesia as it will also resolve. Myasthenia Gravis has stroke like symptoms but isn't a stroke at all and needs entirely different care. All these types of sudden onset stroke-like symptoms are scary but not a STROKE and do not require "clot buster" meds.

The Standard of Care "might be" 3-4 hours for admission but that doesn't mean a bed is available for that patient to be admitted to...we admit within those parameters all the time and while those patients are in the hallway they are still being cared for by the ER RN using the admission orders until a hospital bed becomes available.

Which brings us to another issue and that is the bottlenecking or holding of patients in the ER while trying to manage the influx of patients who walk in and/or come by ambulance and not have an endless wait time either in the waiting room or waiting to be seen once they are brought back to a treatment area. If you can't move your patient upstairs or to the ICU you have no place to treat incoming patients. ICU nurses have 1-2 patients at any given time, ER nurses are still caring for the ICU patient and 3-4 other patients at the same time. So it's understandable when a stable patient who has been admitted has to wait in the hallway for their hospital room to become available to make space for a critical patient needing a treatment room. It doesn't make it easier for the waiting patient nor the ER RN taking care of those patients to have them in the hall-floor nursing has it's own way of doing things and the ER isn't set up for that. We much prefer to follow through and get the patient to their room within the hospital.

TVRH has 223 hospital beds and 25 ER beds and there are over 85,000 people with a projected build out of 110,00 people, serving the tri-county area, and the non-emergent issues that could easily go to an Urgent Care (and there are many UC's in the area) something has to give and what that relates to is long wait times for everything.

[Mudder]

Thank you Stacy for that sincere and concise post. I experienced a very long wait in ER, waiting for a bed to be admited....while in ER my care was excellent, it's when I got to my room that things started to deteriorate for most of the 8 days I was there. But I am hopeful that the hospital is constantly working to improve in all areas.