My experience with TVRH is that once you get out of the ER and into the hospital it is a completely different world. Excellent care and nurses! (the majority I should say)

And by the way...if one is having a true emergent event...does not matter what your "plan" is...you go to the hospital that is closest to you for immediate care. IMHO

And please call an ambulance. Don't try driving yourself.

We just took my 98 year old mother in law there. Her doctor called ahead so they would be ready for us. She was having shortness of breath and pain in her arm. We got there at 3, got an xray at 4 (NO EKG or exam of any kind) at 5 they drew blood...all of this time she was sitting in the waiting room. At 8 they finally took her into an exam room and at 10 she was admitted. When I asked why they were letting a possible heart attack patient wait they said 'we're busy ma'am'. The next afternoon she was examined by a cardiologist who determined that a cath was necessary and ended up putting in a stent (she desperately needs two but because of the condition of her arteries only one could safely be placed, actually when they started the procedure she coded but they were able to bring her back. She is still in the ICU, hopefully they will be putting her into a regular room soon. By the way, the entire time she was there from Friday afternoon until Sunday morning they wouldn't even allow her to have ice chips. My husband had to insist that she at least be allowed to have a couple and the nurse said "You can give them to her, I won't". The nursing staff I have met through this experience and my time volunteering on one of the floors is the most unfriendly, miserable nurses I have ever met. This hospital has me seriously thinking of moving back to Michigan.

Please, please, please tell me they at least did a chest X-ray looking for congestive heart failure and NOT an X-ray of her arm because it hurt. Because that would be the icing on the cake. ERs are ALWAYS busy, it is no excuse for the scenario you described----it's called TRIAGE, and from your description of your mother-in-law's condition, she should have had an EKG, CXR, routine lab and cardiac enzymes all done within 20 minutes of arrival. At her age she really isn't a candidate for thrombolytic therapy, but they need to know what they are dealing with. Obviously she was in good enough baseline condition for a cath and stent.
But before you pack your bags, there are other hospitals and other nurses, but only one TV.

You would move back to The Villages because you don't like this hospital ? I remember when we didn't even have a hospital here. Had to go to Ocala or Leesburg.
I used to work at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. I can tell you plenty of horror stories from there. Every hospital has stories.

I agree.

I agree. You can have someone arrange transfer after you are stable.

Calling 911 gets you in the back much faster with medical personnel at least available if situation worsens.

Not necessarily. Due to ER "abuse" by a small segment of the population, such as taking ambulance rides for a sore throat because it is "free", most ERs now triage the ambulance by the nature of the patient's problem/condition. If you call an ambulance for nonsense, they will bring you right to the waiting room. Hopefully this doesn't happen in TV anywhere near as often as it does in NY.

Recent TVRH ER experience
 

Went to ER at 4am with symptoms that would range from food poisoning to heart attack. Got EKG within 20 minutes and it was normal. Blood took longer due to shift change and new shift thinking blood had been taken. 1 or 2 items out of range on bloodwork. Asked how long till a doctor saw me and advised 3 people in my category ahead of me. Located 2 out of 3 and they each had been waiting more than 18 hours to see a doctor. Checked myself out of ER and went to Lake Sumter Urgent care. They scheduled CT and ultrasound. Made diagnosis of acute gall bladder disease with recommendation that I schedule immediate gall bladder removal. Went to Florida Hospital Waterman in Tavares. Was in a ER room within 45 minutes, had another ultrasound and admitted to hospital within 5 hours. Surgery the next day at noon. Fantastic experience with everyone at Waterman from surgeon and his staff on down to the guy who wheeled me out of the hospital. Highly recommend Waterman.

Again, I'm not doubting anyone's veracity, but I find it almost impossible to believe. Even at Kings County, with 6 or 7 gun shot wounds per night, major trauma 24/7, a person in that "category"--which sounds like chest/abdominal pain with nausea and vomiting---would see a doctor within 1/2 hour. And if it does take all those hours, they are setting themselves up for some hefty legal action when they miss an acute coronary syndrome.

Last week my Mother-in-law went to the ER in Orange County, CA by ambulance. The ER was not taking any more patients and she was sent to another hospital. The ER or EDs are overwhelmed by too many patients. This is NOT just a TV problem. They can only do so much. The EDs are just that. They are for emergencies. They are not because you don't go to your physician because you wait to see if you get better and then you panic. They are not because you don't have insurance or the myriad other reasons people go there. I know that you know this and have experienced it all too well because I think I have read you are a physician.

Worst hospital experience of my life
 

I was born and raised in a third world country, so I am familiar with what a third world healthcare experience looks like, but TV hospital (both ER and inpatient) is by far the worst hospital I have ever been. So pray you don´t get sick.