Villages Hospital ER Experience - awful
 

My wife became quite ill yesterday vomiting multiple times, 103.3 fever, loss of mental capacity - very scary and had to take her to the ER because everything was closed after 8 pm.

By the time I got here there she could barely sit up and was pretty foggy. I signed her in at the ER desk and was told to sit down in the waiting area. An hour later - still sitting there with my wife barely able to stay awake.

Went to the desk and was told to go see the triage nurse. Triage nurse said that she was next to be evaluated to see when she could be schedulef to be seen by the medical staff. Fifteen minutes went by - still nothing.

I understand that an ER operates on a highest need basis etc., etc. but my wife was obviously in need of immediate attention.

I walked out and drove her to Leesburg Hospital - walked in and they took one look at her and she was being treat literally in minutes. I can't speak highly enough about the Leesburg staff.

Due to privacy, suffice to say that my wife is doing much better thanks to the great care in the ER at Leesburg.

I will never, ever, step foot in the Villages Hospital again.

Beware - it's just a short drive to Leesburg if you ever have a medical emergency - I strongly recommend avoiding the Villages ER.

Silly question to anyone that might know, do people brought by ambulance have better treatment than described by the op?

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Monroe Memorial in Ocala is another choice...straight down 27

Down 27 is Leesburg

T

Glad she is doing well!!!!

you are so right....UP 27

Not really. I have been taken in by ambulance a few times. I got care in the ambulance so when I got to the hospital I was in the hallway on the stretcher for awhile. All times I went in I did end up being admitted.

If she was next, she may have been taken in before the time it took you to go to Leesburg. Glad everything worked out.

Got food poisoning a couple of weeks ago and had a similar experience. I was holding a bucket the entire time, couldn't sit down, I begged them to find a place for me to lie down as I was in extreme pain. I was the only one in the waiting room but they still didn't come and get me for an hour and a half. They didn't put me in a wheel chair and I could hardly walk. I had to follow the tech down several hallways all the way to the end. I had to sit down twice but neither time did they offer a chair. After I received fluids and meds I was discharged several hours later and had to walk those long hallways again. Finally I asked for a wheel chair and they gave me one. I was not impressed and won't be going back there again.

Thank you for posting on TOTV. Your experiences will help guide the rest of us if emergency care is needed and circumstances are such that we can make a choice. In addition, you should report what happened to the hospital administrator.

Villages Hospital
 

I know this has been said many times before..... if you are experiencing an emergency, or needing immediate attention..... call 911....... care starts immediately when the paramedics arrive and is continued during transport. You are taken directly into the ER..... not the waiting room.... you are triaged there. And yes, at TVRH you may still have a wait, but you are safer there than sitting in the waiting room. And certainly safer than getting back in a car and heading for Leesburg or Ocala..... If this was a CVA (stroke), care would have been initiated in the ambulance. This could have been a fatal trip to Leesburg. There are so many variables. It is just always safer to call 911. Especially this time of year.... when all local hospitals may be on divert....

It's a holiday because New Years was on Sunday! Most doctor's offices are closed. I've been waiting here in the ER in Michigan with my 92 year old mother for hours! They've checked on her, took a chest X-ray but we are still waiting to get out of the waiting room!

I agree! Last Spring I was having issues so went to see my primary. I was checked from stem to stern there without finding anything wrong but was told "IF" this happens again...call 911. It did happen again and that's what we did. Did I wait in the ER...yes but they kept checking on me and when it was available, the next test was done. The ER along with their X-ray, lab etc serves the hospital as well as the patients that come in. Triage is what they do. IF I'd have been having a stroke, heart attack was bleeding profusely I venture to say I'd have been put at the head of the line in triage. IF there are issues you feel need to be addressed then by all means contact the hospital administrator. They can't "fix" something unless they know about it.

All should experience the Villages Hospital ER " ONCE " not that I wish you or your loved ones ill. You can be the only person in the waiting area and no interest will be indicated that you even exist for hour after hour. Have had the occasion to be in six or seven ERs in my lifetime, as a patient or accompanying a patient, and this truly must be what third world medicine is all about. Contact the hospital administrator ? Ha, this has been going on for years and if the hospital administration claims not to be aware of all the complaints the word [B]" disingenuous " [B] needs a new definition.

You are right - perhaps she could have been next but then again after another 15 minutes of nothing happening I had to make the call to either stay or go. Will never know how long I would have waited. What I didn't mention in my original post is that after I approached the Triage nurse and returned, people voluntarily came up to me telling me they had been there for hours upon hours waiting for treatment. Now I can't say the seriousness of their issues - could have been a mosquito bite for all I know - but after listening to several of them I decided to leave. Although this sounds unimaginable, one lady came up to me and said she had been there since 1 pm in the afternoon and it was now 9 pm. Have know idea what her medical need was but hearing that was the very last straw for me... Thanks to all those that read and responded...

Tbear

If I ever need to take the ambulance ride, I would INSIST to be taken to Leesburg.:boom:

I actually would go to the Villages. I have been there 7 or 8 times and have never had a problem.

:agree:Us too. Both emergency (via ambulance) and two major surgeries. No complaints from this household.

She felt very sick, but in Triage, the people who are in most extreme condition are taken in order. There may have been a heart attack victim or a person unable to breathe or a bleeding patient taken before her.


Chapter 1. Introduction to the Emergency Severity Index: A Research-Based Triage Tool | Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality

I am glad she is o.k.

In our over 7 yrs. of living here, folks will give their opinions re: care at TVRH. IF you've been dissatisfied...call the administrator. IF they are having 'issues' and enough folks call---maybe that will bring change. I do know if you're in distress you want to be treated asap. We never know what's going on behind the scenes. My spouse and I BOTH have had experiences with TVRH and the ER and all those time I can't say enough about the great care we received. Did we wait...yes! My spouse had the experience at Leesburg Hospital ER (taken by ambulance) and he too waited there. We're a growing community and these facilities also treat those who aren't "village people". In our previous community up north I would say similar things happen there---some folks are unhappy and some are satisfied. It's all a part of perception with the experience IMHO.

NO, my cousin broke her ankle and was transported by ambulance. She was in ER waiting room for 3 hours before being seen after an additional 2 hours of xrays was finally released.

Being transported by ambulance or an EMS only matters if you are being transported for something like a heart attack. However i know a number of people who have called for an EMS which transported them to thru the back door only to be moved to the lobby.

I have lived here for 10 years and this ER has not improved. However perhaps the real issue is that ER's all over the nation are experiencing the same problem????

My husband went to the ED on Jan 2nd. He was seen in 45 minutes and had a room in the ED about 30 minutes later. In the meantime he had blood work, an EKG and X-ray. He then had a room in the hospital in 5 hours from the time he entered the emergency department. All of his care givers were concerned and competent. They also constantly updated us as to how long it might be until what was next. After being admitted he received excellent, friendly and competent care. This is his 4th time ther in 6 years. Three of the four experiences were good and one was not so good. You just never know when you go in who and how many are there with more life threatening conditions than you.

I think the administration is really trying to improve the ED experience but I agree that this is a problem everywhere. My mother in law lives in California and has gone by ambulance to her nearest hospital only to be sent on elsewhere because they could not accept anymore patients.

Some Good Things
 

I see the number of problems associated with the Village and am thankful for the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. The Dr. assigned to our case is a Harvard Fellow, practiced at MD Anderson, Mass General and Baylor. Instills so much confidence that it is beyond expectation. When in surgery they let everyone know in the waiting room if the patient is being pre'd for surgery, in surgery, in recovery room or ready for discharge. He is kind and sees his patients right on schedule. Takes time to explain all of the facts of the case and the patients portal is completed without delay after the procedure. Think the best process for a problem is if it is an emergency, go to the Urgent Care at Sumter Landing and if further treatment is called for go to Mayo. This pretty much ensures great treatment for what ails you!! (In the villages you are 2 1/2 hours from Mayo Clinic. ) :bowdown:

Agree with all your information. I had major kidney surgery at Mayo ..... BUT, I was back and forth from TV to Mayo twice a year for three years for minor surgeries before the major surgery could be done. During that time I had two day itineraries at each visit and we elected to stay over night on campus which was very expensive. BUT, they saved my kidney and I now have two working kidneys, one in perfect condition, one doing about 60%, but it is still there and working. Just this past week a heard from a friend of mine in Venice whose young adult granddaughter had the same problem as me and her surgeon took out the problem kidney ............. I obviously do not know the circumstances and, therefore, maybe should not be commenting, but I walked away with two kidneys, both of which can be donated when I no longer need them!

Huge YES to Mayo in spite of the inconveniences.

Making a decision
 

OP, anyone of us might have made the same decision and 'bailed" to another hospital. All we can do is hope and pray we are not put in a similar situation.

Hope all is well and your loved one has recovered.

My wife had about that same experience early last year---but ER experiences can be hit or miss depending upon volume.
That being said, I found the ER at TVRH to be the weakest link. I've read almost all the posts on this subject for the past 2 years and there is a wide variety of opinions. Some are just incredulous---like an 80+ woman with a broken hip waiting 22 hours for pain meds. Some are overly critical like the person who left after waiting 25 minutes. The truth is probably in the middle. I've run an ER that was much busier than TVRH and ran the QA committee that oversaw ER operations for years, and there is A LOT OF ROOM for improvement here. Each ER tends to have its own "culture", and that culture derives from the top. If the physician isn't constantly pushing staff to get patients into a room, get lab and x-ray done, and get the hospitalists to admit a patient, then the whole system gets bogged down and backed up (the same is true of a private office). Sometimes you have to identify those who aren't pulling their weight and have them undergo "alternative career opportunity enhancement" Administration needs to have a vigorous QA program that tracks waiting times and time to admission. Here's a simple example---we had a rule that a patient could not go to a floor until the admitting doctor wrote orders in the ER, so they could be waiting hours for them to show. We changed that to a policy that the ER doc would talk to the admitting doc and if he could not show up in 1/2 hour then the patient would be sent to their room, and the floor nurses would bug the doc for orders. ER flow and waiting time decreased dramatically. I think administration needs to have a "come to Jesus meeting" with the ER director and most of the problems could be easily solved.
ER medicine is stressful by its very nature, but a good ER physician can make a world of difference. I've seen the posts about going to Leesburg or Ocala, or even 2 1/2 hours to Jacksonville---from a medical point of view that is dangerous and reckless, unless you yourself are a medical professional that has already correctly diagnosed the patient's condition, and even then, you have no ability to start treatment in a car. In the case of a cerebrovascular accident or acute coronary syndrome that decision could be fatal. JUST CALL 911!!!! and let the pros do their job. For my wife and I, we have no qualms about going to TVRH again.

WE NEED A NEW HOSPITAL BUILT!!! My Husband was brought by Ambulance with a broken hip and heart condition. He waited 19 hours in the ER at Villages Regional before being seen! Outrageous! Everyone in the Villages must call Munroe Hospital and ask them to build a new modern Hospital here in the Villages. We have plenty of Room to build one!

Huh?????

First of all, 19 hours before being seen???? If accurate, that's by far the worst wait for that condition I've ever heard of in 35 years, and that includes Kings County in Brooklyn and Bellvue in Manhattan on busy days.

Second--a new hospital???? Do you think the ER problems are due to the physical plant???? Actually, I believe TVRH is a relatively new hospital compared to say Mass General which is over 100 years old in places.

"If you build it they will come!" OK, how are you going to staff it?

I have a specialist here who came from Beth Israel, her biggest problem is getting competent staff!

TV hospital
 

From my experience yes and no. I got to the room quicker but not medical care. I will go to Leesburg if there is a next time.

I am not surprised about the staffing issue. I see allot of bad attitudes and lack of responsiveness in a number of medical offices in TV. The exception seems to be the professional, courteous and able staff. Luckily I found a couple.

Interesting
 

I thought it was interesting that at Mayo they have 28 operating rooms and do about 100 surgeries a day. :bowdown:

Are you referring to travel time being too much? For some parts of the Villages the travel time to Leesburg Regional is about the same as TVH. In fact in some parts of the Villages I think it would be an easy 5 min less to Leesburg.

But if you are on Medicare and using The Villages Health then if you get admitted a The Villages Hospital a Villages Health doctor will be managing your care instead of one of the hospitalists. That worked out pretty well for my wife.

My wife's trips to The Villages ER have all gone well with prompt attention and admittance to the hospital. We'd go there again.

Perhaps I should have used the term "closest hospital".

I agree, my wife was also very sick and was told to sit and wait, for over 4 hours. NEVER AGAIN this ER should be closed!

Now there's a real bright idea----37,984 ER visits that will now go WHERE??? A certified stroke center in our backyard servicing an aging population---yep, just close it. 2 cath labs performing 5000+ procedures/year---yeah, who needs THAT????
Oh, and right now at 7 PM in high season the ER wait is 35 minutes.

Please have just an inkling of what you are talking about before spouting nonsense.

And just for the record, I'm not all that impressed with the ER either----but we need it so let's fix it.

ER Dr.s are contract Dr.s who only work there one or two days a week. They will never see you again do don't care. Husband came i via ambulance, ER Dr. ran a blood test and told us he was fine and to go home. Problem was he literally couldn't move. His muscles weren't working. Dr. couldn't care less said to carry him out. I refused to even try and called our Dr. who talked to the hospital and he was admitted. He had sepsis and died in Hospice 4 days later. I will never go there. ER is terrible. Upstairs is fine, but not ER. Go there at your own risk.

"They will never see you again don't care." Your remark is offensive and clearly so wrong. I happen to have ER personnel in my family. ER personnel are the people who keep you alive and stabilize you until further medical help can be provided.

You have obviously had a traumatic experience, but please do not label everyone in that category.