Heading to TV this coming week
 

We'll be heading to TV this coming week and spending a few days in a hotel to look things over. Just wanted to ask for suggestions as to what we should do to make the best of our time there. We'll be making stops at hospitals, doctors offices to discuss availability to new patients and acceptance of insurance. Visiting Assisted Living Facilities for elderly family members. Viewing various villages of interest, and the distance to and from stores, amenities, medical. The general layout as far as roads, traffic, construction. Speaking to villagers about likes and concerns. Hitting the outer areas, if time allows. Grabbing pamphlets, maps, info. Checking out the Squares, and basically trying to take in as much as possible.

We'll only be there for three days, as we regretted in the past booking longer stays in areas we left after spending a day or so and realizing it was not at all what we had expected. Of course if all checks out, our next visit will be longer.

What would you suggest a must see on a first visit ? And is there a 'Welcome Center' of sorts were we can inquire and find all or most necessary info in one place. We'll be there from Mon - Thurs.

One last thing, we watched a UTube video ( I believe it was by 'Gold Wingnut' though I could be wrong) whereas he mentioned a second hospital that was in the works. This video was about two years old, more or less. What has happened to this ? Was it scrapped ? Delayed ? This is a sticking point for us, as we have read/heard there is a distinct lack of medical care in the area. If anyone could elaborate on this we would appreciate it, as this is our primary concern.

TV is a LARGE area. There are 3 Welcome Centers i.e.Town Squares each having Trolley Tours. You may want to try the trolley from Brownwood and see the new hospital on 44? New villages are south of Brownwood.

For all the things you want to do , you need to rent here for a few months....

Not enough time other than to get a feel for the size.

Consider signing up for a week long lifestyle visit at a future date of interested.

Further online research will help her better prepared.

There's good hospitals nearby ( within 15- 45 min) in Leesburg, Ocala, Gainesville and Orlando.

Being close to a square is nice but don't put that at number one. Closer to where you will shop, golf, eat and your doctor visits are more important. Remember location is the great equalizer.

I wouldn't stop at doctors offices as by the time you decide to move here most of them will be retired for the second time and the individual at the desk won't be able to answer your questions other than are they accepting new patients.

I agree, I would try to sort out the Doctors online. Their location, the insurances they accept, whether they are accepting new patients, their specialties, are all usually available on their websites.

After a year or so most villagers hardly ever go to a square for nightly entertainment.

Wow...your proposed agenda is making my head hurt .

First of all it's peak season here, tons of people in all directions !

I would take the trolley tours .
Check out the town squares, and wait in line at the restaurants.
Talk to as many people as you can for information about The Villages if they are residents there. You will get a much better insight from the local residents .

By the time you do those few tasks your time will be up and you will gone , 3 days is not enough time to even get your feet wet.

Enjoy !

Apologize if I am misinterpreting your decision ahead of time, if you have already decided to move, then great, otherwise the above have nothing to do with determining if you will like The Villages lifestyle. These are more important of the location you want to choose after you decide you want to move to the villages. If these are the most important items to whether you want to move here or not, then there may be cheaper places with more medical facilities in other places. Rural FL large retirement and top notch healthcare don't exactly go well together as medicare reimbursements are very low compared to a suburban working location with private pay reimbursements as a higher percentage of medical visits.

Supposing you find the exact location which optimizes all the above, there is no guarantee that there is a house which you will like available to buy. . . or can afford. . . or that you even like

What do you need to visit to decide whether this is a general location you want to live in or not?

Just my opinion, and I realize that you are trying to analyze the physical setting, appearing to be a highly sensory logical type. . but try first to drive around in a car, or golf cart if you can rent one for a day. and eating at the country club for lunch, squares for dinner, or vice versa, sit around the squares to talk with people, take the trolley tour, and visit some of the recreation centers and view some of the activities other than golf. Walk the hog eye, fenney trail, drive over the newest Southern oaks / Bexley bridge to the southern area to see the expanse of development as far as the eye can see. If you drive by an open house, stop in and wander around

and the come back and ask us about renting for a month, unless you can make a quick decision, but not thinking that is your personality type.

good luck

Thanks Al2014. Are you referring to the UF Health Freestanding ER on 44 ?
I just watched Gold Wingnut's video again and he said that there are two hospitals in the works (?). One would be built on the lot behind the Freestanding ER and the other is planned to be south of 44 near Dabney. Any other info on this would be appreciated.


I found the video btw though I'm not able to link to it here for some reason. So I'll leave the title of the video and time stamp.

Construction Update #135 Following the Dream - Central Parkway Growing 1/22/24
The information on the hospitals starts at around 4:30 mins.

The new hospital way down South is on hold officially and probably dead. They realized they cannot staff it. The other hospital behind the ER on 466A at Trailwinds is still on the table.

A 60-bed hospital is coming to Wildwood and will be built near Trailwinds Village on County Road 466A.
HCA Healthcare, Inc. has announced plans to build three new acute care hospitals in Florida to help meet the state’s growing need for healthcare services.

HCA Acute Care Hospital

Thanks guys. Yes, I understand that I'll need much more time, however we booked longer stays in areas we had no interest in once we arrived. So we decided to play it safe, book a short stay and from there decide if there will be another. If so, we'll probably rent for an extended period of time. With so much to take in I would think there will probably be a few long stays.

As far as hospitals being 15+ mins away, our concern would be in the case of a critical life threatening situation whereas one would be brought to the closest 911 receiving facility. And hospitals further away would not come into play.

Yes, totally agree with that. Not a golfer (yet) but certainly proximity to shops, drs, restaurants is definitely important.

Thanks for that guys. Good ideas. And that should also free up some time, of which we have very little.

Yep, mine too !!

Thank you, we'll try to make the best of it. I find the hardest thing about this is The Villages is quite fluid and quickly changing. It's hard to keep up with things there. Though I find TOTV to be very helpful.

If medical is a concern, there are several options in the northern section of the villages. The Villages hospital and VA are in that area. In Ocala, you have several options and the hospitals have good ratings. Gainesville also has a great hospital. MANY MORE options are available if you check out that area.

Note: not all the homes there are 20 plus years old. The northernmost end have homes built between 2016-2019. There is a beautiful new rec center and the area is a hop skip and jump away from many good restaurants and stores.

Thank you for that very informative post. Please correct me if I'm wrong, it seems the planned hospital behind the ER, and the 60 bed near Trailwinds Village are in the same area. I'd think then that if the 60 bed is to be built it would kill off the one behind the ER ? Is that most likely scenario ?

Yes, thank you. We will definitely be looking in the northern section as well. However The Villages Hospital is of concern to us as we have read/heard many negative comments as to the quality of care there. We've heard a few positive comments as well though. We're trying to figure this all out.
As far as the others are concerned, as I wrote earlier in the case of a critical life threatening situation you will be brought to the closest 911 receiving hospital. The other hospitals will not come into play. Distance is not a problem until it is I suppose.

Locally there are multiple free standing emergency centers that receive high reviews from patients. Once stable and if needed, they transport to a hospital.

Villages Emergency Service stations are distributed for rapid response ( less than 6 min?)

Villages residents are four times more likely than other Americans to survive a cardiac event. This is due to a number of factors including the amount of AED's available throughout the community, the proximity of fire department to resident's homes, and more.

Again, in the Northern section there are many options. If you must call 911, you can direct the ambulance to go to the hospital or emergency center of your choice. Each are minutes away. You will not have to go to the 1-star rated Villages and Leesburg hospitals if that is a concern.

OP, The Villages is not a place you come to for medical care. It is TV’s Achilles’ heel. My uncle moved here in 1992. There were poor medical facilities then and there are poor medical facilities now (in TV). He loved it anyways and died here. His wife looked after him, then she went into independent care herself. This is a place you come to for activities. When you are past that stage most people sell their house and go home to family or to long term care. There is no public transportation even. This place is not your typical city.

The free standing ER on 466a is in the Trailwinds Village shopping development, which is in the city of Wildwood and adjacent to villages houses and a gold course. I think the sites you are mentioning are one in the same. (Double counting). I am not sure if it is still in the works, I haven't seen any discussion or building permits in the newspaper, but I can tell you it has not progressed beyond the drawing board stage. I drive past the site daily and the lawn has not even been mowed.

Very important - consider serious health issues to be addressed at Shands Univ of Fl, Gainesville, or Mayo in Jacksonville. Nobody moves here for health care. It's sub par and many mistakes are made. Don't waste your time in a Dr's office because that's what it will be, a waste of time. After you move here then you can determine your healthcare options. Other than that finding where you would like to live is your main goal and what type of home. Good luck!

You can't possibly do all that in 3 days. You should take time and prepare to visit at least a month, probably longer. This is a HUGE place, 50 square miles, covering 3 counties.

My opinion: skip the medical end of it. If you don’t have the dreaded ‘Medicare advantage’ medical plan, then you can’t go to the Villages healthcare provider which is a good thing. If you have a ‘Medicare supplement’ plan (the best option) then you have hundreds of drs to see. You can search this site for dr recommendations.

As for area to look at for moving too, I would never suggest moving to an area where all the shopping is, I would suggest just the opposite. If you go to Target everyday, then maybe move to a congested area. We moved the furthest from the major shopping areas. There are restaurants all over TV and more coming.

You should look at areas where you are going to play or spend most of your time doing. If you like tennis on clay courts, then there is only 1 place that has this. If you are going to join the archery club, there are 2 places that have these archery functions. Same goes for the other 3000 clubs around TV. Before moving here, I spent time calling club presidents on what there clubs do, where they hold their functions/classes, and if there is room for new residents. We came down here multiple times to jump into games of tennis and pickleball to get a feel where we might play in our level of play. Same goes for golf, you can live anywhere if you play executive courses, but championship courses are more up north until the courses in Eastport are built.

Do you want a new home or an older 1? They are only building new homes in the south. If you want a pre-owned home, you will find better deals north of 466 because those are the oldest and this is where the congested shopping areas are.

1 more thing to consider: average age groups. The older people are more north of 466 whereas the younger people are south of 44.

A lot of friends rent for weeks/months and up to a year before they buy so they can determine which area is best for them. Or you can be like most villagers, move an average of 2.5 times within the villages to go to an area you find out that you like better. I have friends that have moved up to 7 times within TV.

Two years ago my husband and I were looking to relocate to Florida for several reasons. Our primary focus was on the Sarasota/Bradenton area as we were familiar with it because we’d been visiting relatives there for years. Not finding exactly what we wanted we decided on a quick (2 night) stop in The Villages. We knew what kind of house and neighborhood we liked. It was a whirlwind but we found what to us was the perfect home in the perfect neighborhood. Two years later we still think that way. It was a lot of work to find the doctors we wanted but that work paid off. Between the two of us we’ve been in The Villages Hospital ER three times, once leading to admission, and have been quite pleased with our care. Is it perfect and top notch? No. But it’s just right.

The Village hospital uses a chopper to move critical emergencies to Shands (Gainesville), Ocala or Leesburg.

As a cardiac patent, I asked the Cath Lab about critical heart emergency procedures, say cath lab gone bad (I am 2 for 2 on that kind of nightmare, prior to moving to T V) and was told CHOPPER out for surgery like that as they do not perform open heart emergency surgeries at Lady Lake Villages Hospital. Their Cath Lab performs heart procedures at T V Hospital such as ie: putting in stents. I was surprised to hear that but choppers move pretty fast and Ocala is only mins away via chopper.

There are a lot of urgent care facilities in and near T V that move people via ambulance to Ocala as well (my mother was moved to Ocala on a non-life threatening heart issue. Via ambulance driving without lights took 40 min). I believe the 466A Urgent Care also has a chopper but not 100% sure on that.

Three days will not be enough time to do your list. Trolley tours would help cover the town squares and they have a nursing home trolley tour. Riding in your own car lets you see just how big T V is and how many roundabouts there are. You would need to return in the summer to see that the driving gets much better when the snowbirds leave (only some will agree with that statement but it is true).

The hospital south of 44 project was cancelled due to the difficulty of getting enough doctors.

I don’t know if that’s the reason.
Moving the hospital from Sumter County to Lake County slowed it down
The federal approvals slowed it down

Some of the most profitable hospitals are in Florida, you can get doctors to go anywhere with the right comp package.

The Trolley tour out of Brownwood; on line medical research and proximity to shopping and your favorite activities are excellent suggestions.

From the list of your priorities it appears you have many health related issues and time constraints. Are you sure you want to make a move at this stage in your life?

no
 

hotel you are missing the boat rent a house and get a temp village id

I had concerns about TV Advantage Healthcare, but after much research we decided to join and have had excellent healthcare in TV Healthcare System. Doctors, labs, x-rays within 1.5 miles from home. Had a few issues and after a call, was seen by the doctor within one hour. In 2018 I had a little heartburn. Went to my PC doctor at the Colony Center and after EKG, Stress Test, and Catheization, my widow maker was 95% blocked and 2 other arteries were 60%+! Initial office visit to triple bypass in 17 days! No heart damage and all is good since (knock on wood)! In 2021 my wife had a back injury and in about 2 months had back surgery, fusion, 2 rods & screws. No issues since (knock on wood)! Many people complain about the healthcare, but they probably entered the facility complaining about the staff and service. Some people “would bitch if you hung them with a new rope”!

The only things I can add are: the fire department response to 911 calls in extremely short time I’ve heard five minutes. they will stabilize you on site. getting the EMS trucks to transport You was taking a long time but there have been some changes so they are also getting more efficient. There are freestanding ERs that they can take you to that will stabilize you and then transport you to a hospital. The second thing is if you’re looking for specialty doctors, you should be aware that at a doctor told me because of the ratio of Medicare to private insurance. Many doctors cannot make money here so they leave for the bigger cities. Also if they are raising a family, there not many amenities for children, if speaking to doctors, ask how long they’ve been at their location. I’ve moved to a couple of doctors outside of the villages, in the local community because of stability. My chiropractor is a sole practioner in his location over 30 years. I would ask a sales person many of your questions. They may give you rose colored answers, but they will give you important information that you can follow up on. We worked with Mitzi Terry for seven years before we purchased. She’s been with the villages a long time so she’s not high-pressure. And she also grew up in the community.

We did the same thing in November 2015.

We were coming to Florida to visit St. Augustine, where we had our first date in 1970, and we decided to stop in the Villages for three days.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn near Spanish Springs. We walked around Spanish Springs, drove down to Lake Sumter Landing, and took a trolley tour of the new area south of 466A. We drove thru one village - Palo Alto - got lost, found our way out, and have never gone back.

Everywhere we went - Starbucks, Panera, Red Sauce (where my wife got really sick from the food) - we saw people like us having a good time. We though we could fit in here.

At the visitor center, we got some brochures with pictures and prices of the homes, and realized we could afford a house here. We went back to Northern Virginia, got our house ready for sale, sold it in May 2016, and moved to The Villages the next day. We moved into a new house in October and that is where I am sitting as I write this.

First off...you're over-thinking. I read a few responses and I agree with the ones that said to make this a scoping out visit. There's way too much on your list to check out. Make this trip one where you just look around and get the "feel" of whether it's the place for you. Someone said "we're in 'high season and it will be crowded with lots of traffic"......this is true and not indicative of what the all-year-round is. BUT we're growing and it's just a fact of life that it isn't quiet and sleepy anymore. DO visit one of the sales offices on the squares. The ONLY trolley I know of is in Brownwood. They run those mostly in the newest areas now. They used to have them in all three squares but don't think that's happening now. I agree with another who suggested booking a "Life-style" visit!! You do that at one of the sale's offices. Now, safe travels, take a deep breath and enjoy visiting here. OH---you won't get a "flavor" of doctors at all. WAIT til you move here as circumstances change all the time.

[QUOTE=NYBob;2299765]We'll be heading to TV this coming week and spending a few days in a hotel to look things over. Just wanted to ask for suggestions as to what we should do to make the best of our time.

Wait! Don't come now, wait untill at least May when most of the dirty snowbirds start to get out of here.

please please Do your Research ! The Medical is truly terrible.. traffic sux, long lines, AirBnbs, crime on the rise, home Insurance costs off the chain and Taxes will consume your savings.

Many people complain because it is true. You and your wife were lucky. May it continue. A very large geriatric population in TV out of 150,000 - who can blame them?