ER in an emergency setting
 

TV ticks most boxes for us however the ERs/Hospitals seem questionable. In the case of a life threatening emergency what is the best ER(s) to be taken to ?

The problem with TV is old people go to the ER for hangnails, toothaches, and someone to talk to.

In a real emergency, the closest hospital is usually the best.

There's nothing about that, that is exclusive to The Villages or old people. Every ER I've ever been in, as a patient or helping someone else, has had people who don't have an actual emergency waiting for care.

Including toothaches, flu symptoms, skinned knees, and non-specific stomach aches that are most likely just gas cramps.

As I told my brother last year when he came to visit from Georgia. "If you are concerned about UF emergency rooms and the expertise of the staff than by all means head north on I-75 until you get up near Atlanta and look for a sign for Grady Memorial Hospital which is located up against the I-75 wall on the southbound side. Then exit Edgewood Ave and go under the freeway. I'm sure you will be fine until you arrive".

Usually, though by virtue of moving to TV when one picks their village they also pick their ER. The question then is which one.

Unless it’s the place off El Camino Real, anyplace else would be light years better (or at least couldn’t possibly be worse).

In a "life threatening emergency" why would you go anywhere other than the nearest ER?

Sure, one a bit further away might give you slightly better treatment, but if the delay makes you D.O.A. then that doesn't really help you, does it?

Not when you go to the nearest place, wait for 12 hours, get negligibly misdiagnosed and are booted out the door after midnight in no shape to drive home and are in worse shape than when you walked in. Yes, it would most definitely help you to go a bit further away!

All emergency rooms such, no matter which state you live in.

The px doesn't decide. The 911 crew generally is directed to the closest ER. In some cases the OMD or ER charge Dr will direct to another facility based on the info relayed from the crew. Such as Level 1 trauma center, need for a helo, other factors.

In an emergency don’t drive yourself, so often someone doesn’t want to call 911 and uses POV. On way to ER the medical episode worsens and they cause an accident, oftentimes causing serious damage of fatality to others. Please don’t be that guy.

I had to call 911 last year when I fell and broke my kneecap in half. I live in TV. TV ambulance picked me up. I didn’t get a choice. They took me to Leesburg hospital. I was told by them that’s where the on call Orthopedic surgeon was. I got there. X-rays. Confirmed I needed surgery but there was no on call dr there. That doctor was at TV hospital and they refused to transfer me there because the ambulance took me to Leesburg. I still can’t walk and have had 4 surgeries and I blame the week I had to search for an Orthopedic surgeon to do my surgery. The mistake of one ambulance driver can turn into years long issues.

...

Medical personnel are in very short supply.
 

Another 15 million patients to look after over the past couple of years and they don’t have to pay for anything you pay for it for them.

If you wanted a good Hospital , you moved to the wrong place. Due diligence is not just about restaurants and grocery stores.

That’s a difficult question because there are so many sorts of life-threatening emergencies. With some, the threat is seconds away, with others, it’s minutes, or an hour, or a day. Most ERs drop everything for a real life-threatening emergency, but some ERs having a full range of diagnostic equipment handy and some don’t. Some have doctors on duty at all times and some don’t. Some have good ratings and some don’t. Some can wheel you into surgery from the ER and do heart or brain surgery and some can’t. Some ERs are top level Trauma ERs and some aren’t. Some have facilities for putting a stent in your heart when you are having a heart attack and some don’t.

The closest A-rated hospital to The Villages is AdventHealth/Waterman in Taveres. I live five minutes from the intersection of Buena Vista and 466A. For me, the hospital is about a 45 minute drive. For some life threatening conditions, that’s too long. The hospital formerly called The Villages Hospital and now run by the University of Florida system is attractive, but its rating hasn’t been high. Will that come up? We don’t know yet. While I live in The Villages, it’s about a thirty minute drive. If you buy a house in the south of The Villages, it’s much farther. AdventHealth/Waterman is building a new ER with ten hospital rooms attached on 466A just past Colony shopping Plaza. For me that’s about ten minutes. I don’t know what the level of expertise will be, but they can get me to AdventHealth/Waterman from there. They know the way. If you live down at the SouthEast end of The Villages, you are 45 minutes away from AdventHealth/Orlando, which is the top-rated hospital in Florida and a high-level trauma center.

A lot of the ratings focus on things like the number of people who pick up infections in the hospital. Very few at AdventHealth/Waterman. A lot more here in The Villages. Also, how often do certain kinds of surgeons do certain difficult surgeries. One joint replacement I’ve had was done at AdventHealth/Waterman by a surgeon who does half a dozen of them a week. That leads to a higher rating than a surgeon who does one a month.

If you are from New York, Bob, you are used to having outstanding hospitals within a mile or two. However, you also know that there are times in New York when two traffic hardly moves. A mile here may mean two minutes. A mile in New York may mean a half hour.

The Villages is close to the size and shape of Manhattan. The Villages Hospital (once called) is up near Harlem, but most new construction is happening down near the Battery, so to speak. What answer fits one situation may not fit another. I chose a GP affiliated with AdventHealth/Waterman because he acts as a concierge who can get me in to see other specialists in the system, and if the local hospital isn’t good enough, he’ll send me to one that specializes in that surgery. Seeing him is harder than some doctor twenty minutes away, but it’s worth it for the easy access to specialists.

Every ED treatment is the same everywhere. You actually require Emergency care you are first. You bumped your toe you wait last.

If you are wonder what is the best ED and how far away. You don’t belong there, find an urgent care.

If you are have a stroke, mi, or horrific accident, you will be transported to the facility that can handle your medical issues. Provided they aren’t full of hang nails and sniffles.

Asking non medical professionals about their care, may not be in your best interest. I don’t care about bedside manner, or how nice the person was at the front desk. If their care was bad in their opinion, was there a true ED patient that a life needed to be saved?

I know exactly which facility my physician is on staff. Then one can get the proper ED care.

Spouse first call 911….IF a rescue is needed. Second call the physician (ortho, cardiac, neuro, neurologist), that will be handling that Medical emergency.

Best way is to ask people on social media. Asking your physician or other appropriate medical professional may be more beneficial.

We live in Marion County and have always received excellent care at the HCA emergency room on 441, just outside of Del Webb. That said, we heard when we moved here that if it was a life threatening condition (not emergency), go to Gainesville. Sure enough, my wife developed a condition. Her primary care doc sent her to a specialist, who sent her to another, higher level, specialist who said she needed to go to Gainesville. They saved her.

Originally Posted by Arctic Fox:
In a "life threatening emergency" why would you go anywhere other than the nearest ER?

Sure, one a bit further away might give you slightly better treatment, but if the delay makes you D.O.A. then that doesn't really help you, does it?

If you're D.O.A. at "your" choice of hospital, exactly how does that help you?

you don't say where you live, but the stand alone ER's are super. One, on 466A is associated with Ocala hospitals and one, on 44 is associated with Leesburg and the Villages hospital. Both are excellent to go to.

. One of the main reasons there’s a shortage of physicians is that medical students typically leave with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to start their career as residents with a salary that hardly compensates them. Then, the salary for a physician is hardly what you think, unless it’s one whose practice involves complex procedures. That combined with miserable conglomerate health insurers demands and corporate practices that limit the time a physician can spend with a patient makes the career very unattractive at this point. Who would want to be a doctor these days!

My sister is an ER doctor and has always said in a life threatening situation go to the closest one.

ER’s, even when crowded, do an on going triage of people in the waiting room. Yes, your wrist may hurt from falling out of the golf cart, but the person who just came in with pain in their jaw, shoulder and back may just be having a heart attack and should get seen asap. And profuse bleeding always beats a broken bone (unless it’s sticking out).

Can you show support for this? First I have heard of it.

Not if you arrive DOA, which was literally what his post said that you replied to

Being sent home alive is surely better than being dead, right?

Let’s just say, the medical down here is not the best.

EMT's told me they are required to take someone with a life threatening emergency to the nearest trauma center regardless of your request. Never tried to verify that however, so talking to one yourself might be an idea to consider.

My experience so far have been with UF freestanding ER on 44 and UF Spanish Plaines Hospital. No hospital is perfect but the right attitude pays dividends in care and connection with staff.

Your words are of no value to the person seeking a specific answer. Why did you take the time to write them?

We have used the freestanding ER on 44 across from the brownwood entrance 5 times (all serious illnesses) and have gotten excellent care each time.

Emergency treatment
 

Villages Hospital ER has terrible reputation. Seek any place else:
:click:
HCA Florida Trailwinds Village Emergency
6131 Seven Mile Drive
Wildwood, FL 34785
Office Hours
Open 24 hours (352) 461 - 5200

American Urgent Care & Walk-in Clinics
601 Gray Avenue
Wildwood, FL 34785
Office House: 9AM – 9PM
(352) 399-2422

Thank you for one of the best medical posts on TOTV in years (except for my own). I can't find one thing to criticize, and kudos into your insight into how little some of these so-called rating really mean.

You are of the opinion that Grady is a world class hospital????:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl: If I was driving that far, keep going until you hit Duke University, Wake Forest, or Baylor in Houston.

UF Health Spanish Plaines was excellent the last two visits for me. Fantastic care.

Grady is a shady hospital. Lots of gunshot wounds.

Not only old people. In my experience working in the ER, Younger folks with Medicaid use the ER as Urgent Care. It’s easier for them.

In answer to your question, Waterman in Leesburg or West Marion Hospital in Ocala.

We have always found the UF emergency room on 44 across from Brownwood to handle our real emergencies. They are well equipped and staffed and when necessary help you get into Spanish Plaines(Villages) or Leesburg a lot faster. And yes emergencies only.

Brownwood ER
 

Only once have I needed an ER in the TV. Lost a battle to an army of fire ants. Neighbor took me to the ER just south of Brownwood. They recognized the situation and immediately had in a bed on a benadryl drip. Took care of the paperwork once I stabilized.

They did an outstanding job.

BEST Hospital there is for "Emergency" care.... I was a Trauma Nurse there for several years.... but, yeah, get your care.... get stable... and, get the Hell outta dodge.