Questionable Healthcare in the Villages
 

Last week we moved into our new home in The Villages and we are very excited to finally be here. My 90 year old mother-in-law lives with us and had a significant health problem. We took her to The Villages Regional Hospital emergency room and had to wait 7 hours before a doctor could see her. In the meantime her breathing became more labored and exhaustion set in. This did not motivate the ER staff to help. Finally, she was admitted at 2:00 AM. The next evening the staff forgot to provide her dinner. Two hours late they did provide her a sandwich.

Our experience may have been an anomaly but it does raise the concern of healthcare in general in The Villages. I hope we did not make a mistake in moving here.

A friend of mine went to TV emergency room with a finger half cut off from a saw. He sat in the waiting room for 6 hours waiting to be seen with a bloody towel wrapped around his hand! It is the worst hospital emergency room I have ever seen. If something happens to me, I will drive to Ocala and go to Munroe.

I am thinking that maybe you should have called EMS in both situations?

Both could access the problem and give emergency care. I am pretty sure they do ekgs. And they do know the status of the local emergency rooms.

I have to say that my honest opinion is that we left better choices in healthcare behind and that is possibly because so many of us are on Medicare. And....I can't support that argument with any logical explanation.

I am .....confused. It may be that we haven't found the right M.D. yet. The one we have is o.k. but not a perfect fit.

I am confused by a sign in his office that they will not be taking anymore self pay patients. We have insurance but...wonder why they have opted not to accept people who pay for healthcare themselves?

This is the first time we have not lived close to a large teaching hospital and medical school.

We have heard good reports from close friends about hospital care at Sharon Morse but thankfully haven't needed any hospital care. When our grandson had an asthma attack he was immediatly cared for at the hospital emergency room.

Being old doens't put you to the head of the line here, there are a lot of older folks here if you have noticed.

Medical Care
 

I don't wish to appear rude, but I'm going to assume you did not just arrive, buy a house and move in. Did you visit to see what TV was like before deciding to live here, if so when your decision was made to move a 90 year old lady I think you should have set her up with a doctor along with all of her medical records just in case you had a problem. To just haul her off to a hospital and have her sit for hours was definitely too much for her.

You will read horror stories here on this site about our medical care and our hospitals, but we have NEVER had a problem with either a doctor or the local hospital. If this hospital cannot help you they will have you sent to the best major hospital in the area.

For future needs, keep in mind that we have four or five excellent critical care clinics within the immediate area. She would not have to wait 7 hrs at a clinic, and if she needed immediate hospital attention they would call an ambulance and have her admitted to one of the local hospitals.

I don't think you have made a mistake in moving here, it is an incredible place to live.

This is the second such story I've seen just in the last few days here. I wasn't too worried until Gracie also seems to think there is a problem. Frankly as someone who has had more than their share of ER visits, it terrifies me.

Can you explain what is causing these long delays in the ER? Are they understaffed, are they just overwhelmed with too many patients coming to the ER? There must be come explanation for this. Can anyone shed some light on this cause and whether it is like this everyday, or just in some cases..

And what is the closest hospital with a well run ER?

Thanks,

Dave

Where exactly are the "critical care clinics"? or are you referring to urgent care centers. Big difference between "critical care" and "urgent care". Just wondering if I'm missing something here.

Perhaps Gracie, the "self pay" patients are really "no pay" patients, without insurance? I have not been to the emergency room but that may be where the " self pay/ no pay/ patients also wind up? I would have called 911 for my 90 year old or went to one of the many Urgent Care facilities. We have used these Urgent Cares with excellent results. Sime ebpven fill prescriptions right in the office.

In the initial case cited, the Emergency Room was a poor first choise. Live and kearn.

Better to call EMS 911 in a case like that rather than go to a busy Emergency Room.

I suppose if a person knew there were issues at this ER, it might be a mistake to take their mother there. BUT, all things being equal I would never take anyone that I thought was seriously ill to an Urgent Care facility instead of a hosptial ER. The hosptial has all the equipment and staff you should need, the Urgent Care, certainly not. We went to one while we where their to have blood drawn for a test that my Opthmologist wanted. They were perfectly nice, but there wasn't even a doctor there, just a PA. Clearly they weren't set up for serious cases. And for what it's worth, the one we went to said they were owned by the hospital.

I also cannot image someone calling an ambulance for someone who was mobile and had a person to drive them, again all things being equal.

If you keep doin' what you are doin' you keep gettin' what you arr gettin' Anything serious, call 911. We had a friend pass away years ago, in his 50s because his wife decided to drive him to the hospital. He died in the car.

To a point I agree with people about med care. Every time I find a good dr. he moves or just disappears. The offices are like franchises and hire the dr. but it doesnt work. Wait till Obamacare kicks in you think it's bad now

"I also cannot image someone calling an ambulance for someone who was mobile and had a person to drive them, again all things being equal."

This is definitely the wrong decision to make. If a person comes to an ER by car, they will be treated but it will take time for a non-life threatening condition to be seen. If they come by ambulance, they will be evaluated right away. If the 90 year old lady had a serious breathing issue, the EMS's from the 911 ambulance would have been able to give oxygen promptly as well as assuring she would have been evaluated right away at the hospital.

Urgent Care centers are not for situations that are life threatening. They should be used for cases of flu, dehydration, or things like that when your family doctor is closed.

I agree with everything you said. While people complain about some things like not having a doctor in an Urgent care, they seem to be opOK with a "self diagnosis" , the worst kind. Call 911 when ever in doubt.

The OP didn't say what the emergency was but heart issues and breathing issues and serious bleeding issues take precedent over all others I am told. That is what a triage nurse is for, to sort out those who have immediate life threatening issues. If a person could be experiencing heart issues then they should be transported, at least that is my non medical opinion.

I agree a wait for 7 hrs at the ER for anybody 90 years old with a breathing problem is totally unacceptable. We have been in TV for six years---seems to me this has been a problem from the "get go" with The Villages Hospital ER. Isn't it about time that this situation is improved? During the winter months it seems obvious that the ER needs additional staff to take care of the increase patients. They (the hospital) could certainly do better!