[Dan9871]

For the past few months I have been checking the wait time at the Villages Hospital ER quite a few times a day. You can see it on line at Home - Villages | The Villages Regional Hospital | The Villages, Florida

Up until a few days ago it was almost always 0 minutes when I checked.

But now, starting a few days ago, it is almost never 0. It is almost always at least 30 minutes and often quite a bit more.

Anybody have any idea what is going on?

[theorem painter]

I think it needs to be qualified. Wait time for what? To sign in? To have your vitals taken? To be asked for your credit card info? To see the triage nurse? To be taken back for test? To get your results? What I saw after sitting there for 8 hours was person after person leaving because they were tried of waiting. The nurse at the desk just took their IVs out and never bothered to record that they left. One would think that this information would be important to hospital administration to keep track of when and why patients left without being seen.

[Blessed2BNTV]

While I love most everything about The Villages, I do not like the ER. I don't know what their issues are, but need better management, more staff, more space.....don't know what is needed.

I can speak with experience. I've been in the ER, my mom has been there.

We were just there last night......mom fell and thought she might have broken her hip. Just a contusion.

Any suggestions for ortho doctor? I know....off topic.....

[Bonny]

Originally Posted by theorem painter

I think it needs to be qualified. Wait time for what? To sign in? To have your vitals taken? To be asked for your credit card info? To see the triage nurse? To be taken back for test? To get your results? What I saw after sitting there for 8 hours was person after person leaving because they were tried of waiting. The nurse at the desk just took their IVs out and never bothered to record that they left. One would think that this information would be important to hospital administration to keep track of when and why patients left without being seen.

Seems to me if they left before they were seen, it wasn't an emergency. Better they go to their own Dr. or Urgent Care.

[billethkid]

The wait times on hospital apps are as accurate as a 3 month old baby telling what time it is!!

We all know with all the complaints over the past 13 years, those who manage the hospital surely are aware there is a problem. So the real question has been and remains;

Why is there no improvement?
Why is a compromised, ineffective process for handling some number of critical people?
Why is the ineffective operation allowed to continue?

[retiredguy123]

I believe the problem is that emergency rooms choose to treat non-emergencies to make money. They can charge higher fees for non-emergencies if the care is provided in the emergency room. Patients should be screened as soon as they arrive, and told to go somewhere else if their condition is not a real emergency. Contrary to what many people think, this would not violate federal law.

[Dan9871]

I know ER "wait time" is pretty much undefined and I know it doesn't seem to be related to anything my wife and I have experienced in ER's.

I'm just curious about the dramatic difference in the change in the wait time starting just a few days ago?

[skip0358]

Article last week, relief is on the way. The once Urgent care off the main lobby is going to become the I don't feel right part of the ER allowing the ER to be an Emergency Room. That being said there will be backups as beds may not be available in the Hospital. Another section is under renovation to help with beds. Remember another thing the ER will treat non insured persons also. As for the Morse Family they do not own or run TVRH. Everyone knows there are issues if you your happy don't go there. There is an ER run by Ocala Hospital on 441 just before Marion Market on the right side. Have heard of no problems being reported and it's maybe 15 minutes away.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Blessed2BNTV

While I love most everything about The Villages, I do not like the ER. I don't know what their issues are, but need better management, more staff, more space.....don't know what is needed.

I can speak with experience. I've been in the ER, my mom has been there.

We were just there last night......mom fell and thought she might have broken her hip. Just a contusion.

Any suggestions for ortho doctor? I know....off topic.....

I hope mom gets better quickly. I'm not sure if you really need an orthopedist if it is just a contusion, but Dr. Tom Sullivan is among the best, he's been my family orthopedist and colleague for 30 years, but he is in TVH specialty care system.
DB and I have posted much of the ER problems and possible solutions on multiple threads before. The main problem is probably systemic and "cultural". An ER needs leadership from the top---a lackadaisical ER physician will spread that "culture" down the line. The best ERs have a stable group of physicians that live in the community they serve---they tend to give top quality care when the patients are their friends and neighbors. An ER that farms out physician services to a South Florida group that has an excess of locum tenens MDs likely results in shift mentalities, punching the time clock and watching the clock until shift is over. They have no vested interest in the community and therefor tend to work in slow gear. This then starts the cascade down the line. It is also hard to retain good nurses---imagine a diligent nurse who constantly has to remind the doc that there are 5 patients ready to be seen? Imagine the triage person who constantly has to tell the lab there are 6 patients that need blood drawn? They get sick of it pretty quickly. From what I've seen, this seems to be a large contributing factor to wait time.

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I believe the problem is that emergency rooms choose to treat non-emergencies to make money. They can charge higher fees for non-emergencies if the care is provided in the emergency room. Patients should be screened as soon as they arrive, and told to go somewhere else if their condition is not a real emergency. Contrary to what many people think, this would not violate federal law.

That statement is just ridiculous. ERs are notorious for LOSING tons of money, it is not a profit center for a hospital (Agree, DB?). Also COBRA regulations require that a patient that comes to your ER MUST be evaluated by a physician PRIOR to being sent elsewhere. Violation fines begin at 50K.

[justjim]

TVRH ER and poop Threads run one and two on this site. If you live south of 466A Leesburg is just as close and even Waterman on 441 is close. North TV consider Ocala as mentioned. The ER at TVRH has been an issue for the 10 plus years we have been in TV. It only gets worse during the winter months. We could give examples of friends with horrible experiences at the ER but we have used urgent care clinics a couple of times and found them to be very good. Unfortunately, they are not open 24 hours a day.

I don't expect "better" in the future given the growth of The Villages.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by justjim

TVRH ER and poop Threads run one and two on this site. If you live south of 466A Leesburg is just as close and even Waterman on 441 is close. North TV consider Ocala as mentioned. The ER at TVRH has been an issue for the 10 plus years we have been in TV. It only gets worse during the winter months. We could give examples of friends with horrible experiences at the ER but we have used urgent care clinics a couple of times and found them to be very good. Unfortunately, they are not open 24 hours a day.

I don't expect "better" in the future given the growth of The Villages.

I agree it will not get better until major changes are made. What's amazing is that TVRH is run by the same group that runs Leesburg.

[Dan9871]

I got some follow up info on wait times from the Central Florida Health president.

Wait times on both the Villages and Leesburg hospitals now show the wait time to see a physician or NP to be triaged, not the time to check in. (I'm pretty sure they used to show check in time)

Also CFH is adding beds to the Leesburg ED to expand it from 42 to 67 beds.

And CFH now has property in Brownwood that they will be building an ER on.

I got all this info by just sending an short email with a question about the change in wait times on the web site to info@CentFLHealth.org (listed in Contacts on the web page). Pretty quick response from the CFH president I think....

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Dan9871

I got some follow up info on wait times from the Central Florida Health president.

Wait times on both the Villages and Leesburg hospitals now show the wait time to see a physician or NP to be triaged, not the time to check in. (I'm pretty sure they used to show check in time)

Also CFH is adding beds to the Leesburg ED to expand it from 42 to 67 beds.

And CFH now has property in Brownwood that they will be building an ER on.

I got all this info by just sending an short email with a question about the change in wait times on the web site to info@CentFLHealth.org (listed in Contacts on the web page). Pretty quick response from the CFH president I think....

At least it shows they are aware of the issue and have some concern.
I think a better time to track is the time from arrival until being seen by a physician, and secondarily, the time from being first seen to either admission or discharge.

[champion6]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I believe the problem is that emergency rooms choose to treat non-emergencies to make money. They can charge higher fees for non-emergencies if the care is provided in the emergency room. Patients should be screened as soon as they arrive, and told to go somewhere else if their condition is not a real emergency. Contrary to what many people think, this would not violate federal law.

Some patients WON'T GO anywhere else because of their insurance coverage -- no copay if treated in ER vs. a copay if treated at Urgent Care or PCP office.

[rubicon]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

I hope mom gets better quickly. I'm not sure if you really need an orthopedist if it is just a contusion, but Dr. Tom Sullivan is among the best, he's been my family orthopedist and colleague for 30 years, but he is in TVH specialty care system.
DB and I have posted much of the ER problems and possible solutions on multiple threads before. The main problem is probably systemic and "cultural". An ER needs leadership from the top---a lackadaisical ER physician will spread that "culture" down the line. The best ERs have a stable group of physicians that live in the community they serve---they tend to give top quality care when the patients are their friends and neighbors. An ER that farms out physician services to a South Florida group that has an excess of locum tenens MDs likely results in shift mentalities, punching the time clock and watching the clock until shift is over. They have no vested interest in the community and therefor tend to work in slow gear. This then starts the cascade down the line. It is also hard to retain good nurses---imagine a diligent nurse who constantly has to remind the doc that there are 5 patients ready to be seen? Imagine the triage person who constantly has to tell the lab there are 6 patients that need blood drawn? They get sick of it pretty quickly. From what I've seen, this seems to be a large contributing factor to wait time.




That statement is just ridiculous. ERs are notorious for LOSING tons of money, it is not a profit center for a hospital (Agree, DB?). Also COBRA regulations require that a patient that comes to your ER MUST be evaluated by a physician PRIOR to being sent elsewhere. Violation fines begin at 50K.

"He who treats himself has a fool for a patient". Its my understanding that hip fractures in elderly can occur just from trying to rise from a chair or just in the process of walking. The man said his mom fell so my take is that the average Joe is going to take mom to the ER?

If what you describe is true about an ER then a government single payer health care plan would be an operating nightmare. I can hear the ER doc now "it ain't my job man"

Here's a question for you. AS TO PHYSICIAN BILLING, WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON FEE FOR SERVICE VIS A VIS BUNDLED PAYMENTS?