[Pturner]

I still don't understand what Moffitt will be providing at TV? Moffitt's website links to two news articles about the Leesburg and TV facilities. One printed in the Tampa Bay Business Journal and one printed in dailycommercial.com.

From the linked articles, I don't necessarily get the impression that Moffitt doctors will practice at the TV facility. Here is a paragraph from Tampa Bay article:

"The partnership also includes a team of multidisciplinary Moffitt faculty members consulting with the hospitals’ physicians and surgeons on patient cases, educational seminars and professional exchanges. Patients under treatment at The Villages and Leesburg Regional hospitals have access through their physicians to clinical trials offered through Moffitt, as well as relaying of critical patient care information through telecommunications and electronic medical records development."
Read more: Moffitt Cancer Center adding facilities | Tampa Bay Business Journal

Here is a paragraph from the Daily Commercial article:

"A team of multidisciplinary faculty members from Moffitt will consult with local physicians and surgeons on patient cases, and patients will have access to clinical trials offered through Moffitt."
Read more: Cancer centers coming to Leesburg, The Villages

The article in The Villages Daily Sun says:

"Moffitt will staff the center with its radiation oncologists, dosimitrists, radiation therapists, physicists and physicians."

So, are Moffitt doctors just consulting with local doctors or will Moffitt multidisciplinary doctors treat patients at The Villages? Does it make any difference to those who are enthusiastic about the new facility?

[barb1191]

Originally Posted by DeafDeaf

If Robert Boissoneault Oncology Institute bought the equipment via loan and got reimbursed from insurance carriers for its clients, they paid off the cost! Why cannot the Moffitt Cancer Center do the same? Why should we donate money to the MOffitt center, helping making those doctors richer? Both the center and the medical staff will be reimbursed by almost all insurance carriers! I rather donate the money to the cause where it is impossible to be covered by any other than charities!

Good question!! I suspect that the Developer is the only benefactor in all of these dealings since he controls his company The Villages Health System and is collecting donations to purchase and own all of the equipment that he doesn't pay for, to lease to Moffitt along with the building leased to Moffitt and the money that donors paid goes directly into the pocket of the Developer while he can write off the not-for-profit structure he's building, tax free (but we pay taxes for the hospitals) and the health insurance pays the medical services and the developer even controls the non-medical staff. Where is all of this money coming from? Yup we "donate" if one chooses along with paying taxes for these hospitals. Can't quite figure that one out yet. Think I read that in the Dec issue of the POA (read it online).

I do feel that as time passes and more and more information is learned that people are now thinking this over before giving their hard-earned money to a cause that in the end is really a mere moneymaker for the developer and not really in an ethical manner. I doubt that the developer has made NO deal to pass over any donations to Moffitt but merely charge them big time for the leases on TV premises and equipment owned by the developer. Oh yes, and I would imagine if he's staffing the non-medical then that's another billable item to Moffitt.

Since the developer was found guilty and paid dearly to the residents' law suit against him a few years back, and then the IRS questioning the developer's financial practices, and once more this request for donations for his company deal with Moffitt.....how much does it take to see the real picture? That seems good reasoning to doubt the developer's ethics.

Again, I can not stress enough how strongly I feel that the POA is the pinnacle of trust and resolve for the residents. I love it here and I know that the POA will do their due diligence for the residents. The Villages is paradise and there is no reason to complain about TV however residents have every right to know what's going on with our investment and the developer needs to communicate same.

Again, how can one trust a person with all of that baggage, along with the fact of what he did in kicking the ACS Relay for Life off the TV property. That did it for me!!! GRRRRR

[Larry Wilson]

Well said Barb!
Don't forget the poaching in Montana.
The longer you live here and the more you talk to people, the less you trust this developer.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Pturner

I still don't understand what Moffitt will be providing at TV? Moffitt's website links to two news articles about the Leesburg and TV facilities. One printed in the Tampa Bay Business Journal and one printed in dailycommercial.com.

From the linked articles, I don't necessarily get the impression that Moffitt doctors will practice at the TV facility. Here is a paragraph from Tampa Bay article:

"The partnership also includes a team of multidisciplinary Moffitt faculty members consulting with the hospitals’ physicians and surgeons on patient cases, educational seminars and professional exchanges. Patients under treatment at The Villages and Leesburg Regional hospitals have access through their physicians to clinical trials offered through Moffitt, as well as relaying of critical patient care information through telecommunications and electronic medical records development."
Read more: Moffitt Cancer Center adding facilities | Tampa Bay Business Journal

Here is a paragraph from the Daily Commercial article:

"A team of multidisciplinary faculty members from Moffitt will consult with local physicians and surgeons on patient cases, and patients will have access to clinical trials offered through Moffitt."
Read more: Cancer centers coming to Leesburg, The Villages

The article in The Villages Daily Sun says:

"Moffitt will staff the center with its radiation oncologists, dosimitrists, radiation therapists, physicists and physicians."

So, are Moffitt doctors just consulting with local doctors or will Moffitt multidisciplinary doctors treat patients at The Villages? Does it make any difference to those who are enthusiastic about the new facility?

The huge team of oncologists that treated both Helene and me here in Cincinnati do it this way. A group of doctors typically have a day a week at each of their centers. We see our oncologist on Monday in Blue Ash which is closest to us. The nurses and techs stay at each place all six days but the M.D.s rotate. The radiation oncologists stay in one place all of the time. (There are several radiation oncology sites around the city.)

I also want to mention that surgeons are not part of this group. The surgeons are picked by your oncologist, although some surgeons specialize in areas like breast surgery exclusively.

FYI.

And while on the subject for anyone recently diagnosed, there are 13 of my relatives that have had breast cancer. Only one has died from it.

Cancer can be so scary, but many, many of us have survived it.

[LittleDog]

"Again, how can one trust a person with all of that baggage, along with the fact of what he did in kicking the ACS Relay for Life off the TV property. That did it for me!!! GRRRRR"

I mentioned this thread to my wife who didn't believe that the ACS was off the Village property. Is this just hearsay or is there some proof that this is occuring?

John

[barb1191]

Originally Posted by jrheydt

"Again, how can one trust a person with all of that baggage, along with the fact of what he did in kicking the ACS Relay for Life off the TV property. That did it for me!!! GRRRRR"

I mentioned this thread to my wife who didn't believe that the ACS was off the Village property. Is this just hearsay or is there some proof that this is occuring?

John

This is NOT hearsay, John. The ACS Relay for Life organization sent (snail mail) a letter to all relay participants explaining that the event will not be in TV. If you peruse the various threads re this subject, you will find this letter I posted on TOTV. The ACS RFL letter I posted is real and received by my neighbor who participates each year in this event.

I can understand why your wife finds this hard to fathom, however, it's documented and for real.

[Whalen]

Originally Posted by jrheydt

"Again, how can one trust a person with all of that baggage, along with the fact of what he did in kicking the ACS Relay for Life off the TV property. That did it for me!!! GRRRRR"

I mentioned this thread to my wife who didn't believe that the ACS was off the Village property. Is this just hearsay or is there some proof that this is occuring?

John

Originally Posted by barb1191

This is NOT hearsay, John. The ACS Relay for Life organization sent (snail mail) a letter to all relay participants explaining that the event will not be in TV. If you peruse the various threads re this subject, you will find this letter I posted on TOTV. The ACS RFL letter I posted is real and received by my neighbor who participates each year in this event.

John,

Barb is correct. I was at the meeting at which we were told that the annual Relay for Life event can not be held anywhere on Village property!

Please see the following thread, it says it all.

Relay For Life @ TVHS

[graciegirl]

To me, it is just as bad to drop a good project because of our disappointment at the Morses as it is for the Morses to drop a good project because they want to promote "their" fund raiser.

The Relay for Life still exists closeby. It was damn ugly of the Morses to take away their support of it, but it is still going on and real people still need the real emotional benefits and support and solace it presents.

We have to look past the forest for the trees.

I still want to know why the Moffitt center isn't paying for their own equipment.

And we can rant and rave and point fingers until the cows come home and that isn't really helping anyone.

We know that the Morses removed their backing of the the Relay for Life.

The question now is, Is the Moffit center being in The Villages going to help us or just the Morses name?

[zcaveman]

Depending on your feelings, you might want to check out the ads for the various events in TV. For example, the Lipizzan Stallions which will be here on Dec 19 and 20, the blurb at the top of the ad states that the "Proceeds to benefit the Villages Moffitt Cancer Center".

So it seems that they are going to TRY and get the money out of us one way or the other.

[Number 6]

I still want to know why the Moffitt center isn't paying for their own equipment.

................and the Leesburg center is.

[Reelimpatient]

FYI, any event held in the villages, is required to donate a portion if not all the proceeds to the Moffitt project, or it will not be allowed to be held in the villages.

That is exactly why the Relay for Life got moved. Tis' Sad

[Hancle704]

I have read many of the postings about this issue and think that if more cancer care comes to TV, that's great. If folks wish to donate their time and funds that's admirable. There is just something about this that keeps me wondering if this is deja vu all over again.

After justifying the need and what seemed like a long drawn out battle with LRMC about the construction of a small hospital in TV there was not much time that passed and it became obvious to all, that this original 60 bed hospital with no surgery capabilities and a strained ER Dept was not large enough to handle the near term growth of the tri-county senior population. So shortly after it opened it was proposed by our local State Rep that a Hospital Taxing Authority be created with funds just coming from Sumter County Village Residents who lived in the proposed Hospital Taxing District. It was conceived to be similar to the Hospital Taxing District created for a portion of Lake County to support LRMC.

There was much discussion about this especially after it was learned that a portion of the funds raised would be given to a Morse Family Foundation.

We were told that the much needed expansion of TVRH would never take place unless this taxing district were created. After much furor, it was put on the ballot and the proposal was defeated.

Suddenly, deals with LRMC were worked out and both hospitals went through major expansions and within a few years after residents were told it couldn't happen without the added tax, construction began and TVRH was expanded to the larger facility with increased surgical services and an expanded ER Dept. that exists today. I guess my point is that, maybe there is more to this than what we are being told about the need to have fund raising to equip the new Moffitt Cancer Facility in TV.

I tried searching on TOTV to see if there were posts about the Taxing District, but I guess all that preceded TOTV. I'm sure there is still more info available in the public domain about what transpired several years ago and how it is starting to sound like what is happening today.

As I have gotten older my memory is not as sharp, so I invite others who have a better recollection of the failed Hospital Taxing District to share with newer Villagers what took place then and why it seems somewhat similar to what is being presented now.

[redwitch]

First I've heard of the past proposed Hospital Taxing District. Sounds like it was ugly. I get the feeling Moffitt will get ugly, too.

This is also the first I have heard that ANY event taking place in TV has to give a portion of its proceeds to Moffitt. That's just obscene. I really would love to see the Lippizaners, but not if it profits something I really don't believe in and, as yet, I really get the feeling we're going to regret Moffitt being here.

As to why Moffitt won't pay for the equipment here but not in Leesburg, my understanding is that Moffitt didn't want to come here but the Morses offered them a deal they couldn't refuse -- free land, building and equipment. And they don't even have to send their doctors here -- they can consult via phone and internet. Hey, if I were Moffitt, I'd take the deal. It's a sweet one for them.

[barb1191]

Originally Posted by Hancle704

I have read many of the postings about this issue and think that if more cancer care comes to TV, that's great. If folks wish to donate their time and funds that's admirable. There is just something about this that keeps me wondering if this is deja vu all over again.

After justifying the need and what seemed like a long drawn out battle with LRMC about the construction of a small hospital in TV there was not much time that passed and it became obvious to all, that this original 60 bed hospital with no surgery capabilities and a strained ER Dept was not large enough to handle the near term growth of the tri-county senior population. So shortly after it opened it was proposed by our local State Rep that a Hospital Taxing Authority be created with funds just coming from Sumter County Village Residents who lived in the proposed Hospital Taxing District. It was conceived to be similar to the Hospital Taxing District created for a portion of Lake County to support LRMC.

There was much discussion about this especially after it was learned that a portion of the funds raised would be given to a Morse Family Foundation.

We were told that the much needed expansion of TVRH would never take place unless this taxing district were created. After much furor, it was put on the ballot and the proposal was defeated.

Suddenly, deals with LRMC were worked out and both hospitals went through major expansions and within a few years after residents were told it couldn't happen without the added tax, construction began and TVRH was expanded to the larger facility with increased surgical services and an expanded ER Dept. that exists today. I guess my point is that, maybe there is more to this than what we are being told about the need to have fund raising to equip the new Moffitt Cancer Facility in TV.

I tried searching on TOTV to see if there were posts about the Taxing District, but I guess all that preceded TOTV. I'm sure there is still more info available in the public domain about what transpired several years ago and how it is starting to sound like what is happening today.

As I have gotten older my memory is not as sharp, so I invite others who have a better recollection of the failed Hospital Taxing District to share with newer Villagers what took place then and why it seems somewhat similar to what is being presented now.

Oh yes Hancle704, your memory serves you well. I remember the vote to impose a special tax only to Sumter Cty, to expand LRMC. What's wrong with this picture, sez I. The developer requests just Sumter Cty to pay for this expansion and yet this building services THE PUBLIC! That was a no-brainer that the Sumter Cty citizens were not buying into such an unbalanced situation and of course it didn't pass. I'll bet that if one digs deep enough into the "archives" of the POA publications, they will find the documentation verifying it all.

Unfortunately, even though the developer succeeded in building a phenominal community that continues to flourish, and for which the residents are all happy campers, this does not excuse the fact that the developer seems to have become greedy, extremely unethical and dishonest in so many instances and above all so very antisocial and uncommunicative. Does he think he can get away with all this greed just because we all love living here? He's digging himself a hole that is becoming much deeper than the lawsuit he lost between he and the POA a few years ago.

Speaking of the POA....We must all rally round and give our full support to the POA because they happen to truly care about the residents and they have proven themselves to be mighty in their efforts to do what's right for the residents.

Am stepping down from the soapbox. g'nite.....barb1191

[Number 6]

As to why Moffitt won't pay for the equipment here but not in Leesburg, my understanding is that Moffitt didn't want to come here but the Morses offered them a deal they couldn't refuse -- free land, building and equipment. And they don't even have to send their doctors here -- they can consult via phone and internet. Hey, if I were Moffitt, I'd take the deal. It's a sweet one for them.

I think it was CFHA that did not want to build in the Villages. Their feasibility study only supported one facility and they wanted to locate it on the Leesburg campus, in spite of many of us complaining that it should be located where the patients are. While the equipment will be paid for through donations, they will still have the lease the building from the Developer. It is a very good deal for CFHA because the donated equipment represents $125-$150K in cash flow per month.
Now ask yourself, why did the Developer find it important to have a center at the Villages?