The reason you may hear not great things about health care is there are lots of new Villagers moving here every year. Unfortunately, they have been having troubles recruiting a proportionate amount of doctors. They’ve recently embarked on building a true family area, with not only house and schools but other infrastructure in Middleton. Hopefully this will help them bring in doctors and their families.

Once you are an established patient of a doctor in the Villages it’s usually pretty easy to get in to see them. That first appointment may be quite a few months out. That is true of specialists as well as primary doctors. If you are willing to travel to Orlando or Tampa for medical care it is a bit easier to get in.

The stand alone emergency on 466 is part of what was called Ocala Health, they changed names, and if you needed a hospital they would transport you free up to West Marion Hospital in Ocala. We liked West Marion and like the emergency there on 466.

If you are in the southern section and can get to Leesburg fairly fast not only is Leesburg hospital there but also Waterman, which is part of Advent Health. That healthcare group has a good reputation.

1. I think you meant to type 466A. HCA Florida Emergency is located in Trailwinds Village on 466A.

2. AdventHealth Waterman is actually in Tavares.

And the ER located on Highway 44 across from Brownwood Town Center is not an urgent care facility. It is a true emergency room affiliated with The Villages Hospital and the Leesburg Hospital. If you go there and are deemed to need hospital admittance they will transport you from the ER direct to your room in either hospital.

That's usually a limited experience reputation, limited to existing residents.

My mom's memory care has various times of great and not great care, its somewhat inconsistent, due to the high turnover and pay levels, etc. when the facility is at full capacity, the daily offerings are better, and not great when there are not at full capacity. It has a "good" reputation in the area, but so what. . .

If they are at full capacity, there is a lower ratio of aids to residents, which results in less personal attention as memory care has mostly incompetent residents. This results in less supervision at eating times, which can easily become an issue with an incompetent person.

so just to say that the non residents give it a good reputation is great, but actual care is much more nuanced, and observable.

hence my question about independent vs local sources . . .

Orlando airport is about 55 miles and Jacksonville airport is about 148 miles.

A significant difference.

You don't mention that you have visited The Villages. As others have suggested, a visit is mandatory. When I first heard of The Villages (2006), we made two visits. The first was to decide whether The Villages was for us. It was this visit which made us understand the concept and then zero in on the area we wanted.

It is important to recognize that The Villages is truly large. Nearly 60 square miles of developed and developing.

Also, it is easily recognized that the building began in the north and has worked its way south over a period of 50 plus years. Picture a rectangle 3 miles wide (East/West) and 20 miles long (North/South). Spanish Springs circa 1995, Lake Sumter Landing circa 2005, Brownwood Circa 2012. The housing developed as the town progression. ( gives an idea of housing age ) Essentially, there are no spaces left for new housing. Currently new housing is developed by huge tracts in the very southern areas.

Also, not all housing is equal. There are 3 counties involved and several towns. Taxes vary by county and can be higher if you are in a town. Do you need to be near a shopping area, medical offices, rec center etc?

What does that mean?

Want new housing, have to buy south.

Though some may not agree, the approach does tend to create an area aging math. For example, if the population buying in Lake Sumter averaged 60 years old in 2005, it would suggest that it would be in the 70's now. So, if you are 55, you would find that newer areas would tend to have the younger age groups.

The above is an example of why you need to visit. These types of factors may be more important than whether or not you have access the natural gas.

Best Wishes in your search. We did it in 2006 and have never regretted.

A visit is NOT mandatory. Many of the reasons you cited, you also answered in your post.

If a brand new house is desired, then the southern section is (mostly) the answer.

Taxes can be determined for existing houses (approximately) by looking up the property on the respective county websites.

An amazing amount of information can be found out via the internet. Forums, like this one, FEMA flood maps, county tax rates, satellite views of the area, & in some cases, Google street views.

But most importantly, a visit will not tell you about your potential neighbors. Unless, you settle on a house & try to visit the specific houses around your purchase. Very difficult, for all sorts of reasons - they may be out golfing during the day, they may be out dancing at night. They may be visiting relatives out of state. Theoretically the older areas have older residents, but those initial buyers may have been moving on. A newer area might have a many rentals. The best advice is to try & find a house you like in a village you like.

Distance wise, Tampa is the 2nd closest major airport and it is about 80 miles from TV, depending upon where you live. Sanford is a major airport for Allegiant

When I say "people I know who have people living there" I meant spouses of Trinity residents. People who are Villagers who have made the difficult decision to place their spouse into memory care. They are the people I know, who speak highly of Trinity.

I know others who speak highly of Harbor Chase as well.

There is another option which some folks have embraced: buy a foreclosure in the "Historic Section", have the old single-wide rolled out, and build a brand new house on the lot. It's not a common occurrence but it does still happen. There are a couple currently in progress that I've seen myself, and two that completed last year that I've also seen myself.

The Villages Hospital has the lowest CMS rating - 1 star. You asked about small ERs - they are just that - ERs with limited service (not urgent care), they're affiliated with larger hospitals nearby. If you have a life threatening emergency and want an average or better chance of living then choose a home within a short distance of Advent Health Waterman in Tavares (4 star CMS rated) or Advent health Ocala (3 star CMS rated) ALL other hospitals in/near the Villages are rated lower than average. As someone mentioned, UF Shands in Gainesville is a 5 star CMS rated hospital... great for cancer treatment and issues that can wait for an hour or more drive to get treatment.

Don't underestimate how dangerous it could be to go to a 1 star hospital (TV hospital is rated 1 star). You literally have many times higher chance of dying if you're treated by a 1 star CMS rated hospital versus a 5 star. The mortality (death) rates are much higher at 1 star hospitals. You're worth it - live near a 3 star or better hospital.

The term "mandatory" is perhaps inartful, but as someone who first did a formal one-week lifestyle visit in late 2022, and then rented for a month this past October (and just bought our home this week), I think it's a huge mistake not to visit, and probably at least twice (longer the second time). A lot of things listed in this thread are accurate without a visit, but it was only after coming here -- despite a lot of research beforehand -- that we appreciated the scope of the place, where things are, what it's actually like to visit one of the squares during an evening and during a marketplace, actually living the "golf cart lifestyle", meeting people at clubs, etc.

Best of luck, and I will reiterate the recommendation to contact Samantha Griffin if you don't already have a VLS agent assigned. There's a wealth of information she or any agent can pass along.

First off 2k+/- might get you a one month rental. There are a number of assisted living places, a big one is named Freedom Point I believe. I am not sure all the areas with gas but all homes do not have 2 separate water meters.

I know the hospital does not have a good rating but some rave about it. The one time I needed to see someone I just went to CVS minute clinic. About half the homes are block. The Village Development has built all the homes, what contractors or subcontractors they use I don’t know. Orlando is the closest and most transportation goes to Orlando but Tampa is the best. Tampa is a little longer ride but an easier more direct route. If we have friends picking us up we fly to Orlando but if we are renting a car or leaving our car the we go to Tampa.

When we drive from MA we come down 95 and jump on 301 near Jacksonville. Good luck and enjoy.

Feel for You
 

Thought you already lived hear in a Begonia or something? I feel for your predicament and for all the issues it brings up in your family. Of course the issue is sensitive and the particulars would cause many personal things to be brought up. I can steer you in the right direction though. Two places that are worth contacting are Vista Lake in Leesburg and Inspiritas in Wildwood. They aren’t cheap and they are private. They are about 5K per month. I’m not aware of any that take insurance, but they do utilize the patient’s insurance for medical care. Good luck.

considering the move of the memory care resident, my mom, 97y/o, to FL

:yuck: