Ditto!

What also seems to be missed or left out regarding cancer
 

treatment capabilities in TV area is the fact there are several very capable, 5 star entities that never get even an honorable mention.
My wife was well cared for her breast cancer...surgery done at Leesburg hospital, oncology by very competent doctors located within the Sharn Morse building ( one of several in TV area) and leading edge radiation treatments at Inter Community Cancer Center (TV office on Rolling Acres just behind Home Depot).

Maybe....MAYBE....she could have had all her post surgery care done at one location like a REAL Moffitt Cancer center....MAYBE!

Just for observation just compare the physical size of a REAL Moffitt or MD Anderson Cancer Center to the physical size of the new building being built here. Then compare the roster of physicians, researchers, oncologists and other specialized treat capable physicians located in a full service Moffitt Cancer Center or MD Anderson Cancer Center. The conclusion will be obvious.

The other full service facilities did not and do not poll their neighbors for initial equipment or the continuous upgrading of said equipment for technology advances.

Who is going to pay for the continuing ongoing upgrading of treatment equipment requirement to stay abreast of advances in cancer treatment technology at the facility here in TV?

The entire subject is a to each his own regarding their support/intents or not.
Me personally, I need a lot more information about a plan than has been made available to the residents. At this point in the process we know what TV wants us to know. I don't categorize that as good or bad. For me it is insufficient!

btk

My sentiments exactly....and yes, I AM a cancer patient who is very pleased with my choice of Ocala Oncology satellite facility in located across Rte 441 from Wal-Mart ten minutes from our home in TV. I have experienced exhaustive waiting hours beyond my appointment time at Moffitt-Tampa and chose to look elsewhere. My problem? Moffit is understaffed to keep patients waiting many hours to be seen by a nurse practitioner and not your oncologist and his expertise. They double-book appts and these sick, weak patients must sit around for hours in a waiting room to be seen.....what's wrong with this picture?

Moffitt Center
 

To my way of thinking this is not about the Moffitt Center. It is about the manner in which the campaign to raise funds was misrepresented.

I have a friend with cancer who told me something similiar. I asked him his opinion of having the Moffitt connected center in The Villages, and he didn't feel it would give hiim any better care than he's already getting here now.

Follow the Money
 

Russ, I can't. The Daily Sun did not include it in their article of the questions answered by the panel at the VHA meeting and I don't have a copy of it. The panel explained that if the equipment could not be bought with donations, money set aside for the proposed Brownwood hospital would have to be used and this might affect when the hospital will be built.

I believe it was also stated that way in the most recent
 

issue of the POA bulletin. This is not intended to validate the issue, only that it was written there!

btk

Just read the entire article. I did see the part about possibly delaying the opening of the Brownwood Hospital.

First, it was an excellent job by the POA on asking these questions and getting answers to most. As I said before this would be news. Kudos to the POA on the research.

Second, I think all the answers provided should bring some closure to those that have expressed doubt. The only real questionable aspect is the use of the word 'donated' when discussing the new wing on the Sharon Morse building. Really it was a decision by the Morse development team to go ahead with previously shelved plans to expand the building since they now have a viable tenant in mind.

Third, I'm not that concerned even if the Brownwood hospital is delayed. There is no pressing need for the hospital at this point. Yes, in 5 years there may be as we add more residents south of 466A over that time frame. But for those of us in the south, CFHA in Leesburg is only 1/2 hour away (albeit not by golf cart:)).

Fourth, it is clearly evident that the RBOI is a radiation center and nothing more. This is great for those that need radiation treatment but unfortunately most cancer victims need more comprehensive care. RBOI will still have a place in the treatment plans of many and I wish them well.

Fifth, I thought a great point was made regarding the not for profit status. Many on this forum talk about the need for donations but never fully understand how important donations are for ALL not for profit hospitals to thrive.

Bottom line for me: I don't see any wrong doing and I don't feel that any donations will fall into the wrong hands.

For those of you who would like to read the entire POA online edition: http://www.poa4us.org/bulletins_file...etin201102.pdf

Beating a dead horse, never getting to be the boss
 

This dead horse keeps being beaten and beaten, and in the end, the developers and Moffitt and CFHA are going to do this project with long-term planning and financing in mind, over which you have no control.

They all know what they are doing....if not, we would not have this piece of paradise we enjoy. I ask myself every day if I'm dreaming, or if this beautiful place and happiness are real. It's real, and it did not happen because the developers were just "conspirators" trying to lure us into something that is not needed, not desirable, nor affordable.

Bottom line is, there are lots of people here who want to run something.....they miss their career from which they retired and in which they got to run something and exert power over others.....or they never got to run something themselves and wanted to say for 40 years, "take this job and SHOVE it", but they needed the job and had to be subordinate to a boss or home developer over whom they have NO control nor clout.

Get OVER it and accept the fact that Moffitt Comprehensive Cancer Center is coming to The Villages, and patients will be able to get all their care and have it overseen by a world-class team from beginning to end in one place--TVRH complexes.

A lot of you have no idea what it is to be in a cancer battle for years. If you had, you would be thankful you are not in a hospice or hospital bed so far from home that your spouse or relatives cannot be at your side as much as you'd like.....and you'd be thankful you don't have to get in the car SICK and be taken to Tampa, Orlando, Gainesville, or Jacksonville to get more treatments that will make you feel sicker, telling yourself it has to get worse before it gets better.

Count your blessings instead of counting dollars donated to a worthy cause by people who give because they WANT to!

Posts #128 & 129 sum up this topic perfectly. It is now up to each individual to make their own decision.

There will be more on Moffitt in Sunday's Orlando Sentinel.
Do you know that you can get home delivery of that paper?
It offers a lot more news -- and diverging opinions -- than the local propaganda, marketing sheet.

And full page after full page of ads.

The Sentinel has a Democratic editorial slant and the fun has a Republican editorial slant.

F y i
 

From Lauren Ritchie's first article in the Orlando Sentinel:

Moffitt will do two things at the proposed center, said Nick Porter, executive vice president for institutional advancement and corporate relations.
First, Moffitt will act as an adviser to oncologists who have existing practices in Lake. The center is not sending oncologists of its own here from its base in Tampa to diagnose patients.
"We'll be providing guidelines, pathways, the mechanics of treating cancer as well as the opportunity to use clinical investigational drugs that we're using," he said.
Under the five-year agreement, local doctors will be able to participate in Moffitt "tumor boards" — meetings of Moffitt experts to discuss individual patients and recommend therapies — and may be able to join "some clinical trial activity."

Secondly, Porter said, Moffitt will be providing "the physical component of radiation therapy," which means that they'll supply the staff — physicists and dosimetrists, experts who measure and evaluate the dose of radiation — to run the machines.
Initially, only one part-time doctor, a radiation therapy physician, will be at The Villages center to oversee the process. The doctor will split his or her time with a second proposed Moffitt facility, this one on the campus of Leesburg Regional Medical Center, which is also owned by Central Florida Health Alliance. It is expected to be nearly identical to the one in The Villages in terms of services and equipment, Porter said.