[CFrance]

Originally Posted by DianeM

OK OK - I admitted to just being in a crummy mood.

This whole subject is enough to put anyone in a crummy mood.

[DianeM]

Originally Posted by CFrance

This whole subject is enough to put anyone in a crummy mood.

Isn't that the truth. Very depressing.

[StarbuckSammy]

The initial post for this thread is the unacceptable time one spends in The Villages ER. I have suggested in my previous post of much better experiences in other hospitals in my northern home.
The one thing that TV Hospital should do is post the ER wait time. That way, you would have some sort of expectation. As an example, as I write this Ocala Regional Er Wait Time is 13 minutes and FL Waterman ER Wait Time is 20 minutes.
According to Medicare the wait times to see a health care professional for selected ER's are as follows:
The Villages-55 minutes
Munroe -52 minutes
Leesburg-50 minutes
Waterman-35 minutes
Ocala Regional-18 minutes
FL Avg-29 minutes
National Avg- 29 minutes

See a trend? Performance? Look who posts their wait time.
No one of course would object to wait 50 minutes. But when you under perform the national average by a wide margin then I would suggest that there is a real problem and those that complain about their experience certainly have a legitimate complaint.

[Mack184]

Originally Posted by StarbuckSammy

The initial post for this thread is the unacceptable time one spends in The Villages ER. I have suggested in my previous post of much better experiences in other hospitals in my northern home.
The one thing that TV Hospital should do is post the ER wait time. That way, you would have some sort of expectation. As an example, as I write this Ocala Regional Er Wait Time is 13 minutes and FL Waterman ER Wait Time is 20 minutes.
According to Medicare the wait times to see a health care professional for selected ER's are as follows:
The Villages-55 minutes
Munroe -52 minutes
Leesburg-50 minutes
Waterman-35 minutes
Ocala Regional-18 minutes
FL Avg-29 minutes
National Avg- 29 minutes

See a trend? Performance? Look who posts their wait time.
No one of course would object to wait 50 minutes. But when you under perform the national average by a wide margin then I would suggest that there is a real problem and those that complain about their experience certainly have a legitimate complaint.

Let me explain to you what that means since you haven't a clue. What those times mean IF you read the fine print is that's how long it takes you to see a medical PROFESSIONAL. Which means....The Triage Nurse! That does NOT mean that you're in an ER bed and seeing a doctor in that time. AFTER that initial time you will be waiting as long as it takes to get an ER bed and a doctor and that means hours.

[perrjojo]

Originally Posted by Mack184

Let me explain to you what that means since you haven't a clue. What those times mean IF you read the fine print is that's how long it takes you to see a medical PROFESSIONAL. Which means....The Triage Nurse! That does NOT mean that you're in an ER bed and seeing a doctor in that time. AFTER that initial time you will be waiting as long as it takes to get an ER bed and a doctor and that means hours.

That is just the point I was going to make. I am the OP on this thread. I think my husband was seen by the nurse within about 10 minutes but his wait time was to be 24 hours.

[StarbuckSammy]

Hey Mack184, I am not suggesting that it takes the time stated to be in bed in the ER seeing a doctor, did I? My point is that The Villages Er is not as efficient as many other hospitals. If YOU read the fine print it says if the numbers are high compared to the national or state levels than there is a problem of either under staffing or insufficient space etc. That's the point. And quite frankly, I am a little surprised of how mean-spirted your post was directed to my post...
Did you even read my post? Did you like the idea of posting the wait time?
And Perrjojo, I agree with all that you said in the original post so I do not understand your comment now. What happened to your husband is inexcusable. If you knew the stats were bad at the TV ER you may have considered going to another hospital or if TV ER posted a wait time of 2-3 times more than another hospital you may have opted to go elsewhere. The stats may have foretold what was going to happen.
Sorry for the confusion...and MACK184 sorry for being "clueless"?

[perrjojo]

Starbucks Sammy..I didn't think you were "clueless". Only that the statics could be misleading. And yes, I did understand that by comparison TV was not looking too good. I really think we could benefit from a 24 hour Urgent Care in TV. If that had been available, we would have gone there. Also I wasn't so much complaining about my husband's treatment being inexcusable, but for many others who needed attention far worse than he did. Those people had been waiting over 12 hours. They may not have been highest priority when they arrived but were becoming worse with the long wait. There is certainly MUCH room for improvement.

[mommieswamie]

...

Originally Posted by Mack184

Actually...take a trip in most major city ERs and you will find that a 36 hour wait is not the least bit uncommon. Most hospital ERs are WAY overburdened by things that are NOT the definition of a TRUE emergency. I hate to say it..but while a kidney stone hurts like fire it is NOT a TRUE emergency.

Unless you don't know it's a kidney stone


Things like emergent strokes, MIs, gunshots, severe trauma and babies popping out trump a kidney stone every single time.

As far as complaining to hospital management, especially TVRHs hospital management, you would be better off to direct your complaints to the POTUS. Why? Because at his lawful direction in 2010 he required Medicare to REDUCE the amount of payment to hospitals and doctors. Those reimbursements will drop once more with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act on 1/1/2014.

There is currently an active thread here on TOTV griping about the cost of greens fees and other fees within TV..and how things cost more than they used to. Virtually EVERYTHING costs more than it used to. A gallon of milk, a gallon of gas, a can of beans..a knee replacement, a heart stent and so on. NOTHING costs less.

I have mentioned this multiple times here, and nobody wants to listen, but the problem at TVRH is that it receives fully 88% of it's revenue from Medicare. While the price of virtually everything is rising, the hospital is being forced to get paid less and less for the many different services it must perform in it's hospital. So exactly how do they expand their number of beds, expand their slate of doctors, nurses and other staff while they are forced to take less and less to do the same amount of work? Costs didn't go down. The cost of doing business didn't go down, but the patient load is going up and reimbursements are going down.

Last year it was said that there would be no COLA increase for SS. Seniors cried bloody murder! How would you like to get 30% less than you did? Well, that's what your local hospital is trying to figure out because that's what's been happening to them! But to listen here they are just a bunch of incompetent mangers and lazy staff who don't care about their patients! Get real! The problem is that they have to do more & more with less and less. Take a 30% cut on YOUR income and then see how you make up the difference.

And..it's not going to get better as long as the senior population here continues to increase and the Medicare reimbursements continue to get lowered. THAT is the problem. Not incompetent or uncaring service from the hospital.

[mommieswamie]

Originally Posted by perrjojo

That is just the point I was going to make. I am the OP on this thread. I think my husband was seen by the nurse within about 10 minutes but his wait time was to be 24 hours.

There is a website www.inquicker.com that you can use to register for a time slot. I used it in a hospital in South Carolina. My wait time was 15 seconds to be taken to a room and maybe another minute to be seen by a doctor.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by mommieswamie

There is a website www.inquicker.com that you can use to register for a time slot. I used it in a hospital in South Carolina. My wait time was 15 seconds to be taken to a room and maybe another minute to be seen by a doctor.

Inquicker doesn't appear to be available at TVHR, Closest location to our zip code is Tampa.

Hopefully someday; it sounds like a good deal.

[Russ_Boston]

Posting wait times (and making sure they look good) is a marketing gimmick, make no mistake. Yes you see a triage nurse faster but that could just be how they do their intake. i.e. quick registration with basic info, then triage nurse, then back to a secretary for more info etc. Anyone could lower their initial wait times with gimmicks. Remember the vast majority of Hospitals are about money - unfortunately.

I was in the ER yesterday (Sunday 5/26) and you could walk right in most of the day. I had 3 rooms on the second floor waiting for anyone who got admitted. Didn't get anyone until after 6PM. It's all about numbers and seasonality of residents.

Another anecdote from yesterday: I had 3 discharges. 1 of them was the angriest person I've met in a while. He was only in the hospital for less than 7 hours when he wanted out. No problem I told him - he could just sign out AMA (against medical advice). He was saying things like: "no one does anything around here", "been here for 7 hours and not one thing has been done to help me" etc. etc. Truth was that he had a CT done, an ultrasound of the carotids pending, an MRI pending, a neurologist to visit after the test results and the regular attending after that. This person left AMA even though he had a stroke and could not move his left arm very much. The carotid test showed 80% blockage of both arteries. Hopefully he'll make it back to get worked on before he dies (probably soon). We were following national standard care protocol for stroke. Some people just think enough is not being done. The other 2 discharges couldn't thank me enough for the great care they received (and they had been there for almost 4 days each!).

[BobnBev]

I'm not sure, but isn't part of a stroke being angry and uncooperative?

[Russ_Boston]

Originally Posted by BobnBev

I'm not sure, but isn't part of a stroke being angry and uncooperative?

Uncooperative? To the point of refusing treatment? Um, NO.

Angry at the hand you've been dealt? Yes. Mean to the staff and others? Um, NO.

Vast majority of my stroke patients, and I have at least 2 per week, are upbeat and determined to get back to full functionality. This person was born mean and angry, the stroke just made it worse.

I was attempting to point out how a person's innate personality comes into play when telling others about their treatment while in the hospital. I guarantee you that his person will be blaming the care and not himself.

[ilovetv]

Originally Posted by Russ_Boston

Posting wait times (and making sure they look good) is a marketing gimmick, make no mistake. Yes you see a triage nurse faster but that could just be how they do their intake. i.e. quick registration with basic info, then triage nurse, then back to a secretary for more info etc. Anyone could lower their initial wait times with gimmicks. Remember the vast majority of Hospitals are about money - unfortunately.

I was in the ER yesterday (Sunday 5/26) and you could walk right in most of the day. I had 3 rooms on the second floor waiting for anyone who got admitted. Didn't get anyone until after 6PM. It's all about numbers and seasonality of residents.

Another anecdote from yesterday: I had 3 discharges. 1 of them was the angriest person I've met in a while. He was only in the hospital for less than 7 hours when he wanted out. No problem I told him - he could just sign out AMA (against medical advice). He was saying things like: "no one does anything around here", "been here for 7 hours and not one thing has been done to help me" etc. etc. Truth was that he had a CT done, an ultrasound of the carotids pending, an MRI pending, a neurologist to visit after the test results and the regular attending after that. This person left AMA even though he had a stroke and could not move his left arm very much. The carotid test showed 80% blockage of both arteries. Hopefully he'll make it back to get worked on before he dies (probably soon). We were following national standard care protocol for stroke. Some people just think enough is not being done. The other 2 discharges couldn't thank me enough for the great care they received (and they had been there for almost 4 days each!).

I've seen older relatives and friends talk and act a little crazy, like they have a couple of loose wires, after having an unknown small stroke or series of small ones. They were not fit at that time to make a huge decision like signing oneself out against medical advice.

[barb1191]

I was in my oncologist's office and he sent me to the ER at TVRH at about 11 AM for a test.

When I walked into the ER waiting room the place was EMPTY!!!! Lucky me, I thought. Not so. The front desk gave me one of those buzzers to sit and wait. I waited in this empty room an hour and was disgusted.

Walked to the Reception desk and returned the buzzer and told them that I've been waiting an hour and this room is empty!!!! What's going on? Everyone leave for lunch at the same time?

The Receptionist responded, "don't go; there are five empty beds that we've been waiting to be washed; one is ready for you now!!!!!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing....FIVE EMPTY BEDS AND THEY COULDN'T GET ONE CLEANED IN AN HOUR? I left feeling thoroughly disgusted.

I had signed myself out of that hospital a number of times....mainly because the staff is so loud and noisy yelling to each other from one end of the room to the other. I don't believe they are understaffed, I feel they hire most, pay them peanuts and thus lousy care; not all, but most.

I guess that "HOSPITAL QUIET" signs no longer exist.