[Nancydrew10]

We had to go in the middle of the night last June and got right in. Treated right away. No problem at all.

[manaboutown]

Originally Posted by Nancydrew10

We had to go in the middle of the night last June and got right in. Treated right away. No problem at all.

June. Try February.

[Hancle704]

Originally Posted by mulligan

Who is this "they" that should build hospitals ?

I think the "they" is the Central Florida Health Alliance which operates LRMC and TVRH. Granted hospital construction takes a great deal of planning and time and must pass all kinds of state agency approvals. That being said, I am of the opinion that long range planning has been woefully inadequate in this area. The developer learned a long time ago to build infrastructure, rec centers, and golf courses before not after, the new residents arrived. This has not been the case with hospitals and hospital beds since the grand opening of the 60 bed Villages Hospital and an all too small ED.

[mulligan]

With all the uncertainty in the area of medicare/medical insurance, I would imagine the decision to build more hospital beds causes many sleepless nights. IMHO, the market will determine the timing and scope of any such development.

[Garden guru]

What a horrible experience! I'm a retired registered nurse who just moved to The Villages from a Columbus, Ohio, suburb in March. After having asked close to a dozen villagers whom I've met to recommend a primary care doctor and having had all of them just shake their heads, I've decided to go "off the reservation" for my medical care. (One man I asked told me to let him know if I find a good doctor because he hates his!) In Ohio I travelled 45 min. into Columbus on a regular basis, so I figure I can do the same here, when my health is at stake. My husband and I are already wondering if we made a huge mistake by coming here. This post is yet another indication that maybe we did.

[cabo35]

Originally Posted by Talk Host

Hello everybody. Remember me? Well, I don't live in the Villages any longer, but I wanted to jump in and relate my final experience at the Villages ER. The memory will live with me for a long time.
As we were preparing to move, I was loading some stuff on a utility trailer and I slipped on wet metal and fell from the trailer to the ground with my right hand bent completely in to my wrist under my chest. I was ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that it was broken. The pain was excruciating.

Off we went to the Villages ER, where we waited several painful hours before I made a minor scene at the admissions desk. Funny thing, I was next.

Once inside, they took an X ray of my wrist and to my great relief it wasn't broken. The doc asked me the pain level on a scale of 0 to 10. I told him it was as close to a 9 as you can get.

He said, we'll take care of that pain right away, I'll be right back. 1/2 hour later, I got off the bed and went looking for the doctor. I found him standing at the nurses station, laughing at some jokes that had just been told. He was in a real relaxed state with elbows on the counter and his one foot crossed behind the other.

I said, "Hey Doctor, remember me, 9+ pain waiting for you to help me?" He said, "Oh, the nurse was just coming in with some medication." I said,"Ya right, enjoy your jokes."

about 10 minutes later she came with a pill in a cup and 11 minutes later, I was dressed and head for home.

That's my story. Hard for me to forget even when their defenders here post reasonable arguments about why it is the way it is.

I am now sitting on the board of directors of a large hospital/health care group. As a director, I will do my best to use this example as what not to allow in any of our emergency rooms.

JLK

Have you or would you consider helping your old friends and neighbors by firing off a registered (to get their attention) letter detailing your bad ER experience, addressed to the hospital administrators and directors?

[rubicon]

Think about the priority of The villages of Lake-sumter, Inc, the Central florida Health alliance, et al all owner and controlled by the Developer.

More homes, more commercial property, more additions to the villages chartered School. consider the population mostly senior citizens relocating

I have lived her since 2006 and before i arrived when I arrived and today this same issue has ben raised a zillion times.. what does that tell you.

I have greater faith in Munroe Health Care system. all my docs are associated with this system . I have not found a primry care doc. Iuse my cardiologist as my primary care guy because i have total faith in him. Urgent Care in the area suffice for quick responses and some are open 24/7
there are probaly a number of good physician and medical people in te Central Health Alliance but if tey have little support for better infrastructure ?????????????????????

[OnTrack]

I'm sure by now, the developer has heard the horror stories of medical care here.

While I am a strong believer in capitalism, I also have to wonder about those who think...they will never have enough money.

Building a topnotch medical facility and then figuring out how to entice top doctors, even if it doesn't turn a profit....would go a long way in changing the perception that he doesn't really care about the medical needs of the citizens here.

Does anyone really believe that he or his family/close associates, uses these facilities?

Or that they would stand for being treated, like so many others here have been treated?

I think not.

.

[Warren Kiefer]

Originally Posted by mulligan

Who is this "they" that should build hospitals ?

It is pretty clear, THE DEVELOPER !!! Mr. Schwartz had the vision of a hospital built within the Villages and I am certain this is why you see one here today. Why does any corporation build hospitals, to make money----- what else ????

[shrink]

Originally Posted by KyWoman

I recently discovered another reason for the overcrowded ER. My father is having symptoms that may indicate he has a partial bowel obstruction, so we tried to get an appointment with a gastroenterologist. I was told to take him to the ER.....not because his condition was an emergency, but because they were unable to see him for at least a month and his symptoms indicated that he needed to be seen before then. Patients are not the only ones abusing the system.

We are seeking treatment outside of The Villages.

I think it may be important to seek specialists who are part of a sizable practice. Last weekend, I was diagnosed with diverticulitis at an urgent care, and was told to follow up with my gastroenterologist (Lily Tran). Although she is booked solid and was unable to see me for some time, the practice was able to schedule me within two days with another associate, who was quite good. I hope this helps.

[graciegirl]

According to our Village rep, who told us some time ago that plans had been changed due to how applications for new hospitals have been recently altered, that now, instead of building a new satallite hospital in Brownwood, the plans were to add on to the exisiting Villages Hospital.

The rest is just guessing on my part. Since I know there are crews that are specific to build a certain kind of home, designers have their crews and ranches have their crews and premiers have their crews. I would think that building large buildings would have their own crews too.

It appears that The Villages charter school middle school is very near being completely finished.

I wouldn't be surprised if that crew will soon start adding on to the hospital.

Another thing that has been pointed out by people who work there and I trust, (Russ Boston) and those who have been involved in hospital administration that sound pretty credible is the snowbird population issue that during the high season swells the population considerably and while servers and restaurant workers can be called in part time, it isn't so easy to find skilled medical workers to come in and work for just three months of the year. Remember there are long lines at the restaurants during high season too, not the same but you get the point I am trying to make.

It is one of those things that money may not be the solving factor.

[red tail]

locker room gossip from the employees is not credible info. I would rather hear it from those that really know.

[Josie70]

Originally Posted by billethkid

These stories have been talked about for years. Does anybody but me wonder why the powers that be allow it (?) to continue?

There are other options outside TV......but some say they are too far to go.
How far could one go in the same 3-5 hour time waiting in TV ER?

Until or unless something changes TV hospital is not on my list of choices.

btk

I agree with you the Village Hospital is the worse it took 3 visits to the hospital with my mother to find out that she had liver and bone cancer..Every time I took her they told me a different story of what was wrong with her..I give this one nurse a lot of credit she was the one who said to me did your mother ever have cancer and I said yes 15 years ago when this nurse turned my mother over to the other side of the bed she felt a lump and that's when they went futher on taking test on my mother to find out that she was dying my mother was only in the hospital 3 days and then sent to Hospie where they took the best care of her she passed about 2 days later my mother was 93 years old ....she passed away Oct 15 of 2012...

[Quixote]

Originally Posted by Garden guru

What a horrible experience! I'm a retired registered nurse who just moved to The Villages from a Columbus, Ohio, suburb in March. After having asked close to a dozen villagers whom I've met to recommend a primary care doctor and having had all of them just shake their heads, I've decided to go "off the reservation" for my medical care. (One man I asked told me to let him know if I find a good doctor because he hates his!) In Ohio I travelled 45 min. into Columbus on a regular basis, so I figure I can do the same here, when my health is at stake. My husband and I are already wondering if we made a huge mistake by coming here. This post is yet another indication that maybe we did.

Please see the threads "Dr. Martinez-Cruz has opened his own practice" and also "Why should I see Dr. Martinez Cruz" in the Medical and Health Discussion Forum. He is exceptional AND he is right here "on the reservation."

[Quixote]

Originally Posted by LyndaS

I have read the horror stories in this forum about the TV Emergency Room but my two experiences were positive. I would encourage others that have had a positive experience to comment because I believe a lot of people are being frightened unnecessarily....

I don�t doubt other poster�s experiences as I am sure there are times that it is very busy. But based on my experiences, I would not hesitate to go to the The Villages Hospital in an emergency.

I similarly don't doubt the experiences of other posters, either their own or what they observed, but I reiterate my earlier posting on this thread about my own positive experience in TVRH's emergency room. When I had my accident, I was driven to the hospital; I did NOT arrive by ambulance. Being one of those who had been "frightened unnecessarily" by awful tales about the ER, to quote LyndaS's words, I asked to be taken anywhere but. I was adamantly told that I needed to get to wherever I could get the absolute fastest--and for me it turned out to be the best possible decision.

If there are management issues in the administration of the hospital in general and the ER in particular, then of course they need to be dealt with. But there is no doubt in my mind that the care I received there was as good as I could have gotten at any other hospital within, say, 25 miles. It did (and does) help that I understand the principle of triage too. However, at moments when a large number of patients arrive at the ER--some true emergencies and others really not--the staff and the facility can be overwhelmed, and all they can do is the best they can. We have to remember that EVERYONE who shows up at the ER by law has to be accepted and treated. Some of the stories posted in this thread are terrible, without a doubt, but that is not everyone's experience!