[dillywho]

Originally Posted by skip0358

Article in yesterdays paper on Ambulance drop off times at ERs. Seems TVRH isn't the only long wait. when an Ambulance has to wait 45+ minutes to get a patient transferred to a Hosp. ER you can bet that ER is just as bad as TVRH. Plain and simple there are WAY to many people for the amount of ER beds and very few Urgent Cares stay open late so what choice do you have?

That was my point exactly. People who are not in need of emergency care are being seen in all ER's across the country. Too many are using them as their primary care. I say this because every single day my husband was in the hospital, I passed by the ER waiting room at all hours and it was full except Easter Weekend. The ones I observed then did not look in any distress which leads me to believe they had brought someone in to be seen and were waiting to be called in to be with them. Once, there was nobody but staff in there.

True emergencies do not observe holidays (such as in the case of the OP and some of the others with the same experiences).

[bonrich]

In reference to TV Emergency Room: This is totally unacceptable. Having been in the medical field for many years, I recognize there are many issues that need to be addressed. Not only should elderly people not be sitting in wheelchairs in the waiting room, nor should people with asthma who are unstable not be waiting, a person who is bleeding for five hours should have had the sutures done hours earlier, and certainly someone on an oxygen tank should have been taken into the ER, if only in the hall, to be monitored until appropriate care could be ordered, etc. A 24 hour wait in any ER is unacceptable. Many issues need to be addressed by the Hospital Administration, VP of Nursing, Supervisor of the ER on that shift, Nurse Manager of the ER as well as the input and output of the ER. I have noticed by the many negative posts about this ER that there are not enough beds, not enough staff to include RN's, ER physicians and/or Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants as well as transport people. I realize that hospitals do not want to divert to other hospitals as that is money in their pocket but in cases like this it seems like it should have been looked at and perhaps a different decision made for some of the people waiting in the ER. People working in the health care field need to be humanistic and caring and concerned about others that need care in a ER, hospital setting or any other kind of health care institution.

[KARENNN]

...

[KARENNN]

Why can't they hire enough staff to meet a decent standard of care???

[Heartnsoul]

Originally Posted by perrjojo

I have heard horror stories about our hospital emergency room but I got to experience it first hand last night. My husband has been having problems with asthma and saw our doctor on Tuesday. He was given meds and told to come back if he got worse. Last night he SUDDENLY got worse. We called the doctor but got no response. The Urgent Care office was closed sooooooo we went to the ER. He was promptly called back and had his vitals checked and then told to go back and wait in the lobby. After a while patients started getting restless and comparing stories. One woman had come in and they inserted an IV and told her she would be getting interveinous antibiotics. That was 10 hours earlier. One man was bleeding and needed sutures and had been waiting 5 hours. There were two very elderly people in wheelchairs who were on oxygen and were so weak that they could not hold their heads up. One of them had been there so long his oxygen tank had run out so they gave him another tank. One man was very frail and in a wheelchair and had been there alone for a very long time and needed to go to the restroom so the bleeding man assisted him to the toilet. One man covered in blankets and in a wheelchair looked very ill but his family finally gave up since he could no longer sit up and left. I don't know where they went. Several more gave up and left and several more came in. The last person coming in was told it might be a 24 hour wait. My husband decided he was not going to die unless he stayed there, so we too left. He suffered through the night and he saw our doctor this morning. I know Emergency rooms are busy and crowed but this was shameful. I might add that while my husband and I were concerned for his well being, my heart was breaking for some very sick and very elderly people who just really shouldn't be left sitting in a waiting room for hours on end. I hope they are doing well today.

Just Wait till the new Affordable Healthcare law kicks in. You've seen nothing yet!!! 30 million more coming in thanks to americans who voted for it. And us seniors will be the First ones to feel it.

[paulandjean]

Maybe instead of building another assisted living center,how about a new and larger hospital.

[George Bieniaszek]

Scary!! That is the proverbial "Achilles Heel" in The Villages. With over 100,000 residents here and with the average age where visits to doctors and hospitals are of a more frequent nature, this is a discussion that we have on a regular basis.

Not criticizing our dedicated health care professionals who have boundless energy and compassion working in a high stress environment, just feel that there is a dire need for another hospital or an expansion of our current hospital to correspond with the increasing population of The Villages.

[blueash]

Originally Posted by Heartnsoul

Just Wait till the new Affordable Healthcare law kicks in. You've seen nothing yet!!! 30 million more coming in thanks to americans who voted for it. And us seniors will be the First ones to feel it.

Hopefully this will not be deleted as political, but you completely misunderstand the workings of the ACA. The ER's are in part overcrowded because people DON'T have insurance. ER's are required to provide evaluation without regard to the financial coverage of the patient. So the uninsured use the ER for primary care and minor illnesses. We still hear people say we don't need universal health insurance as poor people can get great free care in the ER, so everyone really already gets needed medical care. Once people have insurance, they will be able to go to primary care doctors and NP/PA's and not overcrowd the ER, and in fact get their care at much lower cost per incident. The ACA will hugely improve the ability of ER's to return to their mission of providing emergency care.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by George Bieniaszek

Scary!! That is the proverbial "Achilles Heel" in The Villages. With over 100,000 residents here and with the average age where visits to doctors and hospitals are of a more frequent nature, this is a discussion that we have on a regular basis.

Not criticizing our dedicated health care professionals who have boundless energy and compassion working in a high stress environment, just feel that there is a dire need for another hospital or an expansion of our current hospital to correspond with the increasing population of The Villages.

Our Village VA rep told us that plans to build a satillite hospital near Brownwood had been set aside to concentrate on enlarging the hospital near Spanish Springs. He said a larger hospital would attract more MDs.

Also, did you read in The Daily Sun a couple of days ago that Lake County EMS was changing their procedure to stay with folks they delivered to the ER so that they could remain available to other emergency calls.

Did I read and absorb that correctly?

I think our EMS in Sumter need to be equally released to be on call for emergencies. Shesamax recently reported a small brush fire near the fire station in Sanibel and the firemen couldn't respond because they had to remain WITH a patient that they had transported to the hospital.

I guess any changes like this would effect the price of medical care.. it seems simplistic, but probably isn't.

[skip0358]

TYRH is NOT the only local Hospital with long wait times in the ER. As for building a new Hospital that's the same laws as adding nursing homes ( check the other post on that topic ). There is or was another Hospital planned for down by Brownwood ( don't knowthe current status ) but the fact remains there are WAY to many people for the amount of ER spaces. To many people use the ER as a doctor, not enough people go to the Urgent Cares, not enough people go to or have a Doctor. I had to go to an Urgent Care last week as I was waiting my turn a guy walked in and said I'm not sitting here I'll go to the ER. That's not the way it should work. The ER stands for Emergency Room. Auto and Industrial Accidents, stroke, heart attack, falls, broken bones etc. There is only so much room in ANY ER use it wisely.
The Villages RH Urgent Care 8AM-8PM Daily
Exceptional Urgent Care 9AM-5PM M-F Sat.9AM-3:30PM Closed sunday
Lake Regional Urgent Care Care M,T,T,F 8:30-7PM W,S,S 8AM-5PM
441 Urgent Care 8AM-8PM Daily
Paramount Urgent Care 8AM-8PM Daily
Premier Urgent Care M-F 9AM - 7PM Sat 9AM- 3PM Sun 9AM-2PM

[rp001]

All I see and here are excuses for a totally mismanaged operation..I know first hand how horrible the experience is in that emergency room and how pitiful the care is for the hurt and sick folks waiting in that "emergency" room. I went through the hospital to find the cafeteria, after waiting many hours.. The place is opulent. It seems to me the money has been spent in all the wrong places. Simplify the decor and add STAFF. If they are compensated well enough, the staff will come. The Villages is notorious for poor treatment of employees and a "minimum wage lifestyle". There is just NO MIDDLE Class,just rich and working poor. It's disgusting and the price is being paid by all of us!

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by rp001

All I see and here are excuses for a totally mismanaged operation..I know first hand how horrible the experience is in that emergency room and how pitiful the care is for the hurt and sick folks waiting in that "emergency" room. I went through the hospital to find the cafeteria, after waiting many hours.. The place is opulent. It seems to me the money has been spent in all the wrong places. Simplify the decor and add STAFF. If they are compensated well enough, the staff will come. The Villages is notorious for poor treatment of employees and a "minimum wage lifestyle". There is just NO MIDDLE Class,just rich and working poor. It's disgusting and the price is being paid by all of us!

HOLD ON just a tad.

The hospital was BUILT by the developer but the operation of the Health System is NOT owned by the developer.

It is owned by the Health Alliance that owns the operation of the Leesburg hospital too.

The Villages hospital is leased to them. http://www.cfhalliance.org/

Could you further explain your comments about "poor treatment of its employees and minimum wage lifestyle?"

Restaurants and other businesses simply lease their facilities from The Developer. All of Florida share a lower wage scale than say...New York city or Los Angeles.

[Didiwinbob]

The CEO needs to step up and If this hospital has any funding through the state should be audited. As a community this should addressed to the hospital board with a formal complaint. If the ER is so full they should not except patients. There must be a standard that is not being followed. My opinion.

[NIPAS K-9]

Originally Posted by perrjojo

i have heard horror stories about our hospital emergency room but i got to experience it first hand last night. My husband has been having problems with asthma and saw our doctor on tuesday. He was given meds and told to come back if he got worse. Last night he suddenly got worse. We called the doctor but got no response. The urgent care office was closed sooooooo we went to the er. He was promptly called back and had his vitals checked and then told to go back and wait in the lobby. After a while patients started getting restless and comparing stories. One woman had come in and they inserted an iv and told her she would be getting interveinous antibiotics. That was 10 hours earlier. One man was bleeding and needed sutures and had been waiting 5 hours. There were two very elderly people in wheelchairs who were on oxygen and were so weak that they could not hold their heads up. One of them had been there so long his oxygen tank had run out so they gave him another tank. One man was very frail and in a wheelchair and had been there alone for a very long time and needed to go to the restroom so the bleeding man assisted him to the toilet. One man covered in blankets and in a wheelchair looked very ill but his family finally gave up since he could no longer sit up and left. I don't know where they went. Several more gave up and left and several more came in. The last person coming in was told it might be a 24 hour wait. My husband decided he was not going to die unless he stayed there, so we too left. He suffered through the night and he saw our doctor this morning. I know emergency rooms are busy and crowed but this was shameful. I might add that while my husband and i were concerned for his well being, my heart was breaking for some very sick and very elderly people who just really shouldn't be left sitting in a waiting room for hours on end. I hope they are doing well today.

you think its bad now ..... Just wait until build out.............

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by NIPAS K-9

you think its bad now ..... Just wait until build out.............

or say.......other factors?