66 F
The Villages
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Single-star rating at Villages hospital prompts packed meeting with questions for CEO

A packed-house crowd of Villagers with plenty of questions about their health care turned out Tuesday night to hear from the CEO of The Villages Regional Hospital.

Don Henderson, president and CEO of Central Florida Health, talks about The Villages Regional Hospital’s recent one-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Billed as an “Update on Improvements at TVRH,” Don Henderson’s presentation came a month after it was revealed that the 307-bed hospital in The Villages was one of 282 in the United States to receive a one-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The agency ranked more than 3,500 hospitals across the country on a variety of factors, including mortality, safety of care, readmission, patient experience, effectiveness of care, timeliness of care and efficient use of medical imaging.

Overall, TVRH ranked below the national average on mortality, readmission, patient experience and timeliness of care. The hospital ranked above average on safety of care and efficient use of medical imaging. And the effectiveness of care ranking was right at the national average.

Property Owners’ Association President Cliff Wiener, left, and Vice President Jerry Ferlisi check out the crowd before Tuesday night’s meeting got under way at the Laurel Manor Recreation Center.

Henderson spoke before members of the Property Owners’ Association during their monthly meeting, which was held at the Laurel Manor Recreation Center. He currently serves as president and CEO of Central Florida Health, parent company of TVRH and Leesburg Regional Medical Center, which was one of 800 hospitals to receive a two-star rating.

“The star rankings only started coming out about two years ago, and almost from the git-go, we’ve been in a hole trying to dig ourselves out,” Henderson said, adding that there’s been talk of those rankings going away. “The bottom line is if you have a lot of elderly patients, you’re going to score lower than hospitals that don’t have a lot of elderly patients.”

Don Henderson, president and CEO of Central Florida Health, addresses the long wait times that have been an issue in the emergency department of The Villages Regional Hospital.

Henderson also pointed out that the mortality rate of older patients is being held against the hospital.

“If you’re 80 percent Medicare, people are going to get terminal illnesses and they’re going to pass away in the hospitals,” he said. “Other hospitals don’t have that percentage of Medicare patients.”

Even though he believes the numbers are skewed against TVRH, Henderson said he and his team are working extremely hard to make improvements. But he also pointed out that when it comes to patient satisfaction, those who don’t give the hospital a score of nine or 10 don’t get included in the rankings.

Villagers who wanted to learn more about the one-star rating The Villages Regional Hospital received from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services packed the Laurel Manor Recreation Center on Tuesday night.

“Medicare has kind of skewed the game against us a little bit,” he said. “How many events in your life do you rate a nine or 10?”

After Henderson’s presentation, several Villagers were itching to ask questions or make their thoughts known – especially when it came to long wait times at the hospital’s emergency department.

That subject prompted one woman to ask if there was a staffing issue.

“The nurses will tell you there’s a staffing issue,” Henderson said. “But the bottom line is that we’re fully staffed.”

Cindy Grillet, of the Village of Alhambra, listens as Don Henderson, president and CEO of Central Florida Health, talks about emergency room issues at The Villages Regional Hospital. Grillet said she recently spent more than 26 hours in the emergency department before being admitted to the hospital and is supposed to sit down with Michael Pittman, the hospital’s chief clinical officer and site administrator, to find out why.

Cindy Grillet, of the Village of Alhambra, took issue with that statement. And she also challenged Henderson on another statement he had made earlier partly blaming long wait times on snowbirds who don’t have doctors here and use the emergency department whenever they get sick.

Grillet pointed out that everyone in the room – including Henderson – was well aware of the demographics in The Villages. She also reminded him that he was the person chosen to serve that demographic. And she expressed frustration with the fact that she recently spent more than 26 hours in the emergency department waiting to get admitted.

“With an entire waiting room and the emergency room hallway full – which is where I spent my first 13 hours – that entire back station was empty and non-staffed and the beds were unfilled,” she said. “So clearly there is a staffing issue, contrary to what you said.”

A comparison of The Villages Regional Hospital’s Emergency Department’s Medicare ratings vs. recent performance.

Grillet wanted to know why an entire area of the emergency room wasn’t in use that day – an issue she said doesn’t bode well for the future.

“We are growing and you can’t serve us now,” she said. “What happens as we continue to grow?”

Michael Pittman, who serves as TVRH’s chief clinical officer and site administrator, invited Grillet to come to his office so he could get her an answer. But he said some beds might not have been in use because some of the nurses may have been needed elsewhere in the hospital.

Several Villagers asked Don Henderson, president and CEO of Central Florida Health, questions about The Villages Regional Hospital on Tuesday night during the Property Owners’ Association meeting at Laurel Manor Recreation Center.

Another Villager expressed concern about hospital-acquired infections like MRSA, C Diff and sepsis. He cited the recent death of 74-year-old Village of Caroline resident Don Roberts, who is believed to have acquired West Nile Virus from a mosquito bite after playing a round of golf and hanging out the fire pit in the Village of Fenney. Roberts was transferred from TVRH to UF Shands Hospital in Gainesville before he succumbed to West Nile Virus, pneumonia and septic shock on Jan. 16, according to his death certificate.

After explaining that the man was talking about two different things in community-acquired and hospital-acquired diseases, Henderson defended the hospital’s track record on infection issues.

A comparison of The Villages Regional Hospital’s Emergency Department’s Medicare ratings vs. recent performance.

“I would argue that our overall hospital-acquired infection rates are well below one percent,” he said. “And we are working hard and using best practices and reducing that even further.”

Finally, Henderson addressed a question regarding TVRH possibly merging or partnering with another healthcare organization in the future. The hospital already is working with Shands in its stroke program – a hospital that earned just two stars from CMS even though it is “one of the finest in the country,” Henderson said.

“I think there is definitely a possibility,” he said. “We do like Shands a lot and they seem to like us. Unlike some critics, they think we have very high quality and that’s why we’re the only hospital they’re affiliated with in the region. So those discussions continue.”

Michael Pittman, who serves as The Villages Regional Hospital’s chief clinical officer and site administrator, addresses the crowd at the Laurel Manor Recreation Center on Tuesday night.

After the presentation, POA President Cliff Wiener said he was thrilled with the large crowd, though he wasn’t surprised. He said he appreciated Henderson ‘s presentation and will count on him to come back with an update in the future.

“We’re not going to give up,” he said. “The Villages is a first-class community and we deserve a first-class hospital.”

A large crowd of Villagers gathered at the Property Owners’ Association meeting on Tuesday night to hear Central Florida Health President and CEO Don Henderson talk about The Villages Regional Hospital.

Our amenities are being used by families with kids

In a Letter to the Editor, a Village of Citrus Grove resident says she is not happy about families with kids using amenities paid for by residents.

Finally allocating funds to the golf courses!

A Village of Hadley resident said he is happy that more money is being allocated to the golf courses. Read his Letter to the Editor.

Trump is unfit for any office

A Village of Osceola Hills resident, in a Letter to the Editor, details why he thinks former President Trump is unfit to hold any office.

I don’t think the original Developer saw this coming

A resident of the Village of St. Charles offers his thoughts on deed compliance and the original Developer of The Villages.

Proudly fly the flag in honor of my father’s Navy service

A Village of St. Johns resident, in a Letter to the Editor, says she proudly displays the U.S. Navy flag in honor of her father.