To the Editor:
I’ve been having some minor back pain issues (I’ve had three back surgeries in the past), but on the morning of Nov. 27th I had a sudden excruciating back pain, like someone stabbed me in the back. It caused me to collapse on the floor. So 911 was called.
From the time of the call till The Villages squad got me to The Villages Hospital, was less than 15 minutes. That was the good experience. It went downhill from there.
When we arrived at the ER entrance, the squad guys were directed to take me to the ER waiting room where I had to wait for four hours before being admitted to the ER service area, where it took another hour before I was given some initial pain medicine. They had over 50 patients being treated in this area. Because of the crowded conditions, I was placed in a recliner chair in the hallway for about 12 hours before I was placed in a bed, still in the hallway. Once I was in the ER service area, the nursing staff was great, but they had to get treatment directions from the one and only doctor assigned to the ER area. At about 6 a.m. on Monday morning, I was finally transferred to a hospital room on the 4th floor. I went thru two nursing shift changes while I was there and they had trouble keeping track of the various meds I received while there. Thankfully, my wife and son took notes during my stay and updated the nurses as necessary. I was finally released later that afternoon. I now have an appointment scheduled with a neurosurgeon at Orlando Health. Bottom line, I’ll never recommend The Villages Hospital for emergency treatment.
Rick Cunningham
Village of Sabal Chase