Medical treatment at FW

LarryJ

Dedicated FW 1600 "Looper"
Joined
Jul 7, 2007
I had a medical issue that I won't discuss so don't ask but was leg/tendon/muscle strain trauma that could have been a stroke, but wasn't and just spent the last three days at Celebration Hospital. The purpose of this post is to advise members of the Celebration Hospital, how they work are staffed, etc. so others can make better decisions of where to go if needed.

1. Reedy Creek only goes to Celebration at this point and is something I'm going to try and change to give more optons.

2. I had no complaints over the emergency room except that for a leg issue I was given a chest X-ray and the emergency room if you problem can be solved there might be O.K. Full diagnosis could not be done and I had to wait almost 24 hours for a MRI done at Celebration and never really got the results and never saw a real doctor after the ER.

3. When trying to extract myself from there that was worse than gong to the dentist; I learned several things others should consider when going to Celebration Medical Facilities that I learned from a very nice medical technican.

a. While Celebration is associated with Florida Hospital which I understand is great, it's size and reputation is from the private physicans, not associated with Fl. Hospital and number like 1000 to 5000. The actual hospital has very good facilities such as X-ray, CT-Scan, MRI, etc. the inpatient size is only like 3 or 4 general wards with only 40 beds each. The doctor's at Celebration might do minor or even major tests at Celebration, they don't admit or actually treat patients there IMHO.

b. Because none of the doctors are actually staff at the Hospital side the doctor support is minimal for inpatient care and in my opinion non existent.

c. The tech said the in patient care is quite poor doctor wise and nobody that is a Fl. Resident (i.e. lives at Celebration) gets hospitalized there, it's all tourists.

For those wanting more information please ask, but don't try and put it into the context of what my particular problem was since I won't discuss it except for the fact that I and the initial ER diagnosis was a possible stroke and after 7 X-rays of the affected leg, a chest X-ray, a CT Scan, and a 2+ hour 4 or 5 procedure MRI really told me nothing and I never really talked to an actual doctor before getting released.

I will be happy to talk about facilities, equipment (none of the call buttons on the beds worked .... not a good sign),

One up beat thing was the food wasn't too bad.

Larry
 
Thank You for the information! I hope you are ok. This is very good information to know!
 
Were you able to request a transfer to another facility ?
Often times the hospitals we use in my area are busy and one or more of them are closed. When this happens the patient gets transported to a facility they dont want to be at. Once the patient is stabilized they can be transferred to another facility, often it will be the one they originally requested.

I suspect that Celebration is their base hospital and that is why they only go there. I can see them limiting the facilities they use due to the distance from WDW. Resources being what they are, it takes them out of service for extended periods if they were to go farther.
 
Thank You for the information! I hope you are ok. This is very good information to know!

Yes I'm doing much better after leaving just 4 hours ago. I may have some sort of leg/muscule issue yet to be determined, but will get those resolvee when I do a follow up at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. which is my normal hospital. I now don't I don't have a brain turmor to any blocked arteries ... LOL so no news can be good news :lmao: .

Larry
 


We ended up at Celebration Hospital the last time we were at the fort , another don't ask. We spent over 6 hours in the emergency waiting area and another 9 hours in a room, before we decided to just leave. Two xrays that turned out bad and a change of shift that the new nurse forgot we were there :sad2:

But the bill was there before we even got home good. :eek:
 
Were you able to request a transfer to another facility ?
Often times the hospitals we use in my area are busy and one or more of them are closed. When this happens the patient gets transported to a facility they dont want to be at. Once the patient is stabilized they can be transferred to another facility, often it will be the one they originally requested.

I suspect that Celebration is their base hospital and that is why they only go there. I can see them limiting the facilities they use due to the distance from WDW. Resources being what they are, it takes them out of service for extended periods if they were to go farther.

If you beleive a 120 to 160 bed hospital with little to no staff or on duty doctor sufficient for something the size of WDW :rotfl2:

IMHO Celebration is to treat broken legs, spains, bad lacerations and about nothing more than that.

Larry
 
Wow Larry, sorry to hear about the trouble. So what exactly was the nature of your leg problem? LOL, JK, sorry I couldn't resist! Glad to hear you're doing better!
 


If you beleive a 120 to 160 bed hospital with little to no staff or on duty doctor sufficient for something the size of WDW :rotfl2:

IMHO Celebration is to treat broken legs, spains, bad lacerations and about nothing more than that.

Larry

Dont get me wrong, thats not what I am saying at all, Those decisions are made WAY above the pay grade that I am at. Obviously your experience shows just how inadequate the hospital is. What you describe is obviously unacceptable especially for someone trying to rule out a stroke, in those events time is very important. Sad that you had to find out the way you did but I am glad to hear you are doing better.
 
your trip to the hospital and hope that is nothing serious and you are able to get it resolved quickly when you return home. Your information about the facility was very informative and helpful as every time we go away my son ends up sick. Thank goodness his doctor has always been able to treat him by calling something in to a local pharmacy but you never know about the next time.

Again hope you are doing better asap.

Ronda
 
Is there another medical facility that is available locally for someone to go to..if they want to steer clear of Celebration?...

Hope your feeling better, and that you're able to get the care you need when your back home.
 
Larry-

Sorry to hear about your hospital trip. I will keep all of your info for future reference since I am the world's biggest klutz, except maybe for Donnie as I found out today;)!

We got home this evening but it was nice to meet you this past week. I hope that you are able to leave and get home safely as scheduled! I hope it didn't ruin your trip and that you have some good memories and good news when all is said and done!:hug:
 
We ended up at Celebration Hospital the last time we were at the fort , another don't ask. We spent over 6 hours in the emergency waiting area and another 9 hours in a room, before we decided to just leave. Two xrays that turned out bad and a change of shift that the new nurse forgot we were there :sad2:

But the bill was there before we even got home good. :eek:

Well here are two direct experiences that go to the staffing and working/admin of Celebration Hospital. :scared1: so take it for the spirit in which it was given and if you go there don't expect a first or even second rate hospital experience and forget it for a child with with a high fever or illness again IMHO. After they had taken like 7 Xrays of my leg that went limp and I couldn't stand on or get up and had the CAT Scan about 30 min later a lady walked in with a portable X-ray machine for a chest X-ray and when I asked why since I came in for a leg problem and could I speak with the doctor she left and came back a few minutes later and basically said he wants it before we can go any further ... not my idea of emergency medical treatment.

I will say based on my past extensive scanner monitoring for well over 10 years before Disney went digital they also used Orange County Paramedics for a lot of stuff outside the parks and for more serious stuff like traffic accidents, etc.

Not sure where it is, but IIRC I think Sand Lake Hospital is were Orange County Paramedics go.

Larry
 
I couldn't agree with you more Larry. My Dsil had a bad experience in Florida as well. After going to urgent care they transferred her to Celebration. She was there for hours with a broken hip and nobody doing anything. No on staff doctor to look at her xrays, pain killer only after being there several hours and not transferred to another awful hospital until about 7 hours later. I can't remember the name of the hospital she got transferred to after Celebration, but it was on the other side of Orlando and very old. She was there for 3 days before they finally did surgery on her broken hip. She discharged herself the next day. She figured she could take better care of herself in the camper than what they were doing. Oh, and the kicker to the whole thing, they did the surgery wrong and she will have to have it done again.
 
If you don't have to be transported to a hospital by ambulance and can stand a little driving, Heart of Florida on US Hwy 27 in Davenport is a great facility.

To get there you take I-4 west from Disney, get off on US Hwy 27 and go south about 5 miles.

I've known too many FtW Snow Birds that went to Celebration and experienced the same bad treatment Larry received.

I hope you're doing better Larry.
 
The chest xray thing must be something the doctor gets a kick back on or maybe they own the company. I took my DD in to Celebration for an alergic reaction and the doc ordered a chest xray. I got the same lame excuse. To rule out other things. To top it off after a 4000 dollar 6 hour visit they did not properly diagnose her illness. She had a virus causing her hives. Her doctor at home found and fixed it right away with some antibiotics.

Now I'm home fighting the bills. Each dept bills seperately and none of them know what they are doing. We have two insurances and they are only billing one and sending me the remainder demanding payment. This is the Disney trip that truely keeps on giving.
 
I certainly am not going to defend the practices of a hospital I know nothing about, but often times it is difficult for a patient to understand why things are done (or not done) but are based on sound medical judgement. Emergency rooms can be very hectic places, and every patient there is focused on their particular problem. Nobody seems to feel that things move fast enough. I may not know much about towing, Larry, but I do know a little about hospitals.
 
A few years ago when my gramma was still alive she wasn't acting quite right while we were vacationing at WDW. Front desk suggested Sand Lake Hospital. Good experience although we learned she had a TIA (mini stroke).
 
Geez Larry, I thought you were just in a turkey coma since you hadn't posted in a few days. :)

Sorry to hear of your troubles with health and the hospital, hope all turns out well, and thanks to you and everyone for the heads up on Celebration Hospital. Hopefully if one of us gets hurt we can drive ourselves to another ER.
 
on Thanksgiving night that went to the ER? We were traveling through loops looking at decorations and I thought that the RV looked like your pics. There was a truck parked in the middle of the loop, a sweet woman jumped out and told us it would be a few minutes b/c she had to call 911.

You might also want to complain about Disney's response time. It seemed like it took a while for EMT's to get there considering they are on-site. Disney staff got there right away (parked at the end of the entrance to those four loops), put on his night vest and had his light ready to direct the EMT to the site.

When we pulled back onto the main road, here comes EMT just traveling along at a regular pace, no lights, nothing. Everyone in our group said pretty much the same thing "I hope I never need an ambulance while I am here". From the time, we left your loop, we went through the other 3 loops looking at decorations at a very leisurely pace before we got back on the main road and saw the ambulance finally coming.

I do hope you are ok and that they have figured out the problem and you will not have any long-term effects from this experience.
 
on Thanksgiving night that went to the ER? We were traveling through loops looking at decorations and I thought that the RV looked like your pics. There was a truck parked in the middle of the loop, a sweet woman jumped out and told us it would be a few minutes b/c she had to call 911.

You might also want to complain about Disney's response time. It seemed like it took a while for EMT's to get there considering they are on-site. Disney staff got there right away (parked at the end of the entrance to those four loops), put on his night vest and had his light ready to direct the EMT to the site.

When we pulled back onto the main road, here comes EMT just traveling along at a regular pace, no lights, nothing. Everyone in our group said pretty much the same thing "I hope I never need an ambulance while I am here". From the time, we left your loop, we went through the other 3 loops looking at decorations at a very leisurely pace before we got back on the main road and saw the ambulance finally coming.

I do hope you are ok and that they have figured out the problem and you will not have any long-term effects from this experience.


I am sure that Reedy creek takes their calls seriously, they are professionals. Whatever they were doing, or in your mind not doing, I am sure they had good reason for it.
 

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