Read The Daily Sun June healthcare report to see how TVH is working with community partners to keep our hometown healthy.

6-3-2025
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6-10-2025
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Sarah Leahy says life is a bowl of cherries, but her husband Rob disagrees.

“It’s a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get,” he said.

When the Boston natives were shopping for new healthcare in Florida, Rob maintained this skepticism.

“When we first came down, I was kind of snickering when I heard about The Villages Health,” he said. “Sarah’s sister was raving about it and I just thought she was (exaggerating).”

It didn’t take long to convince Rob, however.

“It’s everything she said and more. The Villages Health has been truly fantastic so far. Everybody has been great,” he said.

Rob and Sarah were most impressed with the on-site labs, in-house specialty care, and overall ease and accessibility of The Villages Health’s services.

“You can’t beat the convenience,” Rob said. “If you have to go to a specialist back home, you’re fighting Boston traffic and it takes hours and hours out of your day. But here, everything has just been great.”

The couple are patients of the Mulberry Grove Care Center, which they say is just a 10-minute drive from their home. As avid golfers, they appreciate the quick appointments that allow them to spend more time swinging clubs on the course than sitting in waiting rooms at their doctor’s office.

“We’re not saying our Boston physicians were poor. It was just difficult,” Sarah said. She notes that patients were typically double booked so wait times were long and visits were less than relaxed. At The Villages Health, patients are free to chat with their care teams, ask questions and build relationships. Communication is the cornerstone of excellent care.

“I had bloodwork done on a Friday afternoon, and I got a call with the results on Monday morning,” Sarah said. “You feel so special.”

New Adventures Await

Now on their lanai, the couple enjoy wine at the rustic bar Sarah crafted from salvaged wood pallets. A sign reads: May your glass always be half full. From Massachusetts to the Sunshine State, they’ve traversed many paths in their 50-plus years together. They look forward to finding new ones.

“To be able to just get in the golf cart and go to dinner—it’s everything I had hoped for and more,” Rob said. “And top it off with The Villages Health is even better.”

When they moved to the area 15 years ago, it was the lifestyle that drew them, the prospect of “staying young” and having fun. All it took was a ride around The Villages for Ray and Barbara Burhop to make the move. They chose a courtyard villa, lush with greenery, vibrant potted flowers, crape myrtle, and creeping vines. It’s the ideal place for the two and their terrier, Dexter.

“I can’t think of a better place to live, Barbara said.

The Burhops stay active and enjoy cruising the golf cart paths. Their upgraded life includes an upgraded health plan that supports their goals and consistently exceeds their expectations.

“We had conventional Medicare but eventually found it was more advantageous to have a Medicare Advantage plan,” Ray said. “We get a lot of the services for a lot less than what we were paying. And not only are we getting substantial savings, but we’re getting a substantial increase in the quality of our health care.”

Taking Back Their Time

In addition to golf-cart accessibility, Ray takes advantage of on-site labs. “I’m on a blood thinner that requires me to have my blood checked every 30 days, and it’s just a simple thing for me to get in the golf cart, go down to Colony (Care Center) and get my blood taken. The whole process is just exactly the way you’d like it to be.”

For Ray and Barbara, retirement life is all about ease and autonomy, the ability to plan and manage their days on their terms. “Before we came to The Villages Health, we would go see a physician and routinely wait about 45 minutes. It really gets old when you have to wait so long,” Barbara said.

Ray adds, “If I have an appointment at 9:00, a few minutes before or a few minutes after, I’m being called. It’s a standard experience – how do they do it? I don’t know.”

Once seen, Barbara felt visits with their previous providers were rushed. “They didn’t give us the time,” she said. “But now we’re spoiled. The whole concept is different, and before I had to coordinate, but now I have a team. When you’re our age, you’ve seen a lot of doctors in your lifetime. You’ve been to a lot of offices, but this is really top notch.”

Working together to achieve a common goal—to keep patients healthy and heal them quickly—The Villages Health’s comprehensive care offers the Burhops peace of mind.

Unfortunately, it’s not the right fit for every family member…

As Ray cuddles Dexter on his lap, he states his only grievance. “It’s too bad The Villages Health doesn’t have veterinary care.”

Watch Larry & Evelyn’s conversation with The Villages Health:

Where everybody knows your name, as the familiar song affirms, that’s the place you want to go. This is especially true when it comes to healthcare. After all, quality care is dependent on a care team’s ability to listen to, understand, and get to know their patients. Michigan natives Larry and Evelyn Boman have learned this truth firsthand.

The Bomans moved to The Villages in 2010. Shortly after, they became patients of The Villages Health. Not knowing what lay ahead and how cancer would invade their lives, they would see that choosing the right healthcare was foundational. The decision would alter their lives, secure their longevity, and shape their future.

A Testimonial

Nestled on a quiet cul-de-sac in The Village of Bonita, the Bomans sit side by side on the sofa in their sun-washed living room. Eager to share their testimonial, they smile and occasionally pause to fight back tears as they take turns telling the story.  For all its ups and downs, it is a tale of hope and serendipity. Evelyn wears a colorful top emblazoned with the words, “Simply blessed,” a phrase that for her, is more than mere words.

“Creekside saved my life,” she says. “I am a pancreatic cancer survivor.”  Evelyn describes how in 2023, she and Larry sat down with Nurse Practitioner Jenna Richardson. It was Larry’s visit, or so they thought.

“Jenna knew us so well that she turned to me and said, ‘Why are you so yellow?’ Now that says a lot for a nurse practitioner, for any doctor, to say that when it’s not even your appointment,” Evelyn said. “With that, (Jenna) sent me for blood work. And from there, she called for a CAT scan (medical imaging), and that’s when they saw the tumor. They truly saved my life.”

In an instant, retirement life would lose its leisure. Larry and Evelyn’s days, now cluttered with surgical appointments, became tenuous and uncertain. Having a care team they could trust, who could bring levity to their situation while offering wisdom and support, was paramount.

After a series of complex surgeries, Evelyn says she endured 11, three-day sessions of chemotherapy, and 28 rounds of radiation. “But here I am,” she asserts, smiling. “We had angels all around us.”

In addition to the Creekside Care team, Evelyn credits church friends, members of their social clubs, and their unwavering faith in God, for helping her and Larry manage.

“I would have one good week, and then I would have chemo week, and that would just knock me out.”

Resting her hand on her husband’s knee, Evelyn turns to Larry and says, “My rock, my strength. He was there for me while he was fighting his own battle too. He had seven surgeries on his eye in Gainesville and I had mine in Tampa. We got to know (interstate) 75 really well.”

Post chemotherapy, Evelyn saw her care team every month. “Dr. Wood or Jenna would see us just to check in on us, just to say, ‘How are you feeling, how is this, how is that.’ We didn’t know that even the slightest little potassium shortage was something we should think about. And they would be right on it. I would have to get booster shots.”

As the Boman’s lives now yield to its former pace, you’ll find them tending to their garden and cruising in their “Grabber Yellow” Mustang, top down to feel the breeze. In these carefree moments, they can’t help but count their blessings.

And while some might call a health crisis unfortunate, Larry sums it up differently.

“It’s a great experience to have a medical team over you, taking care of you, that looks at you like more than a number. You’re a person. And they’re just so loving, so caring… It’s incredible.”  

 

 

Read The Daily Sun April healthcare report to see how TVH is working with community partners to keep our hometown healthy.

4/1/2025
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4/8/2025
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4/15/2025
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4/22/2025
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4/29/2025
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A caregiver’s mental, emotional, and physical health can greatly impact those in their care. Therefore, self-care is significant to caregiving. For many primary caregivers, setting aside time to pursue their own interests may feel like a guilty pleasure. But however frivolous it seems, self-care is crucial to avoiding burnout, illness, and other setbacks. Find out how to carve out time for yourself, create an action plan for emergencies, and build a support network to navigate the challenges that come with caregiving…

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