The Prime Osborn Convention Center hosts Saturday's Medical Mission at Home | Prime Osborn via Facebook
Published on May 6, 2026 at 5:25 pm
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Ascension St. Vincent’s will host its largest free health and wellness screening event of the decade Saturday at the Prime Osborn Convention Center in Downtown Jacksonville.
Medical Mission at Home is a free event that includes medical exams, diabetic education and information on how to connect with mental health services.
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Currently, 12% of Duval County residents lack health insurance, nearly the lowest uninsured rate of the last 15 years. Nevertheless, there remain an estimated 101,000 Jaxsons who face medical decisions without health insurance.
Ascension St. Vincent’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Mario Pulido says the four-hospital system is committed to providing care to medically marginalized people as part of its faith-based mission.
“The best medicine in the world is always preventative medicine,” Dr. Pulido says. “If we can identify an early disease process, if we can capture someone’s risk profile before the disease starts, it is always better to head these on early, be informed, be aware.”
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Saturday’s services include:
- HIV screenings;
- Vision and hearing screenings;
- Medical exams
- Diabetic education.
- A food pantry,
- and haircuts
Serving as ‘hands and feet’ of care
Also offered at this year’s Medical Mission at Home: Foot washing, which has spiritual and medical resonance.
In the New Testament, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples as an act of service. This weekend, Ascension professionals will wash feet as they exemplify that a messenger is not greater than the one who sent them — and also as diabetes check.
“Being able to inspect someone’s feet and toes, an area that is largely affected by an uncontrolled condition like diabetes, or even high blood pressure, can find early detection and ability to save these same tissues, toes and feet by early identification of injuries or lesions,” Pulido says.
In 2024, Dottington Fullwood, a professor and health equity researcher at Mayo Clinic Florida, found 13.1% of Florida adults were diagnosed with diabetes, while another 9.9% of adults here have prediabetes. Fullwood’s research found as many as 550,000 Floridians may be unaware they have diabetes.
The study concluded that educating people on their increased risk is “critical for deploying targeted interventions and improving access to care for vulnerable populations.”
Understanding barriers to uninsurance
Providing care to people who lack health care access is more than a professional crusade for Pulido. His family moved from Nicaragua from Jacksonville before his first birthday. Pulido spent most of his childhood living in Duval County without health insurance.
“As a kid growing up in that environment, I can tell you it’s a bit unnerving to wonder, ‘Gosh, if this cold doesn’t get better, if I get sick, or my family member gets sick, what does that really mean?’” Pulido recalls. “‘What if they go to the hospital? What if they need to see many doctors?’ It’s really overwhelming to think of it.”
Jacksonville has options for its uninsured. They include what are called Federally Qualified Health Centers, like Agape Family Health; health consultancies like We Care Jax and direct service providers, like Volunteers in Medicine. The challenge, Pulido says, is ensuring available services make it to those who need them.
Being where the people are is part of the reason why Feeding Northeast Florida is bringing its food pantry to this weekend’s Medical Mission at Home. Feeding Northeast Florida President and CEO Susan King says the organization believes food is a source of medicine.
“Access to nutritious food is one of the most powerful tools we have to prevent illness and build healthier communities, which is why we are proud to join Ascension St. Vincent’s at the Medical Mission at Home. Food insecurity and health outcomes are deeply connected, and by bringing these services together we can make a lasting impact on the lives of our most vulnerable neighbors.”
