THE PLAYERS Championship continues to support the community this week by shining the spotlight on a local charity each day.
The Ascension St. Vincent’s Foundation is the designated charity for Thursday, March 11.
The foundation, established in 1982, provides outreach and service to the community by offering health care for the underserved in Northeast Florida. It has 24 outreach programs.
“Our most well-known, and the one that we partnered with THE PLAYERS on, is our Mobile Health Outreach Ministry, which is essentially a doctor’s office on wheels,” said foundation President Virginia Hall.
The unit provides primary care, school immunizations and school physicals in five Northeast Florida counties free of charge for those without insurance.
“Optum has also graciously and generously donated to help continue those programs since 2017,” Hall added.
Optum is one of the tournament’s Proud Partners and part of the UnitedHealth Group. It is a leading information and technology-enabled health services business dedicated to helping make the health system work better. With more than 180,000 people worldwide, Optum delivers solutions that help to modernize the health system and improve overall population health.
Optum selected the Ascension St. Vincent’s Foundation as one of this year’s charities of the day for the tournament.
In addition, Optum will be making a donation to fund operations for the foundation’s mobile health unit.
Last year, the foundation provided more than 7,000 patients with free health care, including medication management, free prescriptions and even glasses.
This year, the coronavirus has created more need in the community.
“Since the pandemic, the demand for our services has increased dramatically,” said Hall, “because a lot of people lost their jobs, and a lot of those people are ones who kind of live on the edge and are in need of health care.”
She called support from THE PLAYERS and Optum “a big deal.”
“It means that more people in Northeast Florida, who would never have access to care, are able to receive free health care, which is life-changing for most people,” she said.
Helping people get the health care they need also helps them get back to work and be productive members of society. It helps improve their self-esteem and feelings of worth.
Rory McIlroy, an Optum Health ambassador and the winner of the 2019 PLAYERS Championship, visited the Mobile Health Unit earlier this month and met with Daniela and Dieggo Suarez – two teens who have received care from the unit.
“We are so grateful for Rory’s support as well as the entire Optum team,” Hall said. “This powerful partnership is making a real difference in the lives of those most in need.”
In addition to these partnerships, the foundation depends upon donations from the community to fulfill its mission. To learn more or to make a donation, go to givestvincents.org.
