Taking care of medical appointments at the Jacksonville Mayo…

Well the day finally came when we were due for a trip to the Jacksonville Florida Mayo Clinic to get all of our “medical stuff” done. As I mentioned before the Mayo has plenty of clear signage as well as ample free parking and as before we spotted a few RV’s in the lot. Once again we elected to stay 10 miles away at beautiful Hanna Park which is very convenient to this Jacksonville Mayo location.

We parked and made our way over to the clinic at the crack of dawn to pre-register so we could start our appointments early. Pre-registration was a snap since we finished most of the paperwork needed online the night before. Copies were made of our drivers license and insurance card. Next we were asked about what medications we were taking and if I had fasted for my blood work, (Sharon’s  labs were scheduled the next day). Once we were checked in we received our schedules or “itineraries”. These itineraries not only listed our appointment times but also instructions for prep prior to the visits.

As we presented our itinerary to each department we would always be asked for our name and birthdate to ensure they had the right patient! We haven’t been to the Jacksonville Mayo in a couple of years but were scheduled with the same Physician’s Assistant we had last time. The first meeting with my Physician’s Assistant was simply a chat to discern all necessary appointments based upon my health and medical concerns.

Once this first visit was over a new schedule was made and orders were written for lab, x-rays, immunizations as well as any other needed tests.  Every one of my appointments was in the same building whereas Sharon’s were in three buildings but all are interconnected in such a way that patients never need to go outside. However it is nice to venture out as the hospital campus is a very relaxing and tranquil place that is well manicured with many serene water features.

We had appointments with internal medicine, immunizations, dermatology and ophthalmology. Sharon also had a chest x-ray, mammogram, her female appointments and we both had EKG’s performed… very thorough indeed!!! The staff were very friendly and accommodating.  The the only differences we noted was that this time around the appointments could be changed by anyone rather than a central appointment office.  This caused a bit of confusion in communication resulting in a couple of scheduling snafu’s but thankfully we were able to easily have it all worked out. In fact, we ended up having all our appointments scattered over three days and it never ceases to amaze that we can have everything wrapped up in such a short time frame. Happily our having things done in such a few days  will allow us to quickly resume our southerly travels!

Our patient experience was not quite as stellar as our first  time here in Jacksonville but it was still much better than most of our medical appointment experiences in the past. The best part especially for anxiety patients like Sharon is the fast pace and almost instant results summaries. It definitely is a much smoother and quicker experience than we had anywhere back in Texas. The good news is that we both were declared healthy and once again passed our exams!  Now our plan is to live this next year to its fullest...