National Diabetes Collaborative

Diabetes affects 20.8 million Americans and costs the United States around $100 billion each year.  It is the leading cause of adult blindness, end-stage kidney disease, and amputations of the foot or leg, and puts people at increased risk of heart disease and stroke.  Death rates are twice as high among middle-aged people with diabetes as among middle-aged people without diabetes.  Despite these staggering statistics, public awareness about the seriousness of diabetes is low.

Monroe Health Center has made a firm commitment to participate in a National Diabetes Collaborative to raise awareness of the importance of controlling diabetes and the benefits of proper treatment.

Diabetes is a self-managed disease that requires daily adherence to dietary, physical activity, blood sugar self-monitoring, and medicine regimes.  To help our patients and their families deal with the challenges of diabetes control, Monroe Health Center will provide individual teaching sessions as well as provide written patient education materials.  Each of our diabetics will receive routine lab work, medication management, annual diabetic foot exams and close follow-up from our providers every three months.  We also offer monthly diabetes support group meetings.

We are confident that our involvement in this initiative will make a difference among people with diabetes and their families.