Rowan Regional Medical Center’s Diabetes Resource Center received the American Diabetes Association Education Recognition Certificate for a quality diabetes self-management education program Thursday.
“Rowan Regional Medical Center started a diabetes outpatient program about 20 years ago, before most other hospitals in the region,” Jeff Lindsay, Rowan Regional’s president and chief executive officer, told a crowd of about 50 people in the Sophia Clay Classroom at the medical center, a hospital press release said. “That to me says we recognized the need early, and it also speaks to our commitment to those with diabetes.”
Rowan Regional’s Diabetes Resource Center was originally recognized by the American Diabetes Association in 1993. Today, it offers comprehensive diabetes education to 857 people, a number that has increased every year for the past five years. The recognition Thursday means that Rowan’s program offers high-quality education that is an essential component of effective diabetes treatment, the press release said.
The association’s Education Recognition Certificate assures that educational programs meet the national standards for diabetes self-management education programs. These standards were developed and tested under the auspices of the National Diabetes Advisory Board in 1983 and were revised by the diabetes community in 1994 and 2000.
Programs apply for the national recognition voluntarily. Programs that achieve recognition status have a staff of knowledgeable health professionals who can provide participants with comprehensive information about diabetes management, the press release said.
“The process gives professionals a national standard by which to measure the quality of services they provide,” said Wanda Honeycutt, diabetes program coordinator at Rowan Regional Medical Center. “And, of course, it assures the consumer that he or she will likely receive high-quality service.”
Education recognition status is verified by an official certificate from American Diabetes Association and awarded for three years.
According to the American Diabetes Association, 20.8 million people, or 7 percent of the U.S. population, have diabetes. While an estimated 14.6 million have been diagnosed, 6.2 million people are not aware they have the disease. Each day, approximately 4,110 people are diagnosed with diabetes.
Many will first learn they have diabetes when they are treated for one of its life-threatening complications: heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness and nerve disease and amputation.
About 1.5 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people age 20 years or older in 2005. Diabetes contributed to 224,092 deaths in 2002. Since 1987, the death rate due to diabetes has increased by 45 percent, while death rates due to heart disease, stroke and cancer have declined.
The American Diabetes Association is the nation’s leading nonprofit health organization supporting diabetes research, advocacy and information for health professionals, patients and the public. Founded in 1940, the association has an area office in every state and conducts programs in communities nationwide.
Rowan Regional Medical Center is an affiliate of Novant Health.