NEWTON – Newton Memorial Hospital’s Diabetes Self-Management Education Program has been awarded continued recognition from the American Diabetes Association. The program first received recognition in 1997.

In order to receive recognition status, the program must have a staff of knowledgeable health professionals who can provide state-of-the-art information about diabetes management. We are very fortunate to have five Certified Diabetes Educators on staff at Newton Memorial Hospital. Each educator has over 20 years experience and holds a Master’s degree. The Clinical Manager, Chris Orr, is also Board Certified in Advanced Diabetes Management.

The ADA’s Education Recognition Certificates assures that education programs at Newton Memorial meet the nation standards for diabetes self-management education programs.

“We are delighted that the ADA recognized our diabetes education program because it allows us to measure against national standards the quality of the services we provide,” said Chris Orr, Newton Memorial Hospital’s Clinical Diabetes Manager. “It also assures the community that diabetes education is of the highest quality at Newton Memorial Hospital.”

Newton Memorial’s 2008 numbers are quite impressive:

• 54% of NMH patients with diabetes know their three-month Hemoglobin A1C test. The national average: 10 percent.
• 98% of NMH patients with diabetes know their average blood glucose.
• 60% of people with diabetes seen at NMH indicated an improvement in Hemoglobin A1C from when they began the program.
• 93% have a yearly dilated eye exam, which is also above the national average.
• 90% of patients feel that the education they received was beneficial to them

Education Recognition status is verified by an official certificate from the ADA and awarded for three years.

According to the ADA, there are 20.8 million people, or 7 percent of the population in the United States who have diabetes. While an estimated 14.6 million have been diagnosed, 6.2 million are still unaware they have this illness. Many will first learn they have diabetes when they are treated for one of its life-threatening complications.

About 1.5 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people 20 years old 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 the death rates due to heart disease, stroke and cancer have declined.

Newton Memorial Hospital’s program is designed to cover a wide range of educational topics for people with diabetes. Those topics range from those who have been first diagnosed to people with gestational diabetes, to those who want to improve their self-management skills and enhance their knowledge after having diabetes for several years.

Newton Memorial Hospital provides three sites where the Diabetes Self-Management Education Program is offered: Newton Memorial Hospital, Sparta Health and Wellness Center, and Milford Health and Wellness Center. For more information about the Program, call Newton Memorial Hospital at 973.579.8340.

PHOTO CAPTION: Members of the NMH Diabetes Education department hold an Education Recognition Certificate from the American Diabetes Association. The ADA recently recognized NMH for its quality diabetes education program. Pictured from left to right are: Office Assistant Dee Kuhne, Clinical Manager of Diabetes Education/Nutrition Education Chris Orr, MS, RD, CDE, BC-ADM, Diabetes Educator Judy Beardsley, MA, RN, CDE, Diabetes/Nutrition Educator Leigh Kramer, MS, RD, CDE, Nutrition Educator Diane Delaney, MS, RD and Diabetes Educator Kathleen Fitzpatrick, MSN, RN, CDE.