SALINAS, CA — The Diabetes Education Center (DEC) at Natividad Medical Center will celebrate its first anniversary as an accredited diabetes education program by the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) June 15, 2013. The program has allowed Monterey County residents increased access to critical diabetes education services.

Save the Date of Wednesday, June 12th:

• There will be a celebration with speeches at 11:45 a.m. outside of building 200-Out Patient Services next to the cooking demo area. Guest speakers will include Harry Weis, Dr. Gray and the Diabetes Team.
• In addition as part of Natividad Medical Center’s ongoing commitment to promote wellness and healthy eating among Natividad Medical Center’s staff, patients and their families, the Natividad Medical Center’s Certified Farmers’ Market run by Everyone’s Harvest will be open from 11:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Shoppers will find fresh quality fruits and vegetables (many certified organic), beautiful flowers, live plants, and unique gifts from small-scale family farmers and local independent businesses.
• Join us on Wednesday, June 12th at 12:15 p.m. after the celebration with speeches for a nutritious celebration to commemorate the first anniversary as an accredited diabetes education program with a special cooking demo from Chef Annie Hobbs, Owner of A Taste of Elegance. Chef will be creating (need recipe).
• 12:45 p.m. get your Hot Hula moves on. We will do a free hot hula demo for everyone to participate in on the lawn in front of the Farmers Market.
• Enter our Reusable Bag drawing to win a bag full of farmers’ market fruits, vegetables, and flowers. We will also raffle a Diabetes cook book.

Diabetes education is a collaborative process through which people with or at risk for diabetes gain the knowledge and skills needed to modify behavior and successfully self-manage the disease and its related conditions. Services are provided by diabetes educators.

We are pleased to reach this important milestone. AADE’s accreditation assures the public that Natividad’s Diabetes Education Center achieves a standard of quality in our program that is rigorous and consistent with national standards of care,” said Dana Kent, M.D., Medical Director of Health Promotion and Education. “It also requires us to provide annual documentation demonstrating that we continue to provide evidence-based, patient-centered, culturally-competent care, and that we strive to meet the needs of our community. With the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Monterey County now at 11%, we are glad to be able to offer this valuable and much-needed service to Monterey County residents, who will continue to benefit from this expanded access to diabetes education.”

The Facts on Diabetes:

Monterey County Adults:

• 11.0% with diabetes (compare: 8.5% for CA)
• 12.2% Latino Monterey County with diabetes
  (source: CA Health Interview Survey—UCLA, 2009 data)

At Natividad Medical Center:

• Approximately 25% of our inpatients at any given time have diabetes.
• Approximately 12 – 15% of the women hospitalized to deliver babies have gestational diabetes.

The Diabetes Education Center at Natividad Medical Center

• 272 patients seen through 12/31/12, an increase of 23% since accreditation
• Quality: Have shown an improvement in our patients’ diabetes control as measured by a decrease of 7.8% in their average Hemoglobin A1C since 7/1/12.
• Outreach activities: reached over 1,000 people 7/1/12- 3/13/13
• Prevention: Recognizing the need to focus on the prevention of diabetes in the at-risk population the hospital serves, the Natividad Medical Foundation sought and received in the summer of 2012 a generous “Impact” grant from the Community Foundation for Monterey County’s Dr. George & Sam Kih Thorngate Family Fund and Dr. Frank Pye Smith Medical Facilities Fund. The grant funds a community-based series of classes, “5 Steps to Prevent Diabetes/5 Pasos para Prevenir la Diabetes”, held at sites throughout Monterey County. The classes, which began in September, 2012 and will continue through August, 2013, will reach 200 participants with evidence-based, practical, diabetes prevention education , with an emphasis on nutrition and physical activity.

Patient Success Story by Guadalupe Bravo, RN/CDE

A 21 year old female patient started coming to the Diabetes Education Center (DEC) on February 2012. She had just been diagnosed with diabetes type 2, in January of 2012. Her Hemoglobin A1c (A1c) was 12.5, which is an estimated average glucose (EAG) of 312, and had a body mass index (BMI) of 24.9. She was not taking her medication because of the side effects and had started some exercise and to make diet changes. Her blood sugar ranged from 200’s when fasting to 248 to 500 at bedtime (goal for patients with diabetes is 70-130 fasting and less than 180 1-2 hours after a meal). She had all the classical signs and symptoms of high blood sugar, which include constant thirst, frequent urination and lack of energy. When seen by the Registered Nurse/Certified Diabetes Educator (RN/CDE) she received education on medication adherence, exercise and diet.

During her next two appointments, in April and July of 2012, she showed significant improvement on her A1c, BMI and exercise routine. By October of 2012 she was taking her medication as instructed by her doctor, had an A1c of 7.3 and her BMI was 22.6. Her reported blood sugars were in the range of 95 to 146 fasting and 88 to 112 in the afternoons. She continues jogging daily for 2 hours and follows her meal plan. She continues to see the RN/CDE and education at this time consists of diet reinforcement and praise for all her positive lifestyle changes she has managed to accomplish. Her diabetes symptoms are now gone. She is very motivated and feels supported by her family and those who surround her, which has helped her gain control of her diabetes. Her goal is to get her A1c to 7.0 or less.

About Natividad Medical Center

Natividad Medical Center is a Monterey County owned and operated 172 bed acute care hospital providing health care services to the people of the county for more than 127 years. Natividad Medical Center offers inpatient, outpatient, emergency, diagnostic and specialty medical care. NMC provides more than 34,000 patient days each year and more than 47,000 emergency department visits per year. NMC is ranked #1 in newborn deliveries in Monterey County. Natividad is the only teaching hospital on the Central Coast, through its affiliation with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). With a medical staff of more than 228 physicians, Natividad’s mission is to continually improve the health status of the people of Monterey County through access to affordable, high-quality health care services. Natividad is based in Salinas, California. For more information, please call 831-755-4111 or visit https://www.natividad.com.