CRMC recognized by American Diabetes Association

The American Diabetes Association, the nation’s leading organization committed to fighting diabetes by driving discovery through education research and innovation, recently announced the recognition of Cuyuna Regional Medical Center’s Diabetes Education Program through its Education Recognition Program. The service was originally recognized in April 2005.

The Association’s Education Recognition Certificate assures that educational services meet National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education Programs. The standards were developed and tested under the auspices of the National Diabetes Advisory Board. The program promotes quality Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support for people with diabetes by certifying that services adhere to national standards. Services certified by the ADA’s program offer a staff of knowledgeable health professional who can provide participants with comprehensive information about diabetes management. Services apply for recognition voluntarily, and the recognition last four years.

“The process gives professionals a national standard by which to measure the quality of services they provide,” said CRMC’s Diabetes Education Director Heather Erickson, R.D.  “It also assured the consumer that he or she will receive high-quality care.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2017 National Diabetes Statistic Report, there are 30.3 million people or 9.4 percent of the population in the United States who have diabetes. While an estimated 23.1 million have been diagnosed, unfortunately, 7.2 million people are not aware that they have this disease. Each day, more than 4,110 American are diagnosed with diabetes. Many will first learn that they have diabetes when they are treated for one of its life-threatening complications—heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness, nerve disease, and amputation. Diabetes continues to be the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S.—in 2015 it contributed to 252,806 deaths. The ADA’s Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2017 confirms diabetes as the nation’s most expensive health care condition at $327 billion.

For more information about CRMC’s program, visit https://www.cuyunamed.org/patient-care/primary-care/diabetes.