In Catawba County, diabetes is most prevalent among males, minorities, and lower-income individuals.  Nearly 10 percent of adults in the county have diabetes.  Nationally, only 7 percent of adults and children combined have diabetes.

Catawba Valley Medical Center’s Center for Diabetes Control utilizes a team approach to diabetes care and management.  Accredited by the American Diabetes Association since 1993, the Center relies on an interdisciplinary team of professionals that includes
doctors, nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, counselors, and exercise specialists.  Services include pre-diabetes education, insulin pump therapy, continuous glucose monitoring, and gestational and nutritional programs.

Along with testing and assessment, the Center offers comprehensive self-management classes on nutrition, blood sugar monitoring, medications and injectables, exercise, and coping methods for living well with the disease.  Each clinical staff member of the Center for Diabetes Control holds Certified Educator Status from the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators.

In September 2008, Catawba Valley Medical Center, together with Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) and Greater Hickory Cooperative Christian Ministry (GHCCM), helped establish a Diabetes Education Center as part of GHCCM’s HealthCare Center.  Managed by a CVCC nursing department faculty member, the center provides free diabetes education programs modeled after the Center for Diabetes Control for low-income and uninsured patients. 

Catawba Valley Medical Center provides educational resources, training, and consultation to clinic staffers as needed.  The Diabetes Education Center also serves as a clinical training location for CVCC nursing students, which has enabled the college’s nursing program to increase enrollment.

When the Diabetes Education Center opened, its goal was to assist 50 people within its first year of operation.  In its first two months, with classes offered just three days a week, the program had already reached half that number.  Classes are also offered in Spanish, which has more than doubled attendance.  Patients are referred to the center by the GHCCM HealthCare Center.

“The need is definitely out there for diabetes education.  We’ve only just started to scratch the surface.” ~ Sharon Jimison, Director, Diabetes Education Center and CVCC Faculty Member