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BOROUGH PRESIDENT CELEBRATES KINGSBROOK JEWISH MEDICAL CENTER’S NEW DIABETES SELF MANAGEMENT CENTER

On November 14th, Borough President Marty Markowitz celebrated the grand opening of Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center’s (KJMC) Diabetes Self Management Center. The center will provide comprehensive care for patients with diabetes as well as educational programs to inform the community about this chronic disease. November is also Diabetes Awareness Month.

“Diabetes is a public health emergency in Brooklyn, and Brooklynites need to do all they can to protect themselves from this silent killer,” said the Borough President. “This beautiful new facility at Kingsborough Jewish Medical Center will certainly help to save many lives.”

The Diabetes Self Management Center will offer individual counseling and group classes to address nutrition, exercise, medication and options for improving glucose control and the psychosocial adjustments necessary for the management of diabetes. All of the center’s nurses and nutritionists are specialists in diabetes and certified diabetes educators. The program will provide an extensive referral network that includes podiatry, ophthalmology, rehabilitation and wound care to meet all of the diabetic patient’s needs.

Healthcare professionals in Brooklyn have indicated that diabetes and related disorders are responsible for nearly one-third of emergency room visits in some Brooklyn hospitals. Hospitalization rates in Brooklyn are 9 per 1,000 and the citywide average is 7.2 per 1,000.

Diabetes contributes to almost 200,000 American deaths annually and is the sixth leading cause of death in Brooklyn. 17 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, unfortunately one-third are unaware that they have the disease. Approximately 2.8 million or 13% of all African Americans suffer from diabetes and 2 million or 10% of all Latinos.