Bassett Battling Diabetes

Cooperstown, N.Y. – Nearly 400,000 adults in upstate New York, 77,000 of whom live in central New York, have been diagnosed with diabetes. That’s according to the American Diabetes Association, which also reports an estimated annual treatment cost of $2.5 billion. Statewide, there are more than one million adults who have been diagnosed with diabetes and the annual treatment cost is estimated to be $8.4 billion. It’s a staggering problem and one of the reasons Bassett has established the Diabetes Management Program. 

“We needed a network wide, comprehensive approach to tackling this disease in order to improve the health of our patients and do our part to bring down the costs of treating diabetes,” says Dr. Amy Freeth, endocrinologist and clinical research scientist at Bassett. “We know diabetes is a major contributor to heart disease and stroke, and it is a leading cause of kidney disease. It’s even more troubling when you understand that there are another 450,000 people in this state who have diabetes and don’t know it. We need to get a handle on this and Bassett’s Diabetes Management Program is part of that effort.”

Freeth explains that the Diabetes Management Program is a multi-faceted approach to improving the care of diabetic patients by:

• teaching patients to better self manage their disease through classes with registered nurses, a registered dietician and an exercise physiologist;
• providing them with the tools and information necessary for self-management;
• arranging for diabetes educators to work with patients to individualize their care and goals;
• encouraging collaboration with primary care providers and dieticians to optimize the management of diabetic patients, and; 
• improving access to physicians/providers.

The program has four certified diabetes educators and a nurse practitioner who visit eight sites throughout the Bassett Healthcare Network to work with diabetic patients so that they can learn to manage their disease to the best of their ability. The Bassett clinics offering the services of the diabetes educators are located in Cooperstown, Herkimer, Little Falls, Canajoharie, Delhi, Sidney, Walton and Cobleskill. Recently, a program coordinator was hired. Diane Cusworth, formerly Otsego County’s Public Health Director, will oversee the planning, implementation and expansion of the Diabetes Management Program.