The hospital I work for is called Tower Heath-Reading Hospital. Located in Berks County PA. Our hospital is fortunate enough to have 6 Certified Diabetes Educators that work in the main hospital and 2 that are in our Rehab hospital. We noticed back in 2015 that there was a need for assistance for our population of people living with diabetes that were entering the hospital. Glucometers. Something affordable. I wrote a proposal for a wonderful group of individuals and their foundation called the “Friends Foundation”. This group sponsors events during the year that draws a lot of donors from our community. They consist of retired nurses, physicians, physician’s wives that volunteer their time. I asked for a small grant for Walmart’s Reli-on Prime meters, test strips, lancets, and lancing device. This total package is worth approximately $25. We serve a lot of patients who are not insured or have very little income. The first year we asked for a small amount to purchase about 200 glucose monitors and supplies. Within about nine months we were completely out of supplies. We only gave to those patients that had no insurance or were not US Citizens. This program has since grown drastically. We have increased the request amount for the grant to accommodate other items such as glucose tablets, gel, ketone test strips, pen needles, and extra test strips. Our educators are out with our street medicine group providing education to patients that are not able to attend the classes. I encourage all CDEs to investigate their area of employment to see what foundations may be available to them to help people who cannot afford this disease.
Lisa Lakeman, MS, RN, CDE, BC-ADM