Long Island Community Foundation Supports South Nassau's New Diabetes Education Center

OCEANSIDE, N.Y. - Jan. 27, 2017 - PRLog -- South Nassau Communities Hospital Family Medicine Center is the recipient of a one-year $50,000 grant from the Long Island Community Foundation to help establish its diabetes self-management education program (DSME).

The program aims to teach patients with poorly controlled diabetes the lifestyle changes necessary to manage the condition and prevent it from causing other life-threatening conditions, including stroke and heart attack.

"This grant will help us expand diabetes education on the South Shore and will make a real difference in the day to day lives of our patients," said Richard J. Murphy, South Nassau's President and CEO.  "We thank the leaders of the LICF and the members of its Advisory Board for their generosity and support of our goal to prevent disease by supporting wellness through community education and awareness.

According to the US Center for Disease Control, more than 84,000 residents of Nassau County have been diagnosed with diabetes.  The disease is most prevalent in several communities served by South Nassau Communities Hospital, including Hempstead, Freeport and Roosevelt.  An array of studies have shown that self-management programs improve patients' outcomes through education about proper nutrition, medication adherence, insulin therapy and physical fitness and healthy lifestyle habits.

The Family Medicine Center's DSME program will be facilitated by a bilingual Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) who will host weekly, 7-session bilingual education classes to groups of up to 20 patients.  Upon completion of the classes, the patients will have individual appointments with the CDE to discuss a plan of care and schedule appointments with specialists, including nutritionists, podiatrists and opticians to address health issues that could hinder patients' compliance with their individualized plans.  The CDE and medical team will also establish lifestyle goals and daily routines for each patient so that they learn to make managing their blood sugar a daily habit and healthy nutrition and regular physical activity lifelong priorities.

"We are proud to join South Nassau in its mission to meet the region's need for quality healthcare services," said David Okorn, executive director of LICF.  "The hospital is known for its judicious use of the charitable support it receives to establish new and expand current services, which is an essential reason why LICF awarded a grant for this much needed program."

Providing culturally sensitive multidisciplinary care, the South Nassau's Family Medicine Center offers a comprehensive range of services tailored to the individual needs of its patients, from obstetrical and gynecological care, to geriatric and social services, to preventive medicine and urgent health care.  Its staff features 6 full-time, board-certified family physicians who ensure that each patient has their own primary physician and is provided 24 hours/7 days a week coverage.  The Family Medicine Center accepts most health insurance providers.  For more information, please call (516) 255-8400.

About Long Island Community Foundation

The mission of the Long Island Community Foundation (LICF) is to enhance the well-being of the people and communities of Long Island.  Located at 900 Walt Whitman Road in Melville, LICF achieves this by providing leadership in the identification of current and future Long Island community needs; strengthening the capacity of the Island's not-for-profit sector to respond to community needs through effective grant-making and technical assistance; and working cooperatively with others seeking to encourage philanthropy on Long Island, or otherwise to support the mission of the Foundation.  For more information, go to http://www.licf.org/.

About South Nassau Communities Hospital

Designated a Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), South Nassau® Communities Hospital is one of the region's largest hospitals, with 455 beds, more than 900 physicians and 3,500 employees.  Located in Oceanside, NY, the hospital is an acute-care, not-for-profit teaching hospital that provides state-of-the-art care in cardiac, oncologic, orthopedic, bariatric, pain management, mental health and emergency services.  In addition to its extensive outpatient specialty centers, South Nassau provides emergency and elective angioplasty, and offers Novalis Tx™ and Gamma Knife® radiosurgery technologies.  A Level II Trauma Center verified by the American College of Surgeons, South Nassau is a designated Stroke Center by the New York State Department of Health and Comprehensive Community Cancer Center by the American College of Surgeons, and is an accredited center of the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Association and Quality Improvement Program.  In addition, the hospital has been awarded the Joint Commission's gold seal of approval as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures, including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care; and disease-specific care for hip and joint replacement, wound care and end-stage renal disease. For more information, visit www.southnassau.org.