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WINSTON-SALEM -- Aug. 12, 2003 -- The Duke Endowment and the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust have committed funds to help Forsyth Medical Center and its affiliates iprove the quality of life for patients with diabetes, a disease that affects 17 million people in the United States. Grants from the two organizations totaling more than $325,000 will help Forsyth Medical Center's Diabetes Care Program expand in its third year, and help the hospital start a new program that will ensure access to diabetes care and education for the uninsured.

The Duke Endowment has granted Forsyth's Diabetes Care Program $125,000. The program combines diabetes management classes for patients and continuing eduation for physicians and staff on the most up-to-date care and treatment for diabetes. Since it began in 2001, the Diabetes Care Program has reached patients by working with 18 physician practices in the surrounding area, including Forsyth, Davidson, Davie, Wilkes, Surry, Stokes and Yadkin counties. In addition, 23 physicians in Forsyth's Diabetes Care Program have received Diabetes Provider Recognition from the National Committee on Quality Assurance and 18 more are applying for the recognition this year.

Research has shown that knowning how to effectively manage diabetes can reduce or delay life-threatening complications such as heart disease, eye problems and kidney disease. The services offered through the Diabetes Care Program can go a long way in helping to educate patients, but too many people do not have access to such classes because they lack insurance. In fact, there are more than 32,000 people with diabetes in Forsyth, Davie, Davidson, Wilkes, Surry, Stokes and Yadkin counties. Of those, more than half have not participated in any diabetes education classes.

That's why the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust has committed $67,925 each year for three years for a total of $203,775 to fund a new project aimed at helping the uninsured gain access to diabetes care. Under the program, a Certified Diabetes Educator will visit Forsyth Medical Group practices, which are physician practices owned by Forsyth Medical Center, in the surrounding communities and conduct classes for the indigent and underserved population. The goal is to help this population learn to manage diabetes through diet and lifestyle changes, and therefore improve their health and quality of life. The pilot project will be part of Forsyth's Diabetes Care program. It will begin in Forsyth, Davie, Davidson, Wilkes, Surry, Stokes and Yadkin counties, and later expand into the Charlotte area.

"The diabetes education programs at Forsyth Medical Center and Thomasville Medical Center teach patients how to prvent complications from the disease by incorporating healthy diet and lifestyle changes. This knowledge is often the difference between living a long, complication-free life with diabetes or dying prematurely from the disease," says Dee Smith, president of the Forsyth Medical Center Foundation. "The support we've received from the Duke Endowment and the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust will allow us not only to continue to offer these classes and access to specially-trained physicians, but also to extend these programs to more patients who need them."

The Forsyth Medical Center Foundation, established in 1999, is the fundraising arm of the hospital. The Foundation works to support the hospital's mission to improve the health of the community, one person at a time.