LAURINBURG A CVS Health Foundation grant will enable the Scotland Community Health Clinic to provide classes from now through the fall on reducing diabetes risk factors.
The $25,000 grant to the clinic was one of 55 awarded nationwide by the CVS foundation in partnership with the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, and one of three in North Carolina. It will help the clinic support community education classes on reducing risk factors for diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and obesity.
While those classes will be useful to those with diabetes, it is also aimed at those with risk factors for the disease, to help them prevent it from taking root.
“It includes those at risk because we’re going after precursors to diabetes,” said clinic director Andy Kurtzman. “Ideally what I want to do is try to track certain outcome measures for patients who take the classes to see if having taken the course they make any improvements.”
The grant also provides funding for the clinic’s medical provider to monitor class participants willing to have their outcome measures such as blood pressure, weight, and cholesterol tracked during the course of the sessions.
The free clinic grants are part of the CVS Health Foundation’s multi-year, $5 million commitment to supporting community health and expanding access to quality health care nationwide through partnerships with the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, the School-Based Health Alliance, and the National Association of Community Health Centers.
“Our partnership with the National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics allows us to provide the funding needed to ensure thousands of people in local communities have access to the health services they need,” said Eileen Howard Boone, CVS Health Foundation’s president. “We are honored to support Scotland Community Health Clinic and recognize the work they do to improve patient outcomes in Scotland County.”
By educating a few individuals about diabetes risk factors and the healthy habits that can prevent them, Kurtzman said that the clinic aims for that information to be disseminated beyond that core group of patients.
“I want them to be those pebbles that get educated and have a ripple effect on the whole community,” he said. “I encourage them to talk to their friends and relatives about what they learn.”
Since opening in 2007, the Scotland Community Health Clinic has provided free routine medical care and prescription assistance to uninsured adults in the county who live below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
The clinic is funded by individual and community donations and grants from state, regional and private organizations.
