NEW YORK CITY,NY (March 16, 2005) -- Montefiore Medical Center has expanded its renowned diabetes services to help address the dramatic impact this increasingly common disease has on both patients and the communities in which they live. The new Montefiore Clinical Diabetes Program on Montefiore’s West Campus provides increased access for patients to diabetes treatment and management programs that have proven successful in decreasing serious complications from the disease.  

“Diabetes has reached epidemic proportions among adults and children, especially those who comprise Montefiore’s large and diverse patient population,” said Rita Louard, MD, director, Clinical Diabetes Program, Moses Division, Montefiore Medical Center. “With our multi-pronged approach we treat the diabetes and help patients avoid life-threatening complications such as heart and kidney disease, blindness, nerve damage and foot and skin problems.”

The Montefiore Clinical Diabetes Program at Moses builds on the excellence of the program already established at Montefiore’s Weiler Division. The overall program provides high quality care to patients throughout the Bronx, which has the highest rate of diabetes complications and the highest diabetes death rate in New York City. Nearly eight percent of all New York City residents have diabetes, and in the Bronx itself the figure is 11.5 percent, the highest rate in the metropolitan area.

The outpatient component of the new program is designed to help diabetes patients develop and practice self-management skills. The program offers group classes in English or Spanish and patients are treated by teams of experts with various specialties who offer individualized disease management plans and other forms of patient support.

“We give our diabetes patients everything they need to help improve their quality of life and reduce the risk of diabetes-related complications,” said Dr. Louard. “Our physicians, nurses and other practitioners know the important role that lifestyle changes can make in helping patients live longer and healthier lives.”

Montefiore Medical Center, The University Hospital and Academic Medical Center for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, ranks among the top one percent of all US hospitals based on its investments in medical innovation and cutting-edge technology.

Montefiore invests more in order to enable compassionate, personalized care and the most positive outcomes for patients and their families in New York, the tri-state area and beyond.

Montefiore’s unique combination of ‘state-of-the-art’ technology with ‘state-of-the-heart’ medical and nursing care in a teaching and research environment provides patients with access to world-class medical experts, the newest and most innovative treatments and the best medical center experience anywhere.

This 1,062 bed medical center includes the Henry and Lucy Moses Division, the Jack D. Weiler Hospital and The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, a large home healthcare agency and a 21-site medical group practice located throughout the Bronx and nearby Westchester.

Montefiore treats all major illnesses and has distinguished centers of excellence in cardiology and cardiac surgery, cancer care, tissue and organ transplantation, children's health, women's health, surgery and the surgical subspecialties. Montefiore Medical Center focuses on providing family-centered healthcare in a nurturing environment that extends well beyond hospital and clinic walls.