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Mobile Treatment Unit Created by Committee on Health Appropriation
Washington, D.C. - Today, Councilmember David A. Catania joined representatives from the Howard University Hospital (HUH) and CVS Pharmacy to celebrate the success of HUH’s Mobile Diabetes Treatment Unit. The successful program was initiated by an appropriation, or earmark, in the Committee on Health’s 2008 budget. The Health Committee Chairman told attendees that the program had so far exceeded his expectations and uncovered an alarming incidence of diabetes in the District.
“The word 'earmark' has been given a negative connotation of late,” said Catania. “Without this earmark, however, over 600 District residents would not have been screened for Diabetes. Nor will the thousands of others who will be screened over the coming months.”
In Fiscal Year 2008, the Committee on Health appropriated $600,000 to HUH to conduct community outreach activities for diabetes education and prevention for low-income and uninsured D.C. residents. With the grant, HUH acquired a mobile unit to test and treat underserved residents in five of the city’s eight wards for diabetes. Among adults in the District, wards 4,5,6,7, and 8 showed alarming rates of diabetes. The diabetes mobile treatment unit ran testing from June 2008 to September 2008. The initial hope was to screen approximately 250 people in the early months; however, the mobile unit has already screened more than 600 people.
The HUH Diabetes Treatment Center was established in November 2007 under the leadership of Dr. Gail Nunlee-Bland. The Center is a state-of-the art facility that provides education, service and research in diabetes treatment. The facility provides specialized services in endocrinology, ophthalmology, podiatry, and nutrition. For more information please visit: www.huhealthcare.org
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