Bath Community Hospital/UVA Partnership Offers Local Workshops About Diabetes

Hot Springs, VA – Bath Community Hospital is teaming up with the University of Virginia Hospital to offer local workshops on diabetes. These workshops can be helpful to many people, not just those who have been diagnosed. Mary Ayers is Assistant Director of Nursing at Bath Community Hospital.

“They are good for caregivers, people who have diabetes, any healthcare professional that wants to educate their patients that they’re taking care of, home health people, family members; even if you’ve got pre-diabetes” says Ayers. “Pre Diabetes as a disease process, is the beginning of a chronic condition and doctors are picking up on that now by different lab tests.”

Ayers says simple lifestyle changes made during this initial condition may help prevent or delay the development of the disease.

Bath Community Hospital is presenting two free workshops. One is called The Nuts and Bolts of Diabetes and it focuses on the disease process, what to expect and how to manage it. The other workshop is called I Have Diabetes, Now What Do I Eat?

“The dietician will come in and present all the information on how to cound your carbs, what kind of food you need to eat, what kind of changes you need to make in your diet and your lifestyle changes that need to take place” says Ayers.

These workshops are telemedicine presentations from the University of Virginia. They are done through a live video feed, so they are interactive. The presenter can see the audience and the audience can see the presenter and the audience can ask questions.

If you can’t make it to any of these workshops, the staff at Bath Community Hospital will still be available to help.

“We do diabetic education, or we can teach family members on how to give a shot” she says. “Just any kind of teaching, and this is ongoing every day. And none of those things are charged.”

Kyna Moore is the Director of Nursing at Bath Community Hospital.

“One of the missions of Bath Community Hospital is to provide the care and improve the healthcare of the community” says Moore. “And Diabetes seems to be one of the growing diseases that seems to be happening in most of he area and we really need to become more educated and more in control of our chronic diseases. I hope people will be better able to manage and control their chronic diseases and liver a healthier, happier lifestyle because of the education they receive.”

I Have Diabetes, Now What Do I Eat is scheduled for Wednesday May 25 and again on Wednesday June 29 from 1 to 3pm at Bath Community Hospital. The Nuts and Bolts of Diabetes workshop is Wednesday June 22 from 1 to 3pm. For more information call Mary Ayers at 839-7162.