MHS says 80% of its home care patients have diabetes

Marianas Health Services administrator George Cruz said that 80% of their over 110 home care patients have diabetes, leading to high costs and emotional challenges.

Cruz disclosed this during the press briefing of “Walk on Wednesday,” Northern Marianas College-Cooperative Research Extension and Education Service’s newest public wellness program last Wednesday morning at the NMC campus.

Aside from Cruz, also serving as panelists of the event were NMC president Dr. Galvin Deleon Guerrero, NMC-CREES nutrition and health extension agent Ashley Sikayun, Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. CEO Dr. Esther Muña, and NMC-CREES Green Growth Initiative team 2 co-chair Keoni Tudela.

The Walk and Roll on Wednesday outreach or WOW started this week and the recurring weekly outreach will provide free blood pressure and blood sugar checks every Wednesday, from 4:30pm to 6:30pm at the 13th Fishermen Utt in Beach Road.

According to Sikayun, the WOW project is a Green Growth initiative and partnerships with various organizations have made a meaningful impact on the community.

“NMC-CREES with the CNMI Green Growth Initiative and through our partners—CHCC, Public Health, Hardt Eye Clinic, Diabetes Education Center, Marianas Health, the NMC Nursing Club, and the Children’s Healthy Living Program—are excited to announce the relaunch of an initiative that has made a meaningful impact on the lives of many in our community,” said Sikayun.

She added that WOW was created to as an opportunity to raise awareness about preventing diabetes and a commonly associated health issue, hypertension, promoting early detection, encouraging physical activity through walking or rolling, and offering practical resources to empower healthier lifestyles.

“We aim to bring health care beyond the hospital walls to where people need it the most … According to the American Diabetes Association 11.6% of American adults have diabetes and more than one in three American adults have prediabetes, which puts them at risk for developing type 2 diabetes, and over 80% of individuals with prediabetes don’t even know they have it,” added Sikayun.

According to Guerrero, NMC’s Sustainable Development Goals include economic and health aspects.

“It’s really important that we do this because when we launched the Green Initiatives, everyone thought it was just about the environment. But we have to point out that many of the Sustainable Development Goals—17 of them—are economic in nature, but also many of them are health in nature. Because a healthy life is a wealthy life,” said Guerrero.

Meanwhile, Muña said that the partnership with NMC is valuable in addressing health issues, a community-driven approach in tackling health challenges.

“We just did a hybrid survey assessment last week, and NMC-CREES was there at the table to basically break it down, but we know that in order for us to address the health issues of the same mind, we need to make it a community-driven mission,” she said.

Cruz, representing the private sector, said MHS supports the collaboration between the sectors while emphasizing the significance of public-private partnerships for sustainable healthcare.

“I do agree that public and private partnership is very important when we are looking at long-term sustainability, whether it’s programs or activities or just the healthcare in general for our people and our communities throughout the CNMI. We should never forget our brothers and sisters on Rota and Tinian… I believe with WOW starting here, it has a little bit of discussion to make sure that we move toward Tinian and Rota as well, and keeping it consistent,” said Cruz.

Tudela said that the WOW initiative is more than just a health program as it aims to empower individuals to take control of their health and well-being. He added that the program offers various resources and support to help individuals adopt healthier lifestyles and reduce risks.