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The grant will be used to refurbish new space for the center’s Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic and outfit six treatment rooms and offices with exam tables, medical equipment, computers and other furniture.
Once completed, the work is expected to reduce wait times for new appointments, allow more patients to access critical services and reduce hospital admissions for complications due to diabetes.
Bridgeport Hospital’s Primary Care Center is the only American Diabetes Association-certified diabetes program in the greater Bridgeport area and only area provider that accepts specialty care referrals from outside providers.
So far in 2015, Bridgeport Hospital has served over 1,100 patients with diabetes, nearly half of them considered to be at very high risk of complications. Patients treated in the hospital’s specialty clinic have much better outcomes and are more likely to avoid serious diabetic complications and hospital admissions.
Almost 10 percent of the American population is living with diabetes and more than 27 percent of all cases are undiagnosed. The consequences of untreated diabetes can include blindness, stroke, cardiac disease and vascular disease that can result in limb amputations, and chronic kidney disease.
The next closest diabetes center is in New Haven.
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