Intermountain’s efforts to prevent diabetes were recognized at the 5th annual Get Healthy Utah Stakeholder Retreat last month. Get Healthy Utah, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating a culture of health in Utah, gave Intermountain the Get Healthy Utah Partnership Award to recognize Intermountain’s contributions to diabetes prevention in Utah.
One in three people in the United States have prediabetes, and untreated prediabetes is likely to develop into type 2 diabetes within three to five years.
Intermountain has partnered with other healthcare professionals in Utah to implement a steering committee that’s working to prevent diabetes in Utah. The steering committee includes more than 20 community, public health, and healthcare organizations focused on four areas of prevention: awareness, referral/retention/intensive lifestyle interventions, insurance coverage and sustainability, and data collection/evaluation.
Liz Joy, MD, Kim Brunisholz, PhD, and Jessica Shields lead Intermountain’s efforts in diabetes prevention and are members of the steering committee. Intermountain offers evidence-based programs as a preventive benefit for caregivers and insurance members. To date, Intermountain has enrolled more than 10,000 participants in our programs, and preventing diabetes in our communities has been identified as one of our four systemwide community health priorities.
“To me, this award represents a state-wide commitment to diabetes prevention that’s bigger than any one organization or group,” says Kim. “More importantly, this award proves that by collectively working together to prevent type 2 diabetes, we can make a difference for our Utah communities, patients, families, and ourselves. I’m proud to say this same commitment is shared by our own Intermountain leaders and caregivers as they work hard every day to do the right thing for the people we serve.”