DIABETES PARTNERSHIP OF CLEVELAND

The DIABETES PARTNERSHIP OF CLEVELAND , located at 3601 Green Rd. in BEACHWOOD, is a nonprofit UNITED WAY SERVICES agency that has provided services and support for individuals with diabetes and their spouses and family members, promoted diabetes research, and assisted professionals in diabetes treatment. The Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland was founded in 1954 from a merger of two organizations: the Cleveland Diabetes Society, with Dr. Joseph Goodman as president, established for professionals in 1946, and the Diabetes League of Greater Cleveland, with Mrs. Alice Hoover as president, founded in 1948 for laypersons. After the merger, Goodman was president and Hoover vice-president. The association has encouraged nationally recognized physicians and other researchers specializing in diabetes care to conduct research in Cleveland, awarding $3 million for research activities since 1956. The Diabetes Assn. has also undertaken mass screening projects. In 1957 over 400,000 Clinistix were distributed to Cleveland-area residents for self-testing, and in 1962 finger blood testing was done using mobile units. Although these projects were no longer done citywide in 1995, the association continued to offer a detection test as a community service, and also distributed insulin free of cost to the medically indigent. It has educated the public through programs, speakers, nutritional information sheets, and cookbooks, targeting some of its literature and programs specifically to minority groups. It also provides scholarships for children age 6-15 to attend Camp Ho-Mita-Koda in Newbury, OH, which is the oldest camp in existence designed especially to serve children with diabetes. For the health professional, the Diabetes Assn. has sponsored symposiums and seminars and published professional bulletins. Association membership in 1995 was around 800, of which about 200 were professionals. In 2011, the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland changed its name to the Diabetes Partnership of Cleveland


See also MEDICINE.


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