Deb Redd, standing, talks to the IVCH diabetes support group that meets in the IVCH room at Peru Mall. (Photo contributed)

PERU - The Illinois Valley Diabetes Center for Excellence at Illinois Valley Community Hospital has taken an important step toward achieving a significant federal designation.

The IVCH Center has been notified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that its diabetes prevention program has received CDC preliminary recognition.

“We appreciate your participation in the National Diabetes Prevention Program and we are committed to working with you to do everything we can to ensure your continued success as a critical member of our national effort,” said Ann Albright, RDN, director of the CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation, in a letter to Deb Redd, IVCH certified diabetes educator and the local program’s coordinator.

Full recognition of the IVCH diabetes prevention program could come within a year, said Redd. The goal of the program is to help people with prediabetes prevent or delay type 2 diabetes and other serious health problems and also to improve their overall health.

The CDC says diabetes has an enormous economic impact on millions of individuals and their families, on workplaces, and on the U.S. health care system. Data indicates:

In 2017, the total estimated cost of diagnosed diabetes was $327 billion ($237 billion in direct medical costs and $90 billion in lost productivity), up 26 percent over a five-year period.

About 1 in 4 health care dollars is spent on people with diagnosed diabetes.

Medical expenses for people diagnosed with diabetes - $16,750 annually on average - are about 2.3 times higher than for people without diabetes.

For more information about the IVCH Diabetes Center for Excellence, call (815) 780-3576.