Clay County Hospital and staff members Laurel Mason and Kamy Vail are deeply devoted to their extraordinary work surrounding Diabetes Self-ManagementEducation. They recently were nominated for the Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network Impact Award. This award focuses on projects that have found a creative way to motivate and inspire staff, initiate a new approach to improve patient care, implement a new process flow or life-safety improvement, strengthen the health of your community, or improve the well-being of staff or patients.  Clay County Hospital is proud to announce that due to Laurel and Kamy’s dedication to strengthening the health of our community, they were the recipients of the Impact Award for 2024. As recipients of the Impact Award, they were hosted at the annual Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network conference on November 14, 2024.

Laurel and Kamy applied for, and received, a Lifestyle Coach Assistance Grant that focuses on supporting the existing National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) and Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME). This program focuses on improving awareness of the program, access to and appropriateness of classes, ease of enrollment, and relevant participant support while addressing barriers to accessing the appropriate care and addressing social disparities. This program was developed by the Illinois Department of Public Health, and Clay County Hospital Diabetes Education Department entered into an agreement with them in March 2024.

This program has assisted the Diabetes Education Department to hold additional DPP cohorts, train an additional lifestyle coach, and promote the program in the community. The closest program is between 65-125 miles away from Clay County Hospital. This program is one of only two current Medicare approved suppliers for the national diabetes prevention program. Laurel and Kamy have worked with the Illinois Public Health Institute to specifically promote the DPP and DSME for Medicaid patients.

With the grant funding, Laurel and Kamy have been able to purchase gas vouchers to help reduce transportation costs that prevent patients from attending programs, purchase fresh fruit and vegetable vouchers to assist whose patients who do not have the financial ability to afford healthy foods, purchase glucometers for patients who cannot afford them, sponsor the first Clay County Hospital free produce giveaway for the community, sponsor free diabetes/prediabetes screening events with free point of care hemoglobin A1C tests, purchase materials for training those with diabetes in subsequent languages, offer assistance to those patients who may not be able to access their diabetes care due to lack of childcare or spousal/family care, and enhance the free monthly diabetes support groups by purchasing diabetes curriculum for support and education.

Clay County Hospital would like to thank Laurel Mason and Kamy Vail for their deep devotion and support to improving the health of our patients and community. Congratulations on a job well done!