Winning the race against diabetes with the MTVAHCS | Great-falls | kulr8.com – KULR-TV

GREAT FALLS, Mont. - In September of 2021, the Montana VA (MTVAHCS) took a look at how to improve its diabetes care, especially in Great Falls where over 600 VA patients have diabetes.

So, they developed a new and unique program...

It's a 12-week program and 15 veterans have crossed the finish at the Great Falls VA Clinic on March 23 after starting the program in January.

"For diabetes, education is the key," said Air Force veteran, James Hollinon.

The program is an innovative shared medical appointment program.

"We've found great benefits in bringing people together that have similar chronic illnesses and diseases and helping them. So, we applied that model, we took research and applied that model to what do here at the VA and our veterans absolutely love it," said Jason Gleason, certified nurse practitioner (NP-C) for the Great Falls VA.

"Besides the education, the interaction and the knowledge that we've gained has just been very helpful," said Hollinon.

Hollinon has been diabetic since 1995 and says in terms of education - this program has been the best.

A Montana Army National Guard veteran, Mark Hall, served overseas in Iraq, and for him, this program has helped change his outlook on life.

"I think about my family and my children and I think about all the interactions where I had to say no, I can't go and do that or I'm not feeling well. You know, and they're excited to tell me something but I have the grumpy look on my face and it just makes them feel bad. That's not today. Today when they tell me something exciting, I'm like I get to be involved in that and not be the grumpy face," said Hall.

MTVAHCS cares for 38,502 veterans and 4,935 of them have diabetes with 996 (20%) of them having uncontrolled diabetes (A1C >8%).

Which means the Great Falls VA Clinic pit crew got to work.

"For myself, I did the check-in and I kept everybody on task because we had 15 different people going to different stations," said Mike Nagel, assistant manager, RN northeast region.

"I do education, most veterans, most people who come in that were diagnosed with diabetes and say how did I get this, what is this, why do I have this, what do I do, can I ever just get rid of it," said RN Mary Toren.

It doesn't matter if you handled education, were a facilitator, a presenter, or the project lead - veterans tell Montana Right Now this program excites them.

"Today my future, I think, looks super bright and I'm excited for it," said Hall.

Gleason says they hope to continue this program in the future so more veterans can win the race against diabetes.

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Winning the race against diabetes with the MTVAHCS | Great-falls | kulr8.com - KULR-TV