New MLK hospital program brings amputations to zero for at-risk diabetic patients

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

More than three decades after a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes, Michelle Caldwell says her disease is better controlled than ever.She keeps regular appointments with her endocrinologist, primary care provider, dietician and pharmacist at MLK Community Medical Group, the outpatient arm of MLK Community Healthcare.She picks up weekly produce deliveries in the South Los Angeles hospital’s cafeteria and attends its occasional cooking classes.She has learned to decode nutrition labels and developed a taste for salads and nuts.Just one hurdle remains: the shoes.Diabetes can damage foot nerves, making it easier for patients to miss small scratches and wounds that could lead to serious infections.

Her care team was gently urging her to switch to supportive, closed-toe footwear.But Caldwell loves a sandal, and the podiatrist-approved options were crimping her style.“It doesn’t have to be, like, fashion fashion,” she said with a laugh during a recent visit with primary care provider Dr.Edward Cardenas at his East Compton office.

But were there any options that didn’t look like “Frankenstein feet”?That down-to-the-toes level of care is a feature of a program that has transformed the way MLK Community Healthcare treats diabetes, a chronic condition that affects one in every six South Los Angeles residents and nearly a quarter of MLK’s outpatients.Four years after MLK launched an intensive management program for the most at-risk patients, more than 80% of enrollees have seen blood sugar levels decline.More than 70% have brought their blood pressure under control.And diabetic-related amputations — which are painful and life-altering procedure that were the hospital’s most common surgery for years — have plummeted to zero for program patients.No novel medications or treatments are behind these results, said Dr.

Jorge Reyno, MLK’s senior vice president for population healt...