FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 11, 2003
CONTACT: Traci Blake, 360-493-7245
OLYMPIA--The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has selected Providence St. Peter Hospital as one of six national recipients of a grant through the Foundation’s Advancing Diabetes Self-Management program. Devin Sawyer, M.D., of Providence St. Peter Family Practice, will direct the project.
The program is designed to demonstrate that diabetes self-management can be delivered in primary care settings and significantly improve patient outcomes. Over the next 15 months, the Providence St. Peter Family Practice residency program will receive $299,987 in funding to develop and implement new approaches to treat diabetic patients.
More than 310 health care organizations across the country applied for this grant. The selection was made after a review of applications by a national panel of experts and an evaluation visit to the nine sites selected as finalists.
"It is a great honor to be selected to conduct this pioneering work," said Devin Sawyer, M.D., Family Practice faculty member. "This grant allows us the opportunity to develop clinical best practices that will serve as a model for primary care practices across the nation." Sawyer led the residency program’s application team in developing the grant proposal. He was joined in the effort by Joe Wall, MHA, residency program administrator; Kevin Haughton, M.D., Providence St. Peter Family Practice medical director; Jan Wolfram, R.N., Boldt Diabetes Center manager; Shari Giomo, project medical assistant; Jennifer Fitchitt, program administrative assistant; and Chris Toal, Providence St. Peter Foundation grant writing specialist.
Providence St. Peter Family Practice has been a leader in developing new models of care for diabetic patients. In the past two years, the residency program has created innovative methods to help diabetic patients set and achieve goals to improve nutrition, physical activity and prevention of medical complications. The residents and faculty have redesigned the typical physician office experience for their patients. They have added group visits to support patient education and have expanded the role of the physicians’ medical assistants in supporting patient needs.
Providence St. Peter Family Practice provides primary care services for all ages, including obstetrics, gynecology, pediatric and geriatric care. Resident physicians care for patients under the supervision of faculty physicians in the Family Practice program. In addition to rotating through hospital units, residents work at Providence St. Peter Family Practice and with local physicians in their offices.
Providence St. Peter Hospital, founded by the Sisters of Providence in 1887, is a not-for-profit, 390-bed hospital serving the five-county South Sound region with comprehensive medical, surgical and mental health services.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care.
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