SVMHS Opens First Pediatric Diabetes Clinic in Monterey County
SALINAS, CA, February 2, 2018-Medical terminology and diagnoses’ can be tough for anyone to articulate,
let alone a fourth grader. 10-year-old Quinn Lockwood from Carmel Valley,
however, speaks from experience and has no problem expressing the challenges
of having Type 1 diabetes. He was one of the speakers today at the grand
opening ceremony for Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System’s
(SVMHS) Pediatric Diabetes Clinic operated in conjunction with UCSF Medical Center.
“It’s hard when you can’t eat when the other kids eat,”
explained Quinn Lockwood, a pediatric diabetes patient. “It’s
hard when you have to miss a whole day of school to go up to the Bay Area
for a doctor’s appointment. It’s hard when you have to monitor
your blood sugar levels and take insulin.”
The Lockwood’s and other families will now benefit from a unique
new clinic located in Salinas. The Pediatrics Diabetes Clinic located
at the Diabetes & Endocrine Center is the only one of its kind in
Monterey County. SVMHS partnered with UC San Francisco (UCSF) Medical
Center to offer services that will address the growing needs of young
people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. The partnership was developed
to help local families and children diagnosed with diabetes avoid long
and time-consuming drives to see pediatric diabetes experts and endocrinologists.
“We are grateful for this partnership with UCSF,” says Allen
Radner, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare
System. “We have been working really hard to address the diabetes
issue in our county and it’s especially important that children
have easy and affordable access to the kind of care that will help them
best manage their diabetes at an early age.”
Saleh Adi, MD, Director of the Madison Clinic for Pediatric Diabetes Benioff
Children’s Hospital, UCSF, will oversee the program at the Pediatric
Diabetes Clinic. Pediatric endocrinologists, diabetes experts, and nurse
practitioners from UCSF will be working at the Pediatric Diabetes Clinic
in Salinas.
“When it first came up I immediately jumped on the idea of coming
to Salinas,” says Saleh Adi, MD, Medical Director of the Madison
Clinic for Pediatric Diabetes at the UCSF Medical Center. “It’s
a unique opportunity to extend our services to a great but underserved
community.”
“This partnership with UCSF is thrilling,” says Dana Armstrong,
RD, CDE, Director of Diabetes Services at Salinas Valley Medical Clinic
Diabetes & Endocrine Center Services. “Right now it is so difficult
for some of our families to get to the Bay Area for treatment and care.
Now they will have access to world-class care right here in our community.”
“I have been taking my son to Stanford for diabetes treatment for
the last eight years,” says Kathy Lockwood, mother of 10-year-old
Quinn Lockwood. “Every time I take him to Stanford he misses a full
day of school. Now, I’ll be able to schedule his appointments after
school and he’ll be seen by a pediatric endocrinologist in Salinas.”
The Pediatric Diabetes Clinic will do more than offer medical services,
it also provides a way for young diabetes patients to interact and support
one another. Quinn Lockwood echoed what all of the adults at the grand
opening expressed, albeit with added emotional and physical enthusiasm.
Quinn pumped his fist by his side as he searched for the right words to
answer a reporter’s question, “This is huge, huge, I mean
huge!”
The new Pediatric Diabetes Clinic is located in the new expanded Salinas
Valley Medical Clinic Diabetes & Endocrine Center. This center opened
in September of 2017 and offers integrated care, diagnostic tests, treatments,
preventive care and English and Spanish language education classes as
well as group support sessions. The 10,000 square foot facility is located
on the second floor of the Primecare medical building on Abbott Street
in Salinas. The Pediatric Diabetes Clinic will begin seeing pediatric
patients next week.
Editor Note: photos attached: Pediatric Diabetes Clinic ribbon cutting (left to right)
Chris Orman, SVMHS Board of Directors, President; Dana Armstrong, RD,
CDE, Director of Diabetes Services at Salinas Valley Medical Clinic Diabetes
& Endocrine Center; Emily Souda, RN, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner;
Quinn Lockwood, Pediatric Diabetes Patient; Saleh Adi, MD, Pediatric Endocrinologist
& Diabetes Specialist; Allen Radner, MD Chief Medical Officer, SVMHS.
(second photo) Quinn Lockwood speaking at Pediatric Diabetes Clinic grand
opening. (third photo in separate attachment and additional photos available
by request)
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ABOUT SALINAS VALLEY MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM Salinas Valley Memorial
Healthcare System (SVMHS) is an integrated network of healthcare programs,
services, and facilities. At the core of the System is an acute care,
public district hospital licensed for 263 beds. Several distinct specializations
and programs at SVMHS include the Regional Heart Program, the Stanford
Cardiac Surgery Program at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital, Cardiac Wellness
Center, the Comprehensive Cancer Center, a Level III Neonatal Intensive
Care Unit operated in partnership with Lucile Packard Children’s
Hospital, Joint Replacement Center, Regional Spine Center, Sleep Medicine
Center and Salinas Valley Medical Clinic. Salinas Valley Memorial features
advanced imaging and diagnostic tools, including the Ryan Ranch Center
for Advanced Diagnostic Imaging and the Nancy Ausonio Mammography Center.
Salinas Valley Memorial employs more than 1,650 people; its medical staff
includes more than 300 board-certified physicians across a range of specialties.
For more information, visit
www.svmh.com