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Megan Kelley
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Somerset County Health Department Receives $25,000 Grant
from the Quality Health Foundation to Identify Residents
at Risk of Developing Diabetes in the Tri-County Region

Columbia, Maryland – July 2, 2008 –The Quality Health Foundation, the mission arm of Quality Health Strategies, announced today a grant in the amount of $25,000 to the Somerset County Health Department, an organization representing the Tri-County Diabetes Alliance.  The Tri-County Diabetes Alliance identifies individuals at risk of developing diabetes in the Tri-County region of Wicomico, Worcester and Somerset counties, primarily focusing on the medically underserved populations.

The Tri-County Diabetes Alliance will use the grant funds to educate the underserved and at-risk individuals in the region about diabetes and reduce complications secondary to diabetes through appropriate interventions.  This program acts as a continuation to the successful 2007  “Closing the Gap” campaign, which focused on improving outcomes through the use of promising best practice and collaborative approach.

“In the Tri-County region, 14.3 percent of residents have diabetes.  With the assistance from the Quality Health Foundation grant we will be able to combat this staggering number on the lower shore of Maryland,” said Charity Holley, MA, Director, Health Promotion, Somerset County Health Department.

The Quality Health Foundation was formed in May 2003 out of funds from Quality Health Strategies, an Easton-based not-for-profit quality improvement organization with more than 30 years experience in conducting and evaluating health care quality improvement initiatives.  The mission of the Quality Health Foundation is to provide charitable organizations that wish to undertake improvement projects with funding based on the project’s potential to impact access to and quality of healthcare to individuals and communities.

“We at the Quality Health Foundation are happy to be partnering with the Somerset County Health Department, in conjunction with the Tri-Diabetes Alliance, to directly improve the health of the underserved population developing diabetes on Maryland’s Eastern shore,” said Sheldon Goldgeier, MD, Chairman of the Quality Health Foundation Board of Directors.

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About Quality Health Foundation
The Quality Health Foundation is the mission arm of the Quality Health Strategies, a national, not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving healthcare quality in 26 states.  Formed in May 2003, the mission of the Quality Health Foundation is to improve the health of individuals and communities.  To achieve this goal, we provide modest charitable grants to organizations that wish to undertake improvement projects to impact access to and quality of healthcare and human services to individuals and communities.  For more information, please visit the Quality Health Foundation on the web at www.qualityhealthfoundation.org.