Diabetes Clinic
The Aspirus Keweenaw Diabetes Clinic
Why we’re here
The goal of the Diabetes Clinic is to assist the person with diabetes to achieve their best possible quality of life. This is accomplished through education and encouraging clients to follow through with prevention measures that will decrease the risk of developing diabetes complications. If diabetes complications are present we work with clients to slow down the progression of them.
Who we are
The clinic is run by Deborah Gruver, FNP and Elaine Parks, RN. Elaine is a certified diabetes educator. Beth Cook, RD sees patients for individual nutritional counseling. Cathy Taskila, MA is the office assistant. Call 337-6598 for appointments. Clients are usually referred by their primary provider, but do not need a referral to be seen. Appointments for the Diabetes Clinic can be made by calling 337-6560 option #2.
Community programs
The Diabetes Clinic hosts Diabetes Self Management Training classes monthly. They are certified by both the Michigan Department of Community Health and the American Diabetes Association. These are the fourth Monday of each month and are held in the conference room of the hospital. There is a charge for this but Medicare and Medicaid patients are covered as well as most insurances cover this program. Check with your insurance carrier to verify. A Diabetes Support group is held on the second Monday each month at 2pm. There is no charge. For information on either one of these programs please call 337-6078 or click here.
Clinic visits
Clients are seen individually with Deborah Gruver and Elaine Parks. These are one hour visits that consist of medication adjustments, foot examinations, developing self-management goals, and achieving and maintaining standards of care to improve patient outcomes. Clients are encouraged to bring a support person. We want to hear about your personal experiences with diabetes. We can then work together to develop a plan that meets your needs. In addition to clients with diabetes we also see pre-diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and gestational diabetes at the clinic.
Foot Care
The Diabetes Clinic offers foot care to patients who have thick & discolored nails, callus, corns or thick, scaly skin. Care includes nail clipping & filing, sanding down thick nails and callus with a Dremel tool, a foot exam that includes testing for nerve damage and a foot massage if desired. Foot and nail care is a service that is covered by insurance and Medicare. Diagnoses that are covered include Diabetes, Onychomycosis, Peripheral Vascular Disease or Peripheral Neuropathy. For more information on foot care please call the clinic at 337-6598.
Of interest
The Diabetes Clinic was been awarded a $150,000 to facilitate diabetes care, education, and to develop a patient registry that we can track diabetes health indictors. This will allow us to continuously monitor, evaluate, and improve patient’ blood pressures, hemoglobin A1C’s and LDL (bad cholesterol), therefore; improving quality of life.
