Wellmark Foundation Grant to Support Diabetes and Depression Awareness and Treatment Program in South Dakota

October 8, 2007

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Contact:
Angela Feig
515.245.4551
feigab@wellmark.com

(Des Moines, Iowa) – A $47,800 grant from The Wellmark Foundation will allow Horizon Health Care, Inc., headquartered in Howard, S.D., to implement a diabetes and depression awareness and treatment program for underserved patients in two rural South Dakota communities.

The Horizon Diabetic Awareness and Treatment through Telehealth Access (DATTA) Project will provide patients with resources to foster health literacy regarding diabetes and depression, says Scott Weatherill, information technology director at Horizon Health Care, Inc. “The project will provide a system solution to deliver educational and clinical resources to patients and health professionals at clinics in Mission and White River, S.D. Both communities are designated as health professional shortage areas and serve uninsured and underinsured patient populations,” says Weatherill.

“The system, which will utilize telemedicine strategies, will assist health professionals with educating and empowering patients to manage their diabetic condition and also linking them to needed specialty health services for treatment of diabetes and depression,” says Weatherill.

Project partners include the Community Counseling Service, Inc. and Avera/McKennan. For more information on the Horizon DATTA Project, contact Scott Weatherill at (605) 772-4518 or sweatherill@horizonhealthcare.org.

The Wellmark Foundation has provided more than $12.77 million to fund 374 health-related grants in Iowa and South Dakota since 1997, including a total of $1,854,175 to date in 2007. “The Wellmark Foundation works to improve the health of Iowans and South Dakotans,” says Matthew McGarvey, director of The Wellmark Foundation. “The Horizon DATTA Project will create a sustainable system that will increase patients’ health literacy regarding diabetes and depression in underserved areas of South Dakota,” says McGarvey.

The Wellmark Foundation is a private, non-profit foundation created by Wellmark, Inc., doing business as Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa. Visit The Wellmark Foundation's Web site at www.wellmark.com/foundation for a list of grant recipients and grant application instructions. Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield and The Wellmark Foundation are independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.