BROOKLYN, NEW YORK - Brooklyn Hospital Center, the Borough of Brooklyn and Grenada have more in common than many people realize. For starters it’s been said that there are more Grenadians living in Brooklyn than there in Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. While we might not know all the numbers, we do know that health and wellness of their mutual citizenry is one commonality that they share. Recently, all three entities have started to take another step towards improving community health. “Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique needs all the help that it can get in the aftermath of Hurricanes Ivan and Emily We’re trying to cope but it is very, very hard and so I welcome, endorse, and applaud this move spearheaded by our friend Brooklyn Hospital Center to do this important health program for us. I believe that this is the kind of partnership that brings about positive results,” said Grenada’s Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell. From October 27 through November 4, 2005, these three partners, along with St. George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada, the Grenada Ministry of Health, and the Carriacou Health Service among others will provide educational sessions on diabetes and wound care management. Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique has a very high rate of chronic diabetes estimated in the range of a little less than 10% of the population. With the health infrastructure taking a beating by Hurricanes Ivan and Emily the health situation is very problematic and challenging. The program is open to all physicians and nurses throughout the Caribbean as well as the USA. Four days of wound care clinics for patients in Grenada and the surrounding islands will form part of the program. Registration forms are available online at www.chs-health.com or www.tbh.com or by calling Brooklyn hospital Center at (718) 250-8179. Patients’ registration forms will be made available very soon at the various community health centers in Grenada and other islands. This is a rare opportunity for health professionals, hospital and health center workers in Grenada and other sister islands, friends and family to attend these clinics and education sessions. Diabetes management is a high priority item on the list of the Grenada Ministry of Health. Recent Grenadian health initiatives, including the 5-year Grenada Heart Project, are highlighting community education, screening and management. Poor diabetes management often leads to complications including ulceration, debrigement, and amputation. Much of this can be prevented with early detection and proper care and management. Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell recently paid a courtesy call on Brooklyn Hospital Center to say thank you for the institution’s gift of an ambulance to the people of Grenada. He expressed his gratitude to Mr. Sam Lehrfeld, President and CEO of Brooklyn Hospital Center, and pledged to strengthen the bond of friendship between Grenada, the wider Caribbean and TBHC. Borough President Marty Markowitz was also on hand for the handing over of the ambulance which was donated following the devastation of the islands by Hurricane Ivan. With students from Grenada’s St. George’s University School of Medicine rotating through the Brooklyn Hospital Center’s training and residency system further collaboration was a natural outcome. What quickly followed was a meeting with Senator Ann David-Antoine, the Grenada Minister of health, Dr. Stephen Carryl, Brooklyn Hospital Center’s Chair-man of Surgery and Dr. Spencer Lubin, Chair-man of Anesthesiology, both long-term providers and supporters of health care in underserved overseas communities, Dr. Carol. McIntosh, one of the founders of the new Carriacou health Service and a host of others. The benefit of this proposed symposium and clinic was developed after a small group of Brooklyn Hospital Center’s health professionals spent a week in Grenada last July and saw first-hand the challenges that the health infrastructure faces in the aftermath of two powerful hurricanes. The Brooklyn Hospital Center is now poised to work with the health and education leadership in Grenada to make this program a success. Reprinted from caribworldradio.com