Diabetes hits home for hospital executive

Friday, April 26, 2002 | 2:13 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: April 27, 2002

Karla Perez runs a Las Vegas hospital that is a leader in diabetes awareness and care, yet when she gets a call about her brother-in-law's diabetes acting up, there is little she can do but offer her sister in Wisconsin support and hope.

"My sister called the other day about her husband's diabetes-related high blood pressure and told me at times he was not coherent," said Perez, who has been chief executive at Desert Springs Hospital for two years.

"I am not a clinical analyst. I can only tell her about a number of steps he can take to control his diabetes. It is a scary statistic that only two-thirds of diabetics have been diagnosed with the disease. When one of those people is a family member it is especially difficult. It really hits home."

The key, Perez says, is education, and she has worked to improve an established program at her hospital that is run by certified diabetes educators. The program addresses such areas as basic management skills, diet, blood glucose monitoring, exercise and proper foot care, which is vital for diabetics who can lose limbs to simple infections.

For her efforts, Perez is one of four area businesswomen who will be honored tonight by the Las Vegas chapter of the American Diabetes Association at the "Reach for the Stars: Women of Valor" dinner at the Las Vegas Hilton.

The event is the ADA's annual fund-raising gala, with proceeds going to help find cures for type I (juvenile) and type II (adult-onset) diabetes. The honorees are being recognized for their efforts at fighting a disease that, if not controlled, can also cause blindness, stroke, heart attack and death.

The other honorees are former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones, now a senior vice president for Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.; Jackie DeLaney, founding president and chief executive officer of Sun West Bank; and Soozi Jones Walker, a real estate broker for Realty Executives of Nevada.

"All of these women not only have done excellent work to promote diabetes care and awareness, but each of them has a family member who has diabetes," said Pat Klepzig, executive director of the local ADA chapter. "They see firsthand how the disease affects their families."

Perez, former chief operating officer at Valley Hospital and Summerlin Medical Center, said that in her 20 years in the health care industry she has seen how raising awareness about diabetes has lessened the burden on emergency rooms and hospital beds.

"Education has resulted in fewer and fewer people being admitted to hospitals because of diabetes," she said. "Better educated patients know how to better care for themselves."

It is estimated that 100,000 Southern Nevadans have diabetes. However, in line with the national average, only about 66 percent have been diagnosed with the incurable but controllable disease, the ADA said.

Part of the control process is attending diabetes treatment centers such as the one at Desert Springs, which has been lauded for its outpatient care in the areas of assessment, counseling and education. It is the only ADA-approved program of its type in Southern Nevada.

Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death by disease in America, killing more people than AIDS or breast cancer. This year an estimated 180,000 Americans will die from diabetes complications, the ADA says.

"Certainly I am very pleased and appreciative for the recognition," Perez said about the local ADA honor she will receive. "We will continue our efforts to increase public awareness to the risk factors of diabetes as we search for a cure, which I believe will be found in the not-too-distant future.

"Until then our message is that people can live quality lives with diabetes."