A Medical Device Daily

Aetna (Alpharetta, Georgia) recently presented a $50,000 grant check to the Center for Health Transformation Foundation (CHT; Washington), the most recent development in Aetna’s efforts to improve diabetes education and awareness in Georgia.

The Aetna grant will support the Center’s Healthy Georgia Diabetes and Obesity project, which is a collaboration of public and private sector leaders dedicated to improving the treatment and outcomes for people with diabetes, and to promoting early diagnosis and prevention of diabetes, including decreasing the prevalence of obesity.

The grant will go toward increased diabetes screening, as well as recruiting physicians to participate in Bridges to Excellence, a nationally recognized quality improvement program that uses established standards of care to reward physicians who consistently implement best practices.

“Aetna is committed to eradicating diabetes in Georgia and all of the other states in which we do business,” said Cynthia Follmer, head of Aetna’s Georgia market. “In particular, we have focused on Georgia’s African American communities, which are struggling to reduce the incidence of diabetes and childhood obesity.” Aetna is funding several diabetes education programs in Georgia, Follmer noted.

“By supporting the work of charities and non-profits engaged in delivering solutions that focus on preventing and managing diseases such as diabetes, we can save countless lives and millions of dollars,” said Nancy Desmond, CEO for the CHT Foundation.

In other grant news: Zounds Hearing (Moorestown, New Jersey), a provider of hearing aids, reported a partnership with Twilight Wish Foundation (Doylestown, Pennsylvania) consisting of a $225,000 sponsorship package.

Twilight Wish is a charity dedicated to enriching the lives of seniors across the country by making their dreams come true.

Years ago, Zounds Founder Sam Thomasson, promised his hearing-impaired daughter that he would create a new hearing aid to overcome her annoyance with her aids due to excessive feedback, poor sound quality and discomfort in the ear. That promise led him to create the technology behind Zounds and raise the necessary funds to expand nationally, including Moorestown, the company’s third regional location.

The donation will help Twilight Wish honor hearing aid wishes across the country.