Royal Health Group’s “Royal Innovation: Diabetes Care” Program Joins Forces with World-Renowned Joslin Diabetes Center

Jane Belyea, program coordinator for the Royal-Joslin diabetes
program with Royal Braintree resident Claire Fasci

August 30, 2011 – The alarming explosion of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in the United States and internationally has been called a “modern pandemic.” Skilled nursing facilities have seen similar growth in the number of residents suffering from both types of diabetes. Addressing the issue head-on, the Royal Health Group, with six skilled nursing centers south of Boston, has joined forces with the world-renowned Joslin Diabetes Center to make Royal’s “Diabetes Specialty Services: a Program of Joslin Diabetes Center” the gold standard in the skilled nursing industry.

“This is an important step forward for the Royal Health Group,” said CEO James Mamary, Sr. “Our goal is to educate our patients on how to care for themselves, to prevent complications of the disease, and to enable the people in our care to live a fulfilling lifestyle with diabetes. Our relationship with Joslin gives us direct access to the most advanced research and treatment available anywhere.”

The new Joslin Program at Royal Health Group will focus initially on two facilities: Royal Braintree Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, and Royal Taber Street Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in New Bedford. Over the past year, Royal Braintree alone has provided health care services for 150 people with diabetes.

"I am very excited to be working with the Joslin Diabetes Center,” said Royal Braintree Medical Director Aniket Chakrabarti, MD. “Thirty percent of the residents at our facility have diabetes, and this will go a long way toward helping our staff manage their diabetes, with the goal of living better, healthier lives."

Royal Diabetes Care Coordinator Jane Belyea, flanked by
Joyce Lekarcyk and Elaine Sullivan of Joslin Affiliated Programs

The program coordinator for Royal is registered nurse Jane Belyea, who has lived with diabetes for more than 50 years, and is, in fact, part of an on-going Joslin study seeking to determine why some people are more successful than others in managing the disease.

“As someone who has lived with diabetes a long time, I couldn’t be more excited about our new Joslin program, both personally and professionally. They are the final word in treatment, technology, and research, and our residents will benefit immeasurably.”

“We are delighted to welcome the Royal Health Group to our network of skilled nursing and long-term care facilities,” said Janice Murphy, Director of Joslin National Affiliated Programs. “Diabetes in the U.S. is a huge problem, with the Centers for Disease Control indicating that in 2010, the number of Americans with diabetes included 10.9 million people age 65 years and older. It is the commitment of organizations like the Royal Health Group to aggressively address diabetes that will truly provide a much better quality of life for this elderly population.”

Look for more news on this site as the Joslin program is implemented at our Royal facilities over the next few weeks. We believe Joslin’s expertise will make Royal the unchallenged diabetes care and management leader in the skilled nursing field, with the ability to prevent and recognize diabetes complications early for appropriate treatment, reduce emergency room visits and hospitalizations, and assure that diabetes medical management standards are met at all times. We are committed to ensuring the “Royal Standard of Excellence” in everything we do, and that includes improving the lives of those in our care with diabetes.