Through a generous grant via the United Health Foundation and in cooperation with KC Care Clinic, CHC of Wyandotte County’s Community Health Worker initiative seeks to improve health across Wyandotte County. From time to time, we want to showcase some of the success stories from our health workers:

“My client was referred by the Wyandotte County Health Department during the month of July. She was having her regular women’s wellness exams here, where they usually took her vital signs and blood sugar tests. Her nurse was concerned because her sugar results were high, so she referred her to me, a community health worker. I met the client at the Health Department and assessed her needs; She was concerned about her health because she didn’t know what diabetes was, and didn’t know where to go to get help. She stated that also she was noticing that her vision was not good.

The client and I then came up with a service plan. Since my client is not eligible for a health insurance plan, I referred her to Duchesne clinic. I told the client about all the documents necessary to get enrolled in the program, made an appointment with Lorena Holguin, an intake specialist in El Centro, to enroll in the Medicine Cabinet program to get the client eyeglasses. The client went to Duchesne Clinic, and I helped with the application because she had a hard time with reading and writing questions. Client came to the clinic fasting and without drinking water because she thought that by doing that, she was going to have a negative result in her blood sugar test. I  explained the A1C test and advised her to drink enough water as everybody needs to avoid dehydration. After a few appointments, the client was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and thyroid problems. She got medication for both conditions and also had a class with a nurse to have education about her diabetes.

Client was referred to Riverview to obtain a device to check her blood sugar, and also to attend diabetes management classes. Client is following all recommendations to the letter because she wants to be healthy for her daughter and husband.”

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Guadalupe Tredway serves Wyandotte County’s English and Spanish speaking communities.