Tribune Staff

Dr. Takeisha Davis, president and CEO of New Orleans East Hospital, welcomed a crowd to the reveal and ribbon-cutting ceremony of NOEH’s new Diabetes Center on Tuesday (Nov. 14) afternoon.

The new center embodies the hospital’s mission of “quality health care close to home,” says Davis.

The event doubled as a naming dedication ceremony for the new center, the center is named the Rhesa and Alden J. McDonald Jr., and Sue Ellen and Joseph C. Canizaro Diabetes Center, two local couples and community leaders who have made generous contributions to NOEH.

In addition to hospital officials and community stakeholders, Mayor Mitch Landrieu and at-large City Councilman Jason Williams attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The McDonald & Canizaro Diabetes Center is a monumental accomplishment for the hospital. NOEH will be the first hospital in Louisiana affiliated with the National Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute (NDORI) and the Cleveland Clinic’s Endocrinology and Metabolism Institute (Cleveland Clinic).

The diabetes center will offer a comprehensive diabetes education and treatment program for the region’s diabetic population. The partnership allows nationally-renowned experts in the field of diabetes and obesity to work alongside other renowned researches and specialists in New Orleans.Plus, November is National Diabetes Month. Although there is no cure yet for diabetes, a healthy lifestyle can reduce its impact on those affected. 

More than 30 million people in the United States have diabetes, but one out of four of them don’t know they have it. African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Pacific Islanders, and some Asian Americans are at higher risk for type 2 diabetes. You can lower your risk for developing type 2 diabetes by regular exercise.