Baylor Health Care System to Transform South Dallas Recreation Center into New Diabetes Institute

Facility expected to serve as a new possible model for the care for diabetes nationwide

Baylor Health Care System is reaching out to the neighborhood, transforming the Juanita J. Craft Recreation center into the area's first and only diabetes health and wellness institute. Baylor will invest $15 million in the project with the mission of saving lives through improved diabetes care, education and research. The new institute is expected to open in Spring 2010. Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert will help break ground on the new facility, expected to serve as a new possible model for the diabetes-care nationwide.

South Dallas residents are 30 percent more likely to be admitted to a hospital due to diabetes or a diabetes-related condition than other city residents. In fact by 2010, 13 percent of those living in South Dallas will be diabetic.

More About the Diabetes Health and Wellness Institute

The Diabetes Health and Wellness Institute at Juanita J. Craft Recreation Center (Institute) is the cornerstone of Baylor's Southern Sector Health Initiative created in 2006 to address the region's health care needs relative to diabetes. The goal of the center is to weave diabetes prevention into the fabric of the community so that it is a natural and convenient part of life in this neighborhood.

The Institute will provide:

  • Full-time, on-site physician and nurse practitioner*
  • Visiting medical specialists*
  • Referral coordinator for specialty and ancillary care
  • Diabetes management educator
  • Affordable diabetes medications
  • Nutrition and healthy cooking classes
  • Exercise programs including running and walking clinics and weight training

The Institute will be conveniently located near the newly opened Fair Park DART line. All of the existing programs at The Juanita J. Craft Recreation center will be maintained or enhanced once the Institute opens.

More About Diabetes in Texas

  • According to the Texas Diabetes Council, the prevalence of diabetes in Texans (18 and older) rose to 10.3 percent in 2007
  • More than 1.8 million adults in Texas are diabetic, 460,000 are believed to be undiagnosed
  • Diabetes is slightly more common in women than men (10.8 percent vs. 9.9 percent)
  • Diabetes rates are higher among African Americans (12.9 percent), Hispanics (12.3 percent) and other minorities (11.8 percent) than Whites (8.5 percent)
  • The prevalence of diabetes increases with age (2.7 percent for people under 30, 32.2 percent for people 65 and older)
  • Diabetes rates decrease as education levels increase (15.8 percent among those without a high school diploma, 6.9 percent among those who attended college)
  • One-of-every-five health care dollars is spent caring for someone with diagnosed diabetes
  • Physicians are members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Health Care System's subsidiary, community or affiliated medical centers and are neither employees nor agents of those medical centers or Baylor Health Care System.

About Baylor Scott & White Health
As the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, Baylor Scott & White promotes the health and well-being of every individual, family and community it serves. It is committed to making quality care more accessible, convenient and affordable through its integrated delivery network, which includes the Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and its leading digital health platform – MyBSWHealth. Through 51 hospitals and more than 1,200 access points, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple, the system offers the full continuum of care, from primary to award-winning specialty care. Founded as a Christian ministry of healing more than a century ago, Baylor Scott & White today serves more than three million Texans. For more information, visit: BSWHealth.com