‘Diabetes Garage’ open for check ups
Men don’t typically worry about their health until something goes wrong. The Diabetes Garage wants to fix that.
“Men like to maintain their cars and I would notice that they would never go to the doctor, so I would use car analogies and I would see the light bulb go off in their head,” said Jeannie Concha, the brainchild behind the new clinic.
The facility at 3641 Mattox Street opened its doors during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday with the goal of helping people suffering from the disease.
Concha asks men why they never get their blood checked, yet check and change the oil on their vehicles every three months. “80 percent of men don’t know they have diabetes. They have pre-diabetes and they don’t realize that they have it, so it’s very important for them to come in and get checked,” Concha said.
The Diabetes Garage is designed for men to come in, get screened and learn preventative or manageable techniques to fight the disease.
“There’s a diabetes epidemic in the US, and unfortunately, men delay going to the doctors so they may face more complications,” Concha said.
Sandra Gonzalez, with the Paso Del Norte Health Foundation, wants to make sure men go to the clinic and take care of themselves. “They take care of their cars more then they take care of themselves. If we use the model of the car as a body, they would think they realize how important their body is,” Gonzalez said.
