MediClick President Named to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Board
Mike Merwarth’s Focus on Healthcare is Both Professional and Personal
Raleigh, N.C. – September 4, 2008 – Mike Merwarth,
president of Raleigh, N.C.-based MediClick, Inc., has been named to the board of
directors of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s (JDRF) Triangle/Eastern
North Carolina Chapter. Merwarth is a member of both the finance and community
outreach committees, and he will serve as a certified Mentor for adult onset Type
I diabetics.
“In my professional role, I work to make healthcare more efficient and affordable,
for the patients as well as the hospitals,” said Merwarth. “With JDRF, I can
directly help people on a more personal level.”
JDRF focuses on raising money to find a cure for Type I diabetes, an autoimmune
disorder that affects approximately one million people in the United States. The
JDRF Triangle/Eastern NC Chapter serves those affected by Type I diabetes in 51
counties in central and eastern North Carolina. In FY 2008, the local chapter
raised more than $3.2 million for diabetes research.
While commonly known as “juvenile diabetes” since onset often occurs in children,
Type I diabetes is also diagnosed in adults, as it was in Merwarth’s case.
“It was a shock when I found out,” he said. “I was healthy, I exercised, and
at the time, no one else in my family was diabetic. Unfortunately, just six
weeks after my diagnosis, we learned my niece was Type I, too. For children
like her, the age factor makes it so much harder to manage the condition and understand
the consequences of passivity.”
Courtney Davies, executive director of JDRF, noted that the outreach efforts of
the foundation “were created to provide support for the parents of children with
Type I diabetes. But as an increasing numbers of adults are being diagnosed,
it’s important for us to bring visibility to that population.”
Davies continued that while Mike has been a supporter of the organization for many
years, she looks forward to “the awareness he will raise among the greater corporate
community” in his new role.
Merwarth actually smiles about his disease, an attitude which seems to permeate
both his company and his personal life: “MediClick’s tagline is ‘Take Control’ and
that’s exactly what I do in my own life – I don’t let the condition define who I
am. We all have our challenges, whether they are physical or otherwise, and
by controlling mine, I am a stronger person for it.”
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About MediClick, Inc. (www.mediclick.com)
Control of the healthcare supply chain begins with MediClick, Inc. Exclusively
focused on hospitals and healthcare organizations, the Raleigh, N.C.-based company
designs supply chain and financial applications for the unique needs of their customers.
With a suite of innovative products – MediClick for Contracts & Analysis, MediClick
for the Supply Chain, and MediClick for Financials – the Company delivers a comprehensive
supply-chain solution, driving significant cost savings and better decision-making
for healthcare organizations. MediClick helps hospitals take control of their supply
chain.
About the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (www.jdrftriangle.org)
JDRF is the leading charitable funder and advocate of type 1 (juvenile) diabetes
research worldwide. The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications
through the support of research. Type 1 diabetes is a disease which strikes children
suddenly and requires multiple injections of insulin daily or a continuous infusion
of insulin through a pump. Insulin, however, is not a cure for diabetes, nor does
it prevent its eventual and devastating complications which may include kidney failure,
blindness, heart disease, stroke, and amputation.
Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, JDRF has
awarded more than $1.16 billion to diabetes research, including more than $137 million
in FY2007. In FY2007, the Foundation funded 700 centers, grants and fellowships
in 20 countries.