Title: Diabetes Program Coordinator

Company: Highline Medical Center

Location: Seattle, Wash.

Leslie Merklin-Barber is very passionate about what she does. She is currently running the Diabetes Self-Management Education Program at Highline Medical Center. She finds this job so rewarding as she teaches people to cope with their diabetes. Leslie herself is a diabetic. She was diagnosed when she was 29 years old as Type 1 Diabetes. As a nurse, who has seen patients with diabetes get their toes and legs amputated she decided that this is a disease that she is going to control. Diabetes isn’t going to control Ms. Merklin-Barber. 

To this day 26 years later, Ms. Merklin-Barber has not had one complication from having Diabetes.  This is her passion and she wants to share her success story with her patients.   Today there is 29.1 million people in the United States diagnosed with Diabetes.  Each one is different and unique.  What works with one might not necessarily work with another.   Leslie works with each patient to come up with the best treatment plan for each one of her patients.  She monitors them and will put them on the right path! Ms. Merklin-Barber remembers at the age of six saying that she wanted to be a nurse to help people.  Out of high school she went on to college to pursue her career in nursing.

Ms. Merklin-Barber has been a Registered Nurse for 32 years.   She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing. Her biggest challenge as a woman diabetes educator is to educate her patients and make them understand how to manage their diabetes.  At first, a lot of patients are in denial.  She wants to make sure they are all educated before complications begin.Her greatest strength is working with people with diabetes and helping them find their path that is good for them. Ms. Merklin-Barber was inspired when she was a young nurse and worked in the Orthopedic Unit in the early 1980’s.  She kept seeing people coming in with diabetes that had to get their toes or legs amputated.  That was her inspiration.   It changed her life around and she will not let this disease get the best of her or anyone of her patients.