Harlingen will be where UTRGV will use $30 million to tackle one of the biggest health problems in the Rio Grande Valley.

On Monday, the university announced the establishment of the UTRGV Diabetes Center of Excellence through a $30 million grant awarded by the Valley Baptist Legacy Foundation.

"It's time that we do something different than what we've always done in order to get different results,” Valley Baptist Legacy Foundation Executive Director Judy Quisenberry said.

During a Monday press conference announcing the grant, Quisenberry called the rates of diabetes in the Valley an “epidemic.”

The new center will be built near the Institute of Neuroscience in Harlingen, It will include a limb preservation clinic focused on early detection, intervention and wound care.

“We have two amputations a day in the Rio Grande Valley, two major amputations a day, things that mean you can't work, you can't support your family,” UTRGV President Guy Bailey said.

The center tries to bring all the needs of people with diabetes to one place.

UTRGV Dean of podiatry Javier La Fontaine says he'll work with the new center, which aims to serve at least 10 thousand people a year.

Across the Valley, the UTRGV Border Health Office and the non-profit group Unidos Contra Diabetes estimate one in four people are living with diabetes.

The diabetes center will be up and running in the next three to five years.

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