Diabetes research dear to health care exec.

The journey that has led Carl Armato to manage a multistate health care system is an extremely personal one.

He held a book signing Wednesday at The Atchafalaya at Idlewild near Patterson. His new book titled, “A Future with Hope,” explores his journey living with Type 1 diabetes and “having hope through that journey,” Armato said. The book is available on Amazon.com, and all proceeds go toward diabetes research, especially to try to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes.

He is president and CEO of Novant Health, an integrated health care system in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia. Novant manages 15 hospitals and 580 clinics with a total of 30,000 employees.

Armato, 54, grew up in Patterson and graduated from Patterson High School in 1982.

Book sales from Wednesday’s book signing go to the local Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

At 18 months old, he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes during a time when there were no juvenile diabetes research foundations and no glucometer to monitor blood glucose. Diabetes has two forms, Type 1 and Type 2.

Type 1 is an autoimmune disease that prohibits the pancreas from producing insulin to be able to regulate blood sugar or glucose. Type 2 usually occurs later in life often due to an unhealthy lifestyle. With Type 2 patients, the pancreas produces insulin but doesn’t properly use it, Armato said.

Armato’s book can help anyone with diabetes manage the disease from his personal experience, he said.

While in high school, Armato went to an eye doctor who asked him what he wanted to do in life. Armato told the doctor that he wanted to be an accountant.

But the doctor told him that might be difficult to do with Type 1 diabetes due to the risk of going blind and not being able to see small numbers.

That news horribly upset Armato. But his parents rallied behind him. His father asked God to give Armato the discipline to manage the disease and find a way to use the illness to help others. He went on to earn accounting and MBA degrees and pursued a career in health care management.

“I believe that I’m running one of the biggest health care systems and helping others with all chronic diseases,” he said.

Novant cares for 90,000 people with diabetes. Of that number, 68 percent now have normal hemoglobin A1C, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, Armato said.

“Our goal is to have more and more diabetics be able to find that normal range so that they can fulfill their dreams,” he said.

A few years ago, Armato was recognized by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in North Carolina for living with diabetes for 50 years. He talked about having hope with a chronic disease.

One 20-year-old woman approached Armato after the event with tears in her eyes and hugged him. She’d attended that event for many years, but had rarely heard speakers discuss having hope while living with diabetes, Armato said.

Armato decided on his drive home from that event that he would take the notes he’d written over the years and write a book to share with others throughout the country.