Building consensus: Mat-Su Health Foundation moving ahead

WASILLA — The Mat-Su Health Foundation is moving ahead with plans for a new building, and the nonprofit is looking for public input on what the scope of the project should entail.

Five “community engagement” meetings have been set for various Valley locations during the first week of October, said foundation community affairs director Robin Minard. Along with housing staff, the new building could also host a range of meeting space and other community-focused services, Minard said.

The foundation, which is part owner of Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, currently occupies 7,000 square feet of office space the hospital’s outpatient center on Bogard Road. The hospital has expressed a need for more medical and clinical space, and has given four acres of hospital land to the foundation adjacent to the outpatient facility on the corner of Bogard and Crusey Street, Minard said.

“We have taken up more space as we have grown over the years,” Minard said, adding that the foundation staff has grown to 11 people. “We have expanded our focus areas in grant making and research, so as our giving has grown, so has our staff.”

Minard and foundation executive director Elizabeth Ripley both said the hope was that the new building would be much more than just a place to house staff.

According to a foundation press release, Architects Alaska has been retained to provide design services for the new building, with groundbreaking expected next spring.

“This project is about more than building office space,” Ripley said in the press release. “It’s about building community and creating spaces that connect and unite people.”

According to the foundation, the size and scope of the building will be determined in part through the public meetings. Some ideas being considered for the new building include meeting space for local residents and organizations, space for a community resource center, a volunteer hub intended to match volunteers with community organizations and the creation of a “philanthropy hub” that may include space for nonprofit organizations.

Minard said the foundation was working on a survey of public meeting space in the Valley to get a better picture of what is out there and what is needed.

“We are a very data-driven group in everything we do, so this will give us a good idea of what kind of space may be needed for different groups,” she said.

The public meetings will be held during the week of

Oct. 3. According to the foundation, all meetings are family-friendly and will feature refreshments and door prizes.

The schedule is Oct. 3 at the Palmer Public Library; Oct. 4 at Willow United Methodist Church; Oct. 5 at the Talkeetna Public Library; Oct. 6 at the Menard Center in Wasilla; and Oct. 7 at the Sutton Public Library. All meetings will run from 6-8 p.m.

The Mat-Su Health Foundation has been the name of the former nonprofit Valley Hospital Association since 2005, according to the foundation website. The VHA was incorporated in 1948 to build and operate the Valley Hospital in Palmer. In 2003, the VHA entered into a partnership with private corporation Triad Hospitals to raise capital for the construction of the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. Community Health Systems acquired Triad Hospitals in 2007. The foundation distributes about $5 million in hospital profits annually in the form of grants to community organizations and local governments, according to the website.

Contact reporter Steven Merritt at 352-2269 or steven.merritt@frontiersman.com