Closed doors pinch Palmer

City looking for ways to fill void left by relocation of hospital

February 7, 2006

DAWN DE BUSK/Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - The Valley community gained a new state-of-the-art hospital last month, leaving downtown Palmer with a vacant 90,000-square-foot building and likely taking away from the city's core employees who spent money at nearby restaurants, grocery stores and shops.

Kenny Yannikos, assistant manager at Pizzaria Delphi in Palmer, said the number of deliveries to the hospital has dropped from 10 a day to about half that since the hospital changed locations. He said the people ordering the food included both staff members and patients. &#8220I hope it picks back up,” Yannikos said.

The 250 to 300 full-time medical staff who moved away from Palmer's Valley Hospital to Mat-Su Regional Center will most likely eat lunch and shop away from the downtown area, Mat-Su Borough Assembly member Bill Allen told the Palmer City Council on Jan. 31. That 8 to 10 percent job loss in Palmer's core could result in a 2 to 4 percent decrease in goods and services purchased in city limits, Allen said.

The anticipated switch in shopping habits by residents whose place of employment moved 5 miles away could result in a $2.8- to $5.6-million reduction in annual sales within Palmer's city limits, Allen said. In addition, the city would lose between $84,000 and $168,000, based on its 3 percent sales tax, he said.

In addition, three medical offices will find new homes in the professional building near Mat-Su Regional Center sometime between April and July of this year. This move means six doctors, 24 medical staff and 30 professional people will no longer be working in downtown Palmer, and three more office spaces could be left vacant, Allen said. Those private practices include Valley Surgical Associates, Aurora Women's Health Care, and Denali Orthopedic Surgery PC.

He quoted information and projected analysis compiled by Palmer City Manager Tom Healy, Palmer planner Sara Jansen and the hospital's public relations coordinator, Elizabeth Ripley.

Allen, who favors turning Valley Hospital into a medical-training center affiliated with Mat-Su College, has been doing the research and elbow-rubbing necessary to entice the right kind of business or businesses to move into the empty facility. The business should turn a profit, financially benefit Palmer entrepreneurs and gain the support of the community, he said.

Allen said he doesn't expect one entity to come up with all money necessary to both purchase and maintain the structure. Instead, a joint venture would soften the costs and offer more to the community, he said.

&#8220It would be nice to have one business walk in and say ‘I'd like the keys,' write a check and hire 300 employees, but it won't happen,” he said.

Currently, three companies are now courting Triad Hospitals Inc. to buy the old Valley Hospital property, which is priced between $5 and $7 million, he said.

Most recently, the Veterans Administration expressed interested in the building, which could house a VA hospital.

Allen suggested that the borough offer to defer real-estate taxes on the new hospital in exchange for lowering the cost of the old hospital building by $3 million. No negotiations have been made toward that goal yet.

However, Allen has found interest in the creation of a medical-training center. He said the old hospital building provides the perfect layout, potential dorm rooms, 7 acres for outdoor activities and close proximity to the borough gym and Palmer Ice Arena for student activities.

During a recent meeting in Juneau, Department of Labor & Workforce Development Commissioner Greg O'Claray pledged $1 million toward a training program, Allen said. The state pays to ready potential employees for the oil and gas field.

Training Alaska residents to serve in a much-needed field would save the cost of educating people Outside or paying to bring Lower 48 residents to serve in the state's medical field. Also, Mat-Su College could expand into health-care training without competing with the University of Alaska, he said.

&#8220We need a medical school in this state. Why not here? It would create an environment that is appealing to live in. And how many long-term sustainable jobs could be created?” Allen said.

&#8220Baby-boomers are becom-ing more reliant on the health-care industry,” he said, adding that many people are choosing the Valley as a place to retire.

Palmer City Council member Kathrine Vanover asked about the possibility of the hospital housing a senior citizens' home.

&#8220It's needed, but it's not profitable,” Allen said.

By April, Allen and other people involved in the campaign to fill the vacated hospital building will have completed research, including the cost of maintaining the building.

&#8220I am very interested in the economic viability of this town,” he said.

Contact Dawn De Busk

at 352-2252 or dawn.debusk@ frontiersman.com.