Sister-city delegates visit Valley sites

MAT-SU -- Palmer is a growing and thriving city, and Mayor Jim Cooper takes advantage of every opportunity to share the many reasons residents are proud to call the city home.

The recent visit of 20 delegates from Palmer's sister city, Saroma, Japan, provided Cooper the perfect opportunity to show off the city.

A makeshift "tour" bus, provided by the Palmer center of Alaska Job Corps, departed from Palmer City Hall the morning of July 23, with stops at Valley Hospital, Mountain Rose Estates, Alaska Job Corps, Alaska Family Resource Center, Alaska Division of Forestry, West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, Mat-Su Youth Facility, concluding at Friday Fling and the Palmer Pride Picnic.

Members of the delegation listened attentively as Lynn Wagoner, chief clinical officer and interim chief executive officer for Valley Hospital, guided the group through the various departments of the hospital.

Throughout the tour, Wagoner fielded questions about the hospital's operating procedures, but stops in the emergency room and birthing center seemed to elicit the most questions.

An average of 40 to 80 patients passes through the emergency-room doors on any given day, with the most common injuries being ATV-related during the summer and snowmachine-related in the winter.

According to Wagoner, Valley Hospital welcomes an average of 300-400 babies each year at its birthing center.

The average cost for a "no-risk" delivery at Valley Hospital is approximately $2,500.

The average stay for a new mother and baby is two days, Wagoner said, and about 15 percent of the maternity patients do not have insurance and pay the medical costs out of pocket.

In Saroma, the average cost of a "no-risk" delivery is comparable to that at Valley Hospital, at approximately $3,000, but the average stay is one week.

Mountain Rose Estates, and the quality of living afforded its residents, appeared to impress the Saroma delegation.

Susan Sevilla guided the group through one of the model homes in Alaska's first 55-and-over community. Saroma does not have living accommodations for its senior population resembling those of Mountain Rose Estates, the delegates said, so the group seemed especially interested in the amenities in the community.

Staff and students at the Palmer center of Alaska Job Corps prepared and served lunch for the entourage prior to the tour of the facility.

Sara LaForest, business and community liaison for the center, coordinated the visit and conducted one of the three tour groups through the campus.

She said all students are required to complete basic academic studies before pursuing their chosen vocational education courses. According to LaForest, the Palmer center consistently ranks at the top of the more than 120 Job Corps centers nationwide in achievement and test scores.

The students have a variety of vocational training programs to choose from, including office technology, health occupations and a variety of construction programs.

The Friday tour of Palmer concluded a week full of activities for the Sister City ambassadors -- a week that included sightseeing around Palmer, Seward, Portage, Anchorage and the Alyeska resort in Girdwood.