New nonprofit takes on a broad mission in a quiet way
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Vince Curry is the Chief Executive Officer of the Mat-Su Health Foundation.
Its board is addressing major chronic health issues in the Valley. |
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WASILLA -- Since January, Mat-Su Health Foundation has awarded more than $120,000 in grants to local programs and organizations. And it's done so without fanfare.
"We're trying to quietly do good here in the Valley," said Vince Curry, the foundation's Chief Executive Officer. We recently sat down with Curry in his Wasilla office to learn more about the new nonprofit and its mission.
Q. First of all, could you talk about how the foundation was created and why?
A. The Mat-Su Health Foundation was created by virtue of a (Valley Hospital Association) board of directors' decision to change the focus of our operations away from primary health care ... into a health foundation with a broad mission of improving the health of all Alaskans living in the Mat-Su.
Because we're an owner of a hospital now (rather than the owner and manager, as Valley Hospital Association had been), it gives us the flexibility to use the resources we earn from the hospital to apply broadly across the borough for health-related projects which will benefit Alaskans living here.
Q. When you say you're an owner of the hospital now, do you mean Mat-Su Health Foundation?
A. The Valley Hospital Association, of which we are an outgrowth, remains an owner of the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, the new hospital. We are in a joint- venture partnership with Triad Corp. and we own slightly less than 25 percent, at this point, of the hospital. And that means that as an owner, we also receive a proportionate distribution of profits that come out of the hospital, and we've chosen to apply those profits for the benefit of the citizens of the borough.
Q. So that's how the foundation is funded, then?
A. Yes. And it was the board's desire to use what was earned by virtue of the ownership of the hospital asset, to use it for the benefit of the citizens of the Mat-Su Borough, and that's what we're about.
Q. And so what role does the hospital play in the foundation, and what role does the foundation play in the hospital?
A. It's an asset ... From the foundation's standpoint, our interests, we have two interests: One is our board members continue in an oversight role of the hospital. We serve on the trustees and the board of directors as residents of the borough to make certain that the needs of the community are met by the hospital. We feel very comfortable that they are.
Second thing is because we are trying to provide good customer service to hospital patients, and that hopefully will lead to a successful hospital, it gives us a source of revenue that we can then use for health purposes -- for grant-making health purposes.
Q. Your Web site says the foundation has adopted a collaborative approach to solving community health problems. What sorts of programs or agencies have you partnered with so far? How are you making that happen?
A. The collaborative approach is the board's decision that there are certain major chronic health-related issues in the community that we wanted to make certain that we address. So we are proactively going out and trying to address three areas at this stage.
The first one is the concern with childhood obesity and children's health. We are engaged in trying to provide information that will lead to more positive lifestyle choices, healthier eating, physical activity amongst our youth so that we can combat this onset, unprecedented onset, of childhood obesity. ...
We're trying to build partnerships and programs which will provide positive choices for the youth and families in our community. A good example is we funded some organizations that are trying to build physical activity outlets for kids. One is the Run Wild Mat-Su program, which has just been initiated this summer over at one of the local high schools that encourages, obviously, some pretty good aerobic activity in terms of running, competitive running and providing some outlet for kids during the summer.
We've also provided funding for the Wasilla Little League. The thing that's attractive there is not only the facility but the nature of the program that's open to all children. You don't have to be a great athlete to participate on those teams.
The second major issue we wanted to tackle is the drug and alcohol problem that is a real epidemic in our society, and we have again addressed it on multiple levels.
One of the major issues we're trying to do is build some new medical, residential detox beds and put them here in the Valley so we can treat citizens who are significantly addicted to alcohol and drugs here locally.
There are no beds of that nature here in the Valley now. We're looking at two or three different groups that might partner with us to take that on. It will be a significant task for them ... because it's an expensive undertaking.
Q. What groups?
A. I'd just as soon wait till that develops, out of respect for them. But it's a clear need.
The third thing that we're trying to do proactively and collaboratively is to provide health information and access to health care in the rural areas of the borough because the studies would indicate that there has been a dearth of those sorts of services.
What we've done there is we've implemented some health fairs that we think have kind of a different approach. And that is we do the normal health screening, the blood screening, but we've tried to integrate ... the drug and alcohol components ... and also tried to integrate the healthy lifestyle choices for children in terms of their physical activity, the diet and what it takes to embrace a positive lifestyle choice and live that way.
The first one was in Willow, and it took place this past April. We have two more scheduled right now, one for Talkeetna this fall and one out in the Sutton area.
Q. When we spoke earlier, you mentioned the community advisory councils. Are those a part of this effort in rural areas?
A. Yes, collaboratively that is a kind of third angle. We have developed advisory councils. We have three of those set up because the borough is so large, our feeling is that, that the problems that exist in one part of the borough may be different in nature than in others. So we've developed an Upper Susitna Advisory Council, the Central Mat-Su Advisory Council and the eastern borough, the Eastern Mat-Su Advisory council.
What we've done is we've invited our fellow Alaskans who are interested in health issues to come and meet with us ... to give their advice on what they feel are the important issues in their immediate area. We've gained some good information. We've had those meetings in Willow; we've been into Sutton, down in Chickaloon.
Q. What about grants? What type of programs or organizations does the foundation fund?
A. We're interested in funding programs that will provide positive benefits to people in the Valley. We will do some bricks-and-mortar-type projects, but we like to do programs. When an application comes in, the job of staff is to vet it to make sure that it's sustainable ... that there's community support for it and that there is in fact a real significant need.
Q. In the first half of 2006, you awarded about $122,000 in grants. ... Is that about the level of funding you anticipate for the second half of 2006?
A. Well, we're hoping that it will grow, and we anticipate that as the foundation continues we will become a stronger and stronger organization with the ability to do more good. That's what I really anticipate. We've started off small to make sure that, that our systems were in good place, that we were well-thought-out and that our objectives were clear.
Q. Is there anything else that is important to know about the foundation?
A. Well, we're just becoming known because our mission has shifted so dramatically that agencies will probably look to us a little bit more. The bottom line is it's my hope, as the CEO of the Mat-Su Health Foundation, to establish an organization that for generations is going to be helping our fellow citizens in the Mat-Su to live healthier and happier lives. And that's the bottom line.
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