Mat-Su's continuous growth: facilities, roads, subdivisions expand with population.

• Author: White, Rindi
• Position: CONSTRUCTION

Growth. It's the ever-present undercurrent fueling life in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The population has exploded by 50 percent between 2000 and 2010; school children attend classes in portable buildings due to a lack of space inside the schools and everywhere are construction projects--new medical centers, new roads, new subdivisions.

With growth comes challenges: how to evaluate whether enough different types of housing are available; how to make the steadily increasing flow of traffic move smoothly; and how to ensure that the growing population has access to adequate medical care.

New Medical Center to Serve Growing Alaska Native Population

In Mat-Su, the medical picture continues to evolve as population growth drives new dentists' offices, imaging centers, pediatric care providers, and medical supply stores to build or expand.

One dramatic new addition to the medical offerings in the Valley popped up recently in Wasilla. The Benteh Nuutah Valley Native Primary Care Center (VNPCC), a Southcentral Foundation facility, opened a ninety thousand-square-foot medical building near the intersection of Palmer-Wasilla Highway Extension and Knik-Goose Bay Road in August 2012.

"The plans for the Benteh Nuutah Valley Native Primary Care Center were conceptualized in collaboration with the Chickaloon Village Traditional Council and the Knik Tribal Council after careful review of the data and listening sessions with our customers from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough," says Southcentral Foundation President and CEO Katherine Gottlieb.

Southcentral Foundation previously leased 5,457 square feet of space in a strip mall in Wasilla. But the Alaska Native population in the Valley is expected to grow quickly--to nearly double, says Allison Knox, public relations director for Southcentral Foundation. Expansion was needed.

The $56 million project was a collaborative effort. The IHS awarded Southcentral Foundation a Joint Venture Construction Agreement and the US Department of Agriculture gave $40 million in direct loan financing. The Alaska Legislature awarded $5 million toward the project in FY 2013, and the Rasmuson Foundation awarded $1.2 million to furnish and equip the facility's twenty-one-chair dental clinic. Mat-Su Health Foundation granted money to build a playground, an exterior gathering place, and a walking path, and Wells Fargo provided $10 million in guaranteed funding.

Neeser Construction was the general contractor for the project, assisted by Seattle-based design firm NBBJ, DOWL HKM, and kpb architects.

The building has two connected medical clinics with sixty exam rooms, nearly half of which are "de-medicalized talking rooms." There are fourteen behavioral health consultation rooms, three optometry clinical rooms, an audiology booth, a hearing aid fitting room, a wellness center with fitness machines, aerobics studio, and limited physical therapy spaces, as well as a pharmacy, a large lobby, and public cafe. The building is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified and aims to save money and resources and promote renewable, clean energy while having a positive impact on the health of occupants.

"Before the expansion of the VNPCC, the number of customer-owners seen was about five thousand [each year]," says Knox. "The current number is...