KALAMAZOO PROMISE UPLIFTS COMMUNITY

Education is more important today than ever, vital to a vibrant community and leaders in Kalamazoo, MI have put this concept into practice.

Announced in November 2005, the Kalamazoo Promise guarantees full college scholarships to potentially every graduate of the Kalamazoo Public School district (KPS).

The program is part of an economic development agenda that seeks to revitalize the city and the region through a substantial investment in public education.

School superintendent Janice Brown, called the patron saint of education in Kalamazoo, said, “We will not rest until every child is educated every time,” in a recent interview with CBS News.

In order to qualify, students have to maintain a “C” average. If they attend a Kalamazoo public school for four years, they can have 65 percent of their tuition covered. The longer they’re there, the more they get. If they attend from kindergarten on, it’s a free ride.

Brown said it took several years of work to launch the program and to convince anonymous donors to pay the bill, estimated to peak at $12 million a year when four years of Promise students get into school.

Many families are moving to Kalamazoo because of the Promise. “We have people from 23 different states right now. We had a family come in from Russia,” Brown said.

After almost two years, enrollment in KPS is up about 100 compared to the start of the 2005 school year, including families that moved to Kalamazoo from as far away as Arizona and Hawaii to take advantage of the K-Promise, according to The Kalamazoo Gazette.

Of the students receiving K-Promise money, about 150 are attending Kalamazoo Valley Community College, said Robert Jorth, administrator of The Kalamazoo Promise. Another 100 students are at Western Michigan University, located in Kalamazoo.

He also said about 36 Promise students are attending Michigan State University, with 17 more at the University of Michigan. Others are scattered at smaller schools and a few at other community colleges.

“How can you have a healthy community — healthy economics — if you do not have a very well educated work force? Can’t happen,” Brown said.

The economic impact on Kalamazoo has been swift and impressive. Its economy relied on paper mills and when they left, the city fell on hard times. But now the power of the promise is bringing change. There are 800 new families in the school district, a $10 million housing development, rising property values and two new schools.

Superintendent Brown said she’s seen this change the school system and the students. “A first grader coming up to me saying, ‘I’m going to college. I don’t know what it is, but I’m going,’” That, Brown said, is an example of positive change.

Investing in Kalamazoo’s kids? Priceless.

MEDICAL TOURISM SOARS IN POPULARITY

Have a spa-style vacation and a medical procedure, too? Yes, you can. Rising healthcare and medical costs have contributed to a new type of travel: medical tourism.
Individuals in record numbers are traveling for healthcare, especially those with no health insurance and limited access to insurance. According to the recent book, Patients Beyond Borders by Josef Woodman, billed as the first consumer guidebook for Americans considering international medical travel, more than 150,000 Americans traveled abroad for healthcare last year and that number is projected to double by 2008.

“Medical tourism is not about fun in the sun; it is part of a global shift in healthcare services and smart American health consumers are taking advantage of the high quality care and lower costs waiting for them overseas” says Woodman. “Many of the 85 million uninsured and underinsured in this country are one diagnosis away from having to put a second mortgage on their homes to pay for an unaffordable treatment."

“Healthcare has become out of reach in this country for many,” explains Wouter Hoeberechts, CEO of WorldMedAssist, a medical tourism company that arranges all of the logistics for healthcare abroad. “Health insurance premiums have gone up 87 percent since 2000, resulting in more than 46 million Americans that have no health insurance. There are even more with deductibles and co-pays that exceed what they can afford.”

Saving money is one of the main objectives and it’s estimated that patients can save up to 80 percent of the cost of a procedure. This figure takes into account the costs of travel and lodging. Some of the most common procedures people are leaving the country for include orthopedics, heart surgery and cosmetic procedures. Other advantages to travel abroad include virtually no waiting lines, which is a big issue in Canada and access to procedures that aren’t offered at home or have a very short track record, such as hip resurfacing and disk nucleus replacement.

“We provide a solution for people, enabling them to receive good healthcare. We hold the hands of our clients from start to finish, making for a hassle-free experience,” says Hoeberechts. “The best part is there’s no compromise on quality. The hospitals we partner with are internationally renowned and typically have strategic partnerships with leading U.S. medical institutions, such as Johns Hopkins and Harvard Medical.”

Compiled and written by Sally Kimbel