Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending - Construction - Project Abstract - Construction and operation of a medical “Simulation and Innovation Center” (SIM Lab) Organization: Catholic Medical Center Project Title: EUI#: NE8YG9EKJWF6 Address: 100 McGregor Street, Manchester, NH 03102 Project Director: Keri Degen Phone: 603.663.6056, Fax: 603.663.6067 Email: keri.degen@cmc-nh.org Website: catholicmedicalcenter.org The Simulation and Innovation Center at Catholic Medical Center (SIM Lab) will provide multi-disciplinary training in nursing and other clinical skills, procedures, quality control, teamwork and communications. Participants will develop their critical thinking skills, learn to work as a team in emergencies, practice physical-assessment skills, and receive a reality-based education. Additionally, the SIM Lab will help improve education and training, quality of care, patient communications, clinical outcomes, and recruitment and retention of staff, all of which will be tracked to measure the success of the Center: The new facility will provide state-of-the-art facilities for healthcare simulation programming. Health care simulation includes techniques that create situations and environments that allow professionals and students to experience a representation of a real health care event for purposes of practicing, learning, evaluating, testing, and understanding systems, processes and procedures. The SIM Lab will significantly benefit multiple constituencies in the Greater Manchester area, the State of New Hampshire and the broader healthcare ecosystem. CMC and Saint Anselm College healthcare staff, students and faculty will benefit from the Sim Lab's educational opportunities, on-the-job training and improved workforce and student recruitment and retention. Patients will benefit by improved healthcare quality, enhanced patient communications and experiences resulting in better overall healthcare outcomes. Improved healthcare outcomes and enhanced patient communications reduces the cost of care to patients and payors of our healthcare system as well as reduces risk management costs. The needs addressed through this project are: • Workforce Development - today’s highly demanding healthcare environment requires effective critical thinking and clinical skills for optimal patient outcomes in complex care situations. Additionally, healthcare is driven by changing technology, the sharing of information and data, all with the goal of reducing medical errors, reducing medical costs and improving patient outcomes. The Sim Lab offers an opportunity to facilitate these changes and implement advanced clinical simulations improving clinical competency, confidence and outcomes. • Workforce Recruitment and Retention Challenges - New Hampshire’s workforce shortage is most prominent in nursing. The shortage is driven by a number of factors: retiring nurses or those choosing to leave the profession; the aging patient population is increasing the level of care required; a nursing faculty shortage is limiting pre-licensure admission capacity; and the profession can be so demanding that there is continued burnout, particularly after the year all healthcare providers experienced with COVID-19. Nursing shortages create scheduling challenges, exacerbating these issues by requiring existing nurses to work longer, non-traditional hours. With higher pay available in nearby Boston, retention is an issue as well. Competition among the hospitals for nurses is cut-throat. The Sim Lab offers an opportunity to improve recruitment and retention. • Medical Advancement, Research and Economic Development - the multi-purpose design of the proposed simulation rooms will allow for flexibility in running variable simulation activities including meeting future needs of the developing regenerative medicine
