Project title not provided - 4585 West Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse, NY 13215 www.sunyocc.edu Funding Request: $2 million Summary: This project will support a state-of-the-art hospital simulation and training center in Central New York to address the severe shortage of health care workers and ongoing skill development needs of incumbent health care practitioners, technicians, and support staff and advance New York State’s goal of increasing its health care workforce by 20% over the next 5 years. It will enable OCC and its partners to increase enrollment in health care education and training programs that are operating at capacity to meet industry hiring needs and support new programs and ongoing skill development for incumbent workers. OCC and area education and training partners are working to expand program delivery to increase the number of individuals entering and advancing in health care positions, but growth in education and training programs is limited by existing facilities and availability of training equipment. The shortage of workers threatens the ability of the health care industry to meet current and future demand for health care services. As the coronavirus pandemic demonstrated, health care workers are essential to the health and wellbeing of the community and the vitality of economies at the regional, state, and national level. Health care jobs also serve as paths to economic mobility for individuals who enter and advance along these career paths. OCC has developed elder and health care pathway programs aligned with high-demand direct patient care, technician, and administrative positions. OCC’s programs reflect an integrated pathway model, where programs form a progressive continuum of education and training with career paths, incorporating multiple on-ramps and integrated supports to promote program accessibility, completion, and seamless career entry and advancement. OCC’s faculty have developed innovative instructional delivery models and curricula. OCC’s nursing program has adopted a competency-based program model and achieves among the highest NCLEX pass rates in the state. Through Project Firstline, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s infection control training collaborative with the American Hospital Association/Health Research and Education Trust and League for Innovation in the Community College, OCC’s Nursing program collaborated to create content for online training modules used in health care education, experiential learning, and workplace settings. With support from this grant, OCC will purchase moveable equipment needed for the Center, building the capacity of the college and its partners to expand programs and collaborate with industry to meet regional and statewide demand. Moveable equipment purchased through this project will be integrated into simulation rooms with high quality audiovisual and hyflex instructional capabilities to support hands-on learning, virtual learning and virtual reality, adjacent control rooms, private debriefing rooms, fully equipped patient rooms, simulated drug dispensary, maternal and infant care and delivery room, critical care room, and a mock operating room simulation lab. The space will be a realistic hospital environment, including patient rooms with functional equipment, simulated Drug dispensary, surgery/operation room, maternal and infant care/ labor and delivery room, and critical care room. It will provide an immersive, high quality learning experience for individuals preparing for entry into high-demand health care occupations and provide skill development for hospital nurses, technicians, and support personnel. Simulation labs will support interdisciplinary collaboration among health care professionals, researchers, educators, and students, contributing to development of new training programs, resources, and assessments that can be disseminated to other education and training providers.
