Indiana State University Newsroom

The Rural Health Innovation Collaborative Simulation Center has scheduled an open house of its newly expanded facilities for 1 - 5 p.m. Jan. 20.

The center, located in Union Hospital West in the former intensive care unit, recently added 1,000 square feet and three high-tech human patient simulators, giving it twice as much space and more than three times as many patient simulators than when it opened in 2011.

The expansion includes a diagnostics lab that houses many of the center's most sophisticated technological pieces, including the Anatomage Table, which allows students to perform virtual 3-D dissections, and three virtual reality simulators. A new training center has been added, allowing students and current practitioners to practice a wide variety of procedural skills on their own time. The center's integrated audio visual system has been expanded to include a third control room, allowing the facility to accommodate three high-fidelity simulations at the same time.The addition of a third control room allows the center to train more people at the same time and to record additional training on video, enabling instructors and participants to see firsthand how each session is going, said center director Jack Jaeger.

Launched in 2008 to build on Terre Haute's position as a center for innovation in rural health care, the Rural Health Innovation Collaborative develops and implements health care policies and procedures for the unique needs of under-served rural communities and provides inter-professional education for current and future health care providers. The collaborative of 14 education, health care, government and community development partners is also working to revitalize a Terre Haute neighborhood that lies between the Indiana State University campus and Union Hospital.

Contact: Jack Jaeger, director, Simulation Center, Rural Health Innovation Collaborative, 812-238-4625 or jejaeger@uhhg.org

Writer: Dave Taylor, communications chair, Rural Health Innovation Collaborative, Indiana State University, 812-237-3743 or dave.taylor@indstate.edu