New UTHSC training and safety center to open next year

Work is progressing on UTHSC’s new $36.7 million Interprofessional Simulation and Patient Safety Center, which will be one of the few buildings dedicated to simulation training in the country once it opens. Construction will wrap up on the 45,000-square-foot building that adjoins the UCHSC general education building in January, and a grand opening is expected by April.

Dr. Chad Epps leads the project and is executive director for the new center. He plans to work with UTHSC students and clinical partners to make patient care safer.

“Health care simulation epitomizes everything we know about adult learning theory — adults learn by doing, learn best by focusing on problems, and want guidance,” said Epps, who is the current president of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare and past chair of the Council on Accreditation of Healthcare Simulation Programs.

The building came about through the vision of UTHSC Executive Vice Chancellor Ken Brown, who recognized that simulation is becoming more and more a part of the education of health care professionals.

Each floor of the three-story building will feature different types of simulation training. The primary learning area on the first floor includes two large 12-bed- procedural skills labs that will allow students to focus on preclinical skills and assessments. There will also be a simulated home environment/apartment, where students will practice delivering in-home patient care.

The second floor will house a simulated acute-care setting resembling a hospital environment with patient rooms and a variety of manikins that can simulate everything from surgery to labor and delivery.

“All of the rooms have multiple cameras, microphones, and taps on the phones. We can capture anything that’s said or done in the building and play it back,” said Epps, who has been active in simulation education, research, assessment and center management for more than 10 years. “And that even includes the hallways and elevators. We envision simulations where a student starts in the operation room, then has to transfer the patient to the recovery room and then to the regular floor.”

The project’s A/V contract tops $4.5 million.

The third floor of the building will house the standardized patient program, with 24 patient exam rooms and a community pharmacy setting.

Once construction wraps up in January, audio/visual and other equipment will be installed and the building will be commissioned.

Architects for the project are BRG3, and a consultant with SimHealth assisted. Construction is being handled by FlintCo.