The University of Nebraska Board of Regents today approved plans to build the Global Center for Advanced Interprofessional Learning at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
A transformative learning resource, the Global Center will house and support the activities of UNMC’s Interprofessional Experiential Center for Enduring Learning, an initiative more commonly known as iEXCEL℠. The initiative, which includes advanced simulation clinical settings and virtual immersive reality technology, will help transform how health science education and clinical care is delivered through competency-based learning and assessment.
“This facility – and the iEXCEL℠ initiative – is a unique opportunity for UNMC and Nebraska to be a world leader in using near ‘real life virtual reality scenarios’ to transform performance in career-long health care education and training,” said UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D. “iEXCEL℠ provides an extraordinary opportunity for UNMC to provide much needed leadership in the field of health care education,” said Pam Boyers, Ph.D., a medical educator with expertise in interprofessional simulation in health care. Dr. Boyers recently joined UNMC as associate vice chancellor for interprofessional education and experiential learning.
The approved 134,000-square-foot, multi-level structure is planned for the southeast corner of 42nd and Emile Streets on a site currently developed as a surface parking lot. A nearby metal building, formerly the UNMC General Supply warehouse, also will be razed to help make way for the project.
The $102 million Global Center also includes construction of 56,000 square feet of structured parking (about 120 stalls) below the building for a total area of 190,000 square feet.
Specialized, but flexible space is planned within the Global Center to include:
• A 3-dimensional and virtual immersive reality learning studio;
• An electronic learning media development studio designed to deliver learning content to prepared remote locations;
• Realistically simulated clinical and community health care space, with operable systems for experiential, individual and team learning and assessment; and
• Surgical skills simulation space.
While based at UNMC’s Omaha campus, the center will benefit the entire state, including UNMC campuses in Lincoln, Kearney, Scottsbluff and Norfolk, as well as UNMC’s primary clinical partner, Nebraska Medicine, and its regional health partners. It also will serve as aresource to Nebraska’s state colleges and the military, while bolstering continuing education and statewide training for all of Nebraska’s health care practitioners.
More than 20,000 learners are expected to use iEXCEL℠ in the first year of operation, with a projected 10 percent to 20 percent increase in each subsequent year.
As such, the care provided to patients will improve, making Nebraska a healthier state in which to live, Dr. Gold said.
In addition to improved quality of care, the center will provide:
• Enhanced learning and preparedness through revitalized education models and more effective techniques.
• Lower costs of care by improved quality and safety outcomes.
• Economic development opportunities through courseware development, health care work force training, and research and development opportunities.
• Better population health through emphasis on disease prevention and health promotion.
Earlier this year, the Legislature approved $25 million toward design and construction of the Global Center, as well as $2 million for operations and maintenance of the new facility. Additional funding support for the Global Center for Advanced Interprofessional Learning and iEXCEL℠ will come from private funds.
UNMC leaders project construction of the Global Center to begin in January 2017, with substantial completion by summer 2018. The facility will be connected to adjacent facilities – the Michael F. Sorrell Center for Health Science Education to the north and the Lauritzen Outpatient Center to the east – via skywalks.
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