Clinical Education Center at Brackenridge Opens

AUSTIN, Texas – Aug. 27, 2007 – Officials with the Seton Family of Hospitals, Austin Community College District (ACC) and the University of Texas Medical Branch- Austin Programs and The University of Texas at Austin, today welcomed the first 50 nursing students attending the Clinical Education Center at Brackenridge.
The Center, located in the former Children’s Hospital of Austin, will house ACC classes for as many as 100 new nursing students in the next academic year.
“For more than a century, Brackenridge Hospital has been a facility of firsts. Today, we are pleased to introduce the next ‘first’ for Central Texas health care,” said Charles Barnett, President and CEO, Seton Family of Hospitals. “This is an investment in our workforce, in academic opportunities and in the economic future of central Texas.”
Dr. Stephen B. Kinslow, President/CEO of the Austin Community College District said,” Finding talented people who want to be health care professionals and leaders is not our greatest challenge. The challenge we face is finding the additional instructional space, faculty and clinical access needed to shape tomorrow’s health care leaders. We are grateful for this partnership with Seton and believe this Center will dramatically improve our ability to address a critical workforce need in this region.”
The CEC is an innovative interdisciplinary center which provides unique learning opportunities. It is accessible to students and graduate trainees in medicine, nursing, public health, bioengineering, informatics, social work, pharmacy, law, psychology and public policy.
The Center features:
• Flexible instructional spaces equipped with multimedia technology;
• Simulation labs to support interdisciplinary team training;
• Medium to high-fidelity interactive mannequins that provide learners
with a safe error forgiving environment to practice interdisciplinary team approaches to patient care;
• Debriefing rooms to support the simulation labs;
• Skills Labs for learners to practice nursing and medical skills in a real life hospital setting;
• A standardized patient program that helps students understand both the clinical and the social causes of poor health;
• Computer lab and learning resource area.
Forecasts show that Central Texas will need more than 600 new doctors by 2010 to keep pace with a growing population and to backfill retiring physicians. UTMB has had medical students in Austin since the 1950s, and recently signed an agreement with Seton establishing a 30-year partnership for the expansion of student and resident education, research and clinical programs. UTMB has more than 90 residents who do their clinical training in Austin.
“It’s imperative that we increase educational opportunities in this community and we couldn’t be happier that Seton is leading this effort. To have all of these institutions coming together to take advantage of a unique and rare opportunity is amazing,” said Dr. Sam Shomaker, Dean, University of Texas Medical Branch – Austin Programs. “Brackenridge has always been on the cutting edge of health care services being created in Central Texas. This is the next example of Brackenridge being a health care leader.
Dr. Bill Sage, Vice Provost for Health Affairs for the University of Texas at Austin said, “The Clinical Education Center shows the innovative power of the Austin community when we work together to improve health care. UT Austin is privileged to involve students and faculty from many disciplines in the CEC’s activities, and to support curricular design and evaluation at the CEC through UT Austin’s College of Education.”
Joyce Batcheller, Chief Nursing Officer, Seton Family of Hospitals, adds, “The expected growth of the Central Texas area will further increase the need for more nurses. In fact, we will need to hire about 300 more nurses this year to support our current growth. Without taking action, the need for nurses would far exceed the number of nurses produced by our local schools. To proactively meet this challenge, the Seton Family of Hospitals, will have some of their front-line nursing staff assist in teaching this generation of nurses.”

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