Grant funds Griffin simulation-training center

Todd Liu, assistant to the President at Griffin Hospital, far left, and Assistant Program Director of Internal Medicine Residency Joseph Gnanaraj, MD, center, accept a $75,000 check from David Walsh, Government Programs manager at CHEFA along with Senior Development Officer Janet Hall, second from right, and Barbara Stumpo, vice president, Patient Care Services. /Contributed  photo


DERBY - Griffin Hospital and the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority recently celebrated the completion of the hospital’s high-tech Clinical Skills Simulation Training Center.
David Walsh, Government Programs manager at CHEFA, formally presented Todd Liu, assistant to the President at Griffin Hospital, and Assistant Program Director of Internal Medicine Residency Joseph Gnanaraj, MD, with a $75,000 check to fund the recent construction of the training center within Griffin’s School of Allied Health Careers at 300 Seymour Ave.
 The grant is part of CHEFA’s Client Grant Program.
“CHEFA is pleased to partner with Griffin Hospital in developing the Simulation Training Center,” Walsh said. “The grant application stood out for the impact the Center will have on the hospital’s patients and the surrounding community.”

Griffin built the training center to optimize a new state-of-the-art iStan simulation manikin purchased through a $300,000 Health Resources and Services Administration grant.
Some of the CHEFA funds were used to purchase additional Nursing and Allied Health training modules for the iStan.
The training center allows the hospital to enhance and expand training capabilities for its Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine Residency Program and create a model program for advanced training for physicians, nurses, Allied Health professionals, and even EMS providers from the surrounding communities.
Simulation can now be incorporated into training for hospital physicians and staff when a learning need is identified. The Rapid Assessment Learning Module – purchased through the CHEFA grant – will help train nurses, EMTs and paramedics for emergency situations.
To ensure the center is truly interdisciplinary and able to train the broadest group of medical providers possible, Griffin Hospital purchased an additional software module.
“The Center will help the hospital keep pace with advances in medical education, which has moved away from blackboards and traditional classrooms to an era where faculty can remotely deliver lectures by using video- conferencing and video-lecturing, making professionals and trainees more efficient, productive, and interactive,” said Griffin Hospital President and CEO Patrick Charmel.
 “Specifically, the iStan capability will enable medical residents to practice clinical procedures and learn how to properly evaluate and diagnose a variety of ailments on simulation manikins before working on live patients, in much the same way the airline industry has incorporated rigorous training and testing in a simulated environment to develop more highly trained pilots and flight crews.”

CHEFA recently  announced $1 million in grants to 13 of its nonprofit client agencies throughout the state.
CHEFA is a quasi-public agency created by the state legislature to help Connecticut healthcare and educational institutions, and other not-for-profit entities obtain tax exempt financing. CHEFA is self-sustaining and receives no taxpayer funds.
For information visit www.chefa.com.


The above is taken from a release from Griffin Hospital.