Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center opens new $1.8 million simulation lab to expand health‑care training
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Summary
The Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center unveiled a high‑fidelity simulation lab funded with roughly $1.8 million to train nurses, nurse anesthetists, pharmacy and EMT students; partners including VCU said the lab will reduce travel to Richmond and better align students with clinical equipment they will use on the job.
The Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center announced a new high‑fidelity simulation laboratory funded with about $1,800,000 and scheduled for a public ribbon cutting on March 26, officials said.
Executive Director David Matlock told board members the center secured the money to build the lab and that it will support interdisciplinary training across nursing, pharmacy, anesthesia and emergency medical services. "We secured $1,800,000 to to to build a simulation lab," Matlock said during the board meeting.
The lab includes advanced mannequins and room configurations that simulate an operating room, ICU, ambulance and labor‑and‑delivery suite. Michael (Mike) Cameron, a representative from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), described the equipment as "very current" and said it gives students a practical advantage because they will not have to re‑familiarize themselves with different clinical equipment after graduation. "This gives us a practical practical advantage when the students graduate that they don't have to become refamiliarized with new equipment," Cameron said.
Demonstrators showed features intended to increase fidelity to clinical care: control of respiratory physiology, electrocautery simulation (including smell), integrated vitals displays, real oxygen lines for anesthesia machines and mannequins with bladder and vascular access for IV practice. Dr. Crystal Honeycutt, identified by meeting materials as an early graduate of the center's program, led a lab walkthrough and noted the rooms will support hands‑on interdisciplinary scenarios and realistic checks of anesthesia equipment.
Matlock and VCU staff said the center will run simulated cases on Epic, the electronic health record system used in many Virginia hospitals, so students see workflows they will encounter in clinical sites. Board members asked about patient‑data use; Matlock said the scenarios use fabricated or educational records rather than real patient records.
The center highlighted regional benefits: previously some students had to travel to Richmond for simulation experiences; the new lab reduces travel burden for Roanoke and other regional students and may attract additional placements to Abingdon. Matlock invited board members and partners to a public grand opening and ribbon cutting scheduled for March 26 (time to be announced). The meeting then paused briefly so in‑person attendees could tour the facility.
The board did not take a formal vote on the lab during this meeting; Matlock framed the presentation as an update and invited further questions and a later public event for greater demonstrations.
Next steps: the center will host the grand opening in March and continue interdisciplinary programming with partner institutions, including scheduled simulation sessions run by VCU faculty.
