University of Missouri Opens Clinical Support and Education Building
$26.5 million project houses growing medical faculty, simulation center, education programs
May 12, 2008
Story Contact: Rich Gleba, (573) 884-0298, glebar@health.missouri.edu
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Medical students, physicians, scientists and administrators are moving into the new University of Missouri Clinical Support and Education Building. The public received its first look inside the seven-story structure at grand-opening ceremonies May 12.
The $26.5 million building is located on the west side of the University's medical school and hospital complex. The building contains facilities for the MU School of Medicine’s growing number of physicians and scientists, as well as space for medical students and University of Missouri Health Care medical records and administration.
"The School of Medicine has recruited more than 250 physicians and scientists since 2000, bringing our faculty to a record-high level of more than 650 members," said William Crist, Hugh E. and Sarah D. Stephenson Dean of MU's medical school. "This new building will provide much needed room for the medical school's growing faculty and our expanding medical education programs."
Expanded education programs include the Russell D. and Mary B. Shelden Clinical Simulation Center, which is located on the building's sixth floor. The center’s high-tech mannequins represent a new wave of medical instruction for physicians and other health care providers. The advanced technology built into the mannequins allows students to perform various medical procedures while receiving real-time feedback as students would from a live patient.
The center was created with a $2.3 million gift from Russell and Mary Shelden of Kansas City.
"Being an anesthesiologist, I know how essential this center and these mannequins are to the training of people in medical professions," said Russell Shelden, a 1947 graduate of MU’s medical school. "After speaking with the dean, we saw a need for this, and we are happy we were in a position to support this important project."
The Shelden Simulation Center mannequins can mimic thousands of human responses. They breathe, have a pulse, have eyes that dilate, and can react to various drugs introduced by medical students."The Shelden Simulation Center will have a tremendous effect on all health care professionals educated at MU, including students, faculty, residents, nurses and others," Crist said. "Much like pilots, who log considerable hours in a simulator to perfect their technique before taking control of a real plane, our students will have extensive experience in patient care before performing procedures on live patients."
The building will house the medical school's nationally ranked Department of Health Management and Informatics. The department has been located away from the medical campus in MU's Clark Hall for approximately 20 years."The department's faculty members and students are eager to move to the medical center, where they will be closer to their health care colleagues," said Grant Savage, chair and Health Management and Informatics Alumni Distinguished Professor. "This is much more than a move of convenience. Perhaps now more than ever, clinicians, educators and researchers must partner with innovative managers and informatics specialists to improve the lives of patients. The department has a tradition of excellence in each of these areas."
MU's health services management program is ranked as one of the best in the country by such magazines as U.S. News And World Report and Modern Healthcare. Alumni of this program have become some of the nation's top hospital CEOs, managed care executives, consulting firm partners and officers in major health care companies.
MU became a pioneer in health informatics research in the 1960s and is home to the world's first computerized laboratory system. The University began offering training in health informatics in the 1970s and counts its alumni among the leading figures in the field.
The Clinical Support and Education Building will house approximately 400 people, including 190 School of Medicine faculty and staff members; 90 medical residents and fellows; and 120 University of Missouri Health Care administrators and staff members.
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Building Occupants By Floor
7th: Department of Health Management and Informatics, Center for Health Ethics and Informatics Institute
6th: Shelden Clinical Simulation Center and Cerner Transformation Forum
5th: Department of Neurology, Center for Health Care Quality and Center for Health Policy
4th: Department of Internal Medicine’s divisions of gastroenterology, nephrology and pulmonary, critical care and environmental medicine
3rd: Department of Internal Medicine’s divisions of cardiovascular medicine, immunology and rheumatology, and infectious diseases
2nd: University of Missouri Health Care Medical Records
1st: University of Missouri Health Care administration and conference and training rooms
Ground: University of Missouri Health Care distribution services, emergency management and support services administration
The University of Missouri School of Medicine has improved health, education and research in Missouri for more than 160 years. MU physicians treat patients from every county in the state, and MU is a primary provider of training for all physicians in Missouri. The School of Medicine’s more than 650 faculty physicians and scientists educate approximately 1,000 medical students, residents, fellows and other students seeking advanced degrees. Their research is focused on potentially lifesaving discoveries that address the most prevalent health problems.