SUNDRE — Provided plans fall into place, the community is potentially poised to lead the charge on delivering realistic rural health care training courtesy of a dedicated, cutting edge simulation space.
“One of our key goals is to develop a health care campus in Sundre — put Sundre on the map, as it were, as the go-to place for rural health care learning,” Gerald Ingeveld, chair of the Sundre Hospital Futures Committee, told council during the regular April 26 meeting conducted by teleconference.
During his presentation to council, Ingeveld said there is a big difference between urban and rural health-care professionals, especially for doctors and nurses.
“Our hospital is fully integrated,” he said, adding that means health-care professionals at the local hospital are essentially expected to be jack of all trades.
“Yet even though our nurses need to have specialized training in emergency, obstetrics, geriatrics, acute and palliative, their training budget is no greater than a larger hospital, where each staff member only needs to update their training for their specific area,” he explained.
Additionally, some training requires nurses to travel, which tends to result in out-of-pocket expenses, he said.
The committee was therefore completely onboard the moment the hospital’s site lead approached the group roughly a year ago to float the idea of finding space to establish an eSIM lab, he said, adding that was not an easy task as the hospital doesn’t have enough room to accommodate a dedicated training space.
In follow-up conversations with the municipality to inquire about the possibility of using space at the former town office, which shares a wall with the Sundre Fire Department’s hall, Ingeveld said, “I believe we have found a near-perfect location.”
Extending his gratitude for the town’s reliable support “of this health care campus dream,” he then introduced Dr. Vincent Grant, who offered insight on the provincial eSIM program.
Grant, who is the medical director for the simulation program with Alberta Health Services and also a professor in the departments of pediatrics and emergency medicine at the University of Calgary, said the project “will set Sundre apart as far as rural centres go.”
Although the eSIM program has been running about 10 years, simulation-based education has operated in the province for the better part of the last 20 years, said Grant, who first ran a sim program out of the Alberta Children’s Hospital, from which a rural outreach program eventually stemmed.
“We would take mannequins and we’d go around southern Alberta training rural care providers in the care of pediatric patients,” he said, calling accurate Ingeveld’s comment about rural health practitioners needing to be jacks of all trades.
“I was amazed by the breadth of skill in the nurses’ positions and others that care for patients in a rural environment, and how often they would have to go above and beyond what would be expected sometimes of similar colleagues in an urban setting.”
So, when the opportunity arose to help create an Alberta-wide, simulation-based, health-care education program, Grant said he jumped at the chance to work with people like Ingeveld as well as educators to start building local capacity for cutting edge training.
The eSIM program now trains about 30,000 health care learners across Alberta every year, and currently boasts 12 simulation facilities, which are largely located in acute care facilities in all of the major urban and regional centres, with a rapidly expanding reach into rural areas, he said.
Training simulators are often associated with pilots, or perhaps even practising one’s golf swing in a virtual setting during the winter. But either way, the idea of simulators is to enhance one’s skill and expertise, he said.
“In health care simulation, we essentially use mannequin-based technology,” he said.
Individual students work in a team atmosphere and train as though they are in a real environment in preparation for not only more common medical situations, but also rare emergencies that hospital staff nevertheless need to be ready for, he said.
“Our idea is why don’t we use simulation to test facilities and processes so we can work out the kinks before we have them happen on real patients.”
Community resource
There is an added benefit above and beyond being able to train tomorrow’s rural health-care professionals right here at home .
“I think the idea that’s brewing in Sundre will be a real jewel for the whole community,” said Grant.
Aside from the fact that health-care providers who are trained rural are more likely to stay in a rural setting, the dedicated training space would also be available as a community resource, he said.
“We think that’s a win-win situation,” he said, adding Sundre could be on the “leading edge.”
Others who would stand to gain from the space could potentially be EMS and first responders with the Sundre Fire Department, as well as community-based groups in the area that are seeking courses such as basic life support or CPR, first aid, and babysitting classes, he said.
“The reach in the community could be very helpful,” he said.
Additionally, he said having a dedicated space means the training will not be impacted by — nor will it impact — hospital activity in the event of, for example, sudden and unexpectedly high patient volumes.
Coun. Rob Wolfe wondered if there would be a cost associated with any groups interested in using the space for training.
“I don’t foresee there being additional costs for community-based groups that want to get involved and help simulation education,” said Grant.
“The details of that would have to work with the hospital champions around their use of the space,” he said.
But to his experience and understanding, Grant said evenings and weekends typically offer plenty of time to accommodate outside groups.
“I think we could leverage lots of opportunity for community-based groups to use this space at no additional cost to themselves,” he said.
Coun. Cheri Funke called the project “a huge asset for our rural community,” and praised Ingeveld’s efforts in working toward making this a reality.
“I don’t think you get thanks enough,” she told Ingeveld.
Flattered, he paid back the compliment by reiterating his appreciation for the town’s “tremendous support."
“It’s just a pleasure to be part of that and to be working with some of the real rural champions that we have that we’re finding within AHS,” he said.
Deputy mayor Richard Warnock said he looked forward to seeing the project proceed.
“We are eager to help Gerald work with not only the minor renovation costs, but also just to help outfit it, so that this lab is really cutting edge compared to our facilities across Alberta,” said Grant.
“I think this is a space that the town of Sundre will be really proud of,” he said.
Coun. Charlene Preston’s motion to accept the presentation for information carried unanimously.
