ST. MARTINVILLE, La.— According to officials of South Louisiana Community College a new Home Health Training Lab at the college’s Evangeline Campus in St. Martinville will be unveiled on Monday, August 22,2022.
The lab is the result of a partnership with LHC Group and Myers Family Foundation called “A Legacy of Caring in the Home and Community” that began in 2020.
The state-of-the-art, immersive environment replicates a patient’s bedroom or living room and allows SLCC healthcare students to practice the knowledge, skills, and abilities of home care in a realistic environment. The lab is complete with an advanced computerized simulation mannequin that replicates a variety of clinical situations and responds to care given by its users.
“We are thrilled to officially open this laboratory at our St. Martinville campus and expose our nursing students to a growing and critical component of healthcare,” said Dr. Vincent June, SLCC chancellor. “Simulations have been incredibly important to training students in healthcare. It allows for a realistic, hands-on experience, so students can practice and enhance their skills before ever touching a human patient.”
The creation of Home Health Labs across SLCC’s rural campuses anchors the “Legacy” project. Similar labs have been opened in Lafayette, Abbeville, Ville Platte and Morgan City. Two additional labs will be completed at SLCC’s Crowley and Opelousas campuses in the near future. The systems of labs will help to create a new workforce for a growing subset of the healthcare industry.
“The launch of this lab offers an enhanced level of opportunity for members of this community who wish to pursue a career in healthcare,” said Dr. Benjamin Doga, LHC Group’s chief medical officer. “In-home care has increased in both importance and demand across the healthcare industry, particularly over the last two years. Now, we can offer students a chance to learn and train in an environment that will hone the skills they need to help our community, our state, and our nation meet this growing demand.”
Over the course of the five-year project, SLCC will create a large-scale scholarship program for healthcare students, drive the implementation of a home health credential, bring health training opportunities to SLCC’s healthcare faculty, offer continuing education in home health, and establish endowed professorships to support the recruitment and retention of exemplary nursing faculty. Lastly, the project will create the state’s first community college endowed chair, which will focus its activities on nursing and home health.
The $2.5 million funding behind the project is historic and represents the largest private investment in a community college in Louisiana.
