WSU Spokane Initiates Planning for Innovative Health Education Facility
WSU Spokane has launched the planning process for the campus’s newest building, the Team Health Education Building. Serving as a state-of-the-art health care simulation facility, the building will be designed to prepare the campus’s 1,200 health science students using a technology-forward, team-based curriculum.
The new facility will provide students in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, and the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences space to collaboratively learn with their degree program peers and with students from other disciplines.
With $7 million in state appropriations funding secured for design in 2023, WSU Spokane has selected Bouten Construction and NAC Architecture as its progressive design partners. The project’s budget is estimated at $60–80 million, with construction set to commence in 2025. Full funding for the facility is being sought from state and philanthropic sources.
“The Team Health Education building will support the demonstrated success of WSU’s existing interprofessional education and simulation frameworks to deliver an educational experience that is transformational for both the student and their future patients,” said Daryll DeWald, executive vice president for WSU Health Sciences and chancellor for WSU Spokane. “We look forward to working with our design team and our collaborative partners in developing this incredible facility.”
Over the past five months, project leaders have engaged in listening sessions with both internal experts and external partners to gain a holistic understanding of the current landscape of health education and the health system.
“We are committed to developing a facility that is responsive to the local community and regional health provider needs as well as modeled after the most innovative health education spaces in the country,” said Eric Smith, director of facilities and capital projects for WSU Spokane. “These ongoing discussions are absolutely key to the process.”
The current health care landscape is nothing short of complex. Health systems have faced myriad challenges in recent years, including workforce shortages due to shifting demographics, retirement, and burnout. These shortages directly limit health care access for patients, particularly those in rural and underserved communities. According to the Washington State Department of Health, these inequities can be seen across Washington, with 30 of the state’s 39 counties having medically underserved areas or populations.
However, another compounding effect of workforce shortages is the availability of clinical training opportunities. “Our statewide clinical partnerships are critical to the success of our students,” said Jennifer Robinson, associate vice president of interprofessional education. “However, with increased demands due to staffing shortages, there is a risk that providers may not be able to take on students who need the experience of clinical rotations to successfully complete program requirements.”
Interprofessional simulation, an innovative model of health care education that trains learners alongside their peers in other health programs to address patient needs using real-world scenarios in lower-stakes simulated environments, can provide that experience. Robinson is collaborating with an interprofessional group of health sciences faculty to deliver a curriculum that engages students virtually and in person. Over 1,500 students have participated in the sessions this year.
In the planned Team Health Education Building, this curriculum can be applied in simulation spaces that look and feel like a health clinic. The facility will be intentionally designed to create a hands-on learning experience for students to practice developing skills that they later apply in a clinical care setting. “Research has shown that interprofessional education and simulation can help learners gain both confidence and competence while building essential communication, collaboration, and clinical skills,” notes Robinson.
Crucially, well-prepared students quickly become assets rather than burdens in clinical settings, actively collaborating to support high-quality patient care. “The demonstrated downstream result of this type of curriculum is not only proficient students and graduates but reduced burnout and improved patient outcomes,” says Robinson.