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HCA Healthcare has said it’s pledging more than $300 million in investments to support the education and training of nurses. This includes more than $200 million toward the expansion of Galen College of Nursing, and approximately $136 million toward the opening of new HCA Healthcare Centers for Clinical Advancement.
Since 2019, HCA Healthcare has invested about $46 million to open twelve new Centers for Clinical Advancement, bringing its current footprint to fifteen locations nationwide. The company recently committed an additional $90 million to open 20 additional centers over the next three years.
The centers are designed to bridge the gap between the classroom and bedside through practice-based instruction. They utilize technology and specialized manikins to simulate real-life scenarios nurses may experience at the bedside.
WHAT’S THE IMPACT?
The Centers for Clinical Advancement operate independently from nursing schools and are dedicated to helping practicing nurses advance their skills and careers, according to HCA. New nursing graduates use the centers to complete their nurse residency program and choose specializations, while veteran nurses can use the centers to earn advanced certifications.
As a part of the Nurse Residency program, new graduates complete classroom instruction and perform hands-on skills training utilizing high-fidelity, immersive simulation within the centers. Technology within the centers also allows students to learn from clinical experts across the nation, if needed, and to record their simulations to play back scenarios and debrief with colleagues and trained facilitators to further advance their learning.
On April 18, HCA celebrated the openings of its fourteenth and fifteenth Center for Clinical Advancement in Ogden and Draper, Utah. Across the country, HCA Healthcare has 68 classrooms, 65 simulation rooms and more than 145 manikins.
Separately, HCA also recently announced a $34.5 million investment to expand Research College of Nursing in Kansas City, Missouri. This initiative will support the college’s expansion plans, including the development and building of a HCA Healthcare Center for Clinical Advancement, on the campus of Research Medical Center. A new 78,000-square-foot building will help to better serve the community’s current and future healthcare needs and support increased enrollment, as well as faculty and staff, the company said.
The building will feature a patient simulation laboratory, technologically advanced classrooms, technology to allow students the ability to achieve nursing competencies and small group study spaces, and areas to facilitate student and faculty collaboration. The project is expected to be completed in 2025, coinciding with the college’s 120-year anniversary.
THE LARGER TREND
During an earnings call last month, HCA said it expects to spend $4.6 billion during the year for land for new hospital development, for outpatient networks and for relieving capacity constraints at existing facilities.
Some inflationary increases in construction costs have factored into HCA’s guidance, said CFO Bill Rutherford. HCA has an estimated 182 hospitals in 20 states and the U.K., and about 2,500 outpatient facilities.
Earlier in April, nurses rallied at HCA headquarters during the company’s annual shareholder meeting on April 19, calling on HCA to address what it called chronic short-staffing.
More than 100 nurses and other hospital workers from HCA Healthcare hospitals in California, Florida, Texas and Kansas rallied at the company’s headquarters in Nashville to promote a resolution to review staffing levels. The resolution was filed jointly by an SEIU member and HCA shareholder, together with the Office of the Treasurer of the State of Illinois.
Earlier this year, a report, “Care Crisis: How Low Staffing Contributes to Patient Care Failures at HCA Hospitals,” found “strong evidence of staffing-related quality breakdowns in HCA hospitals,” including missed nursing assessments, delays in patient treatment and patient falls. According to the report, HCA staffs its hospitals about 30% below the national average, which saves HCA billions of dollars each year. In 2022, HCA earned $5.6 billion in profits.
ON THE RECORD
“Expanding our clinical education agenda, including HCA Healthcare’s Centers for Clinical Advancement nationwide, is a large part of our overall nursing strategy,” said Sammie Mosier, chief nurse executive of HCA Healthcare. “Providing a safe and realistic learning environment for our nurses promotes clinical skill readiness and development. We are excited to open these new locations and will continue to invest in our nurses as they provide great care for our patients and communities each and every day.”
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