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NEOUCOM, UA, Akron hospitals could join together in multi-million-dollar, 10,000-square-foot facility
By Cheryl Powell
Beacon Journal medical writer
Published on Monday, Mar 10, 2008
Preliminary talks among Northeast Ohio's public medical college, the University of Akron and Akron's three hospital systems could bring a multi-million-dollar medical training center to the city.
Within the next two years, the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy wants to open a clinical skills training center in Akron's biomedical corridor, near Akron General Medical Center and Akron City and Akron Children's hospitals.
''I would very much like to see NEOUCOM having a larger Akron presence,'' NEOUCOM President Dr. Lois Nora said.
A new 10,000-square-foot clinical skills center in Akron likely would cost between $3 million and $4.5 million to construct and equip, Nora said. It hasn't been determined exactly where it would be.
The proposed facility would be similar to the William G. Wasson M.D. Center for Clinical Skills Training, Assessment and Scholarship on NEOUCOM's Rootstown campus, Nora said.
That high-tech center is frequently used by medical and pharmacy students, residents, nursing students and others to practice providing medical care with robotic patients and actors, said Clint W. Snyder, NEOUCOM associate dean for health professions education. Akron police also receive crisis-intervention training there.
The center consists of 16 realistic exam rooms with recording capabilities, hidden microphones and two-way mirrors so students can be watched and graded.
A simulation room lets health-care teams practice reviving robotic patient simulators, complete with blinking eyes, rising chests and swelling tongues.
Acting as patients
On a recent afternoon, second-year medical students honed their skills on actors portraying assigned patient stories.
Inside exam room No. 9, Elliott Cropp, 24, of Kent, donned his white coat to examine ''Carl,'' 64, a restaurant owner who came in complaining about breathing problems.
''Have you noticed with this newfound tiredness your weight has fluctuated?'' the doctor-in-training asked ''Carl'' with a look of concern.
They talked for several minutes, then Cropp practiced taking blood pressure and pulse readings on ''Carl,'' portrayed by Rob Spalding, 57, of Mahoning County.
Afterward, Cropp said he learns a lot about providing patient care during the time he spends in the center every two or three weeks.
''The more patient contact, the better,'' he said.
Snyder said an additional location could be used to provide even more training for students, as well as continuing education for professionals.
''We do put the priority on testing and teaching of our medical students,'' he said. ''We're all filled up. . . . We spend so much time doing evaluation and assessment that we can't use it as much for training as we'd like.''
Linking with Akron
Nora said the creation of a new training center in Akron could bring NEOUCOM one step closer to establishing an ''academic health center'' with the University of Akron, Summa Health System, Akron General and Akron Children's Hospital.
Plans by the five partners to jointly develop an orthopedic research institute in Akron also could fit into an academic health center model, she said.
An academic health center combines a medical college, other health-care training programs (such as nursing) and partner hospitals that come together for shared goals in education, research and service, Nora said.
Officials from Summa, Akron General and Akron Children's Hospital all declined to comment.
Earlier this year, UA President Luis Proenza said ''many people would like to see that more of what goes on at NEOUCOM can happen in Akron.''
''It would really be a much greater opportunity for the medical school and all of the other programs related to health-care delivery throughout Northeast Ohio,'' Proenza said.
About 100 centers
The Association of Academic Health Centers estimates there are more than 100 academic health centers nationwide, though the structure of the centers vary.
Some have medical schools embedded in a larger university, while others involve partners located on different campuses, said Dr. Elaine Rubin, the national group's vice president for policy and programs.
By coming together, Rubin said, academic health centers can boost efficiency and productivity, especially for research.
''Obviously, the future of the U.S. economy will depend a lot on research and science that takes place in our universities and our academic health centers, so it's smart to be looking at what the new economy will be,'' she said.
Partnerships already exist in the region.
Hospitals in Akron, Youngstown and Canton are the clinical training sites for NEOUCOM.
The University of Akron, along with Kent State and Youngstown State universities, is part of a consortium that allows each to admit 35 students to NEOUCOM each year.
In addition, beginning as early as fall 2009, if state finding is available, NEOUCOM wants to add Cleveland State University to the consortium that admits students to the six-year program.
Regional impact
Nora stressed that NEOUCOM is not looking at ''pulling out of any of our other clinical communities or being absorbed into another university.''
''My job is to further the mission of the institution, which is to further the health of Northeast Ohio.''
Kent State University President Lester Lefton sits on NEOUCOM's board and is a ''staunch advocate'' of the medical school's ''regional mission to improve community-based health care,'' Kent State spokesman Ron Kirksey said.
''We're deeply committed to expanding the regional impact of NEOUCOM,'' he said.
Numerous proposals have been floated in recent months for NEOUCOM, including suggestions that the medical college merge with another university or relocate to Akron or Cleveland.
In a report submitted to Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut late last year, a regional study commission recommended that NEOUCOM work with other partners to ''expand medical and health-related education capacity in Northeast Ohio.'' The commission did not, however, suggest relocating the medical school.
Fingerhut is expected to submit a 10-year plan for higher education to Gov. Ted Strickland later this month.
Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or chpowell@thebeaconjournal.com.
Preliminary talks among Northeast Ohio's public medical college, the University of Akron and Akron's three hospital systems could bring a multi-million-dollar medical training center to the city.
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