Alexian Brothers Hospital Network to Unveil Learning Laboratory

Reflecting a commitment to bringing advanced medicine to Chicago's northwest suburbs, Alexian Brothers Hospital Network has opened a state-of-the-art training site where physicians, nurses and technicians can learn in a hands-on environment how to perform the latest diagnostic and surgical procedures.

The Alexian Center for Medical Innovations opened the Alexian Advanced Medicine Learning Laboratory on November 20, 2003. The 2,400 square-foot facility - located at 1786 Moon Lake Boulevard in Hoffman Estates - is one of only a few such learning labs in the country.

The lab includes a 25-person conference room and a spacious, fully equipped operating room with four stations for simulated surgeries and other procedures. The center will feature a "telemedicine" system with sophisticated audiovisual equipment, allowing trainees to participate interactively in lectures by off-site instructors and to witness live cases at ABHN hospitals and elsewhere. The system also will be used to broadcast training sessions, including simulated surgeries, to other Alexian, and ultimately, non-Alexian locations.

This Learning Lab is one of the building blocks toward fostering the Alexian Advanced Medicine mission," says Aurelia Ross, Director of the Alexian Center for Medical Innovations. "We wanted to have the right kind of environment through which we can safely deploy new procedures, knowing that we have provided the proper training."

A typical training session at the center will involve an interactive presentation by an expert speaking in person or from a remote location about a particular procedure. The lecture will be followed by a closed-circuit broadcast of the procedure being performed live. Trainees then can practice the procedure in the skills lab, using either cadavers or other biomaterials. No procedures will be performed on live subjects at the center.

The operating room is large and open enough for instructors and trainees to circulate easily and observe simulated procedures as they progress. "We expect this design to encourage interaction among the trainees, as well as appropriate supervision," Ross says.

The center will be available to ABHN personnel for training in advanced medical procedures and for continuing medical education (CME) courses. The Learning Lab also will be available for rental by medical equipment manufacturers and other outside organizations that are involved in clinical education and have working agreements with ABHN, Ross says.

While ABHN has made a significant investment in the development of the learning lab, the network also has received strong support from medical equipment suppliers, who have contributed a wide variety of equipment to the center, Ross says.

The imminent opening of the learning lab has created considerable excitement among members of ABHN medical staffs. "They're looking forward to it," Ross says.

Many of them are seeing this as a great advantage. They often have to pay for training, source it and travel to participate in it. While we're not offering Palm Springs here, we are offering the convenience of a local center where they can be home at night and not take too much time out of their busy schedules."

The Learning Lab, she adds, is an unusual undertaking for a health system, such as ABHN, with a community-hospital focus. "Typically, learning labs are associated with academic centers or medical schools where a lot of research and medical training occur," Ross says.

However, ABHN has made a long-term commitment to bringing advanced medicine to Chicago's northwest suburbs and believes that it must support that commitment with appropriate training, using the latest technology in a safe environment, Ross says.

The Alexian Center for Medical Innovations was established in 2001 to ensure early adoption of new diagnostic and therapeutic technologies at ABHN hospitals. The group works closely with the hospitals, ABHN's eight clinical Centers of Excellence, and the Alexian Center for Clinical Research to identify and evaluate medical advances and to determine which ones should be earmarked for early adoption by ABHN. The new learning lab will facilitate this process by providing "a way of fast-tracking training for new techniques and technologies," Ross says.

In addition to the Alexian Center for Medical Innovations, the Alexian Center for Clinical Research and the Alexian Centers of Excellence, the Alexian Brothers Hospital Network includes Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village, St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates, Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital in Hoffman Estates, and the new Alexian Rehabilitation Hospital in Elk Grove Village.