Nursing Lab

Hartwick College Receives Clark Foundation Grant for Hospital Simulation Unit

April 30, 2018

Hartwick College has received a $300,000 grant from The Clark Foundation to help fund a new Hospital Suite Simulation Unit for the College’s nursing department. The new equipment will be located in repurposed space in Smith Hall.

The grant will enable the College to better prepare its nursing students to enter the field, and grow the department by another 10 students. This is the fourth such award from the Foundation since 2011.

“The Clark Foundation has been a wonderful partner to Hartwick College in strengthening nursing education in the region,” said President Margaret L. Drugovich. “I am extremely grateful to the Foundation for this generous grant.”

“We are delighted to be helping Hartwick College further enhance its nursing program,” said Jane Forbes Clark, president of The Clark Foundation. “This latest funding not only helps grow the size of the program but also deepen the training the nursing students receive so they can be ready to make an immediate impact upon graduation when working at Bassett or other upstate healthcare institutions or systems.”

The funding will help the College replicate a hospital unit, complete with four single-bed rooms, an eight-bed room, a nursing station, and technical equipment, including patient-care simulation manikins, computers, cardiac monitors, and instrumentation and supplies. The space will allow students to learn advanced nursing and problem-solving skills.

Students will rotate into this section from their clinical learning environment at regional healthcare facilities. Simulation learning, which will occur in this suite, will supplement hospital, rehabilitation center, psychiatric unit, and long term care facility clinical training currently available to Hartwick nursing students.

A simulation unit will support student learning by allowing the Department to rotate students into a “hands on” learning experience rather than an “observation only” rotation. With approval from the Office of the Professions at the New York State Education Department, the simulation equipment will be used to augment clinical learning. This initiative will provide nursing students with the most advanced education possible, provide the educational experiences needed for students to succeed, and maximize enrollment of students to help alleviate the serious shortage of professional nurses in upstate New York.

Smith Hall was chosen as the ideal location for the simulation unit because of its proximity to the Johnstone Science Center and other academic areas. The size and shape of the space is also compatible with space needed for a simulated hospital suite.

“The new, state-of-the-art unit will allow us to provide students with innovative learning opportunities central to success, and, at the same time, support collaborative initiatives across disciplines within the College, as well as with our external clinical partners,” said Clinical Associate Professor and Nursing Department Chair Patricia Grust. “This new space will be an exciting addition to our program and is a vital component in the education of nurses in the current healthcare environment.”

Founded in 1931, The Clark Foundation, under the leadership of Jane Forbes Clark, is one of the largest charitable foundations in the United States. The Foundation supports programs and provides grants to various charitable causes in New York City and Cooperstown. In Cooperstown, The Foundation provides assistance to a variety of non-profit, educational, community and environmental organizations, and supports major cultural institutions, such as the Fenimore Art Museum, The Farmers’ Museum, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, and the Glimmerglass Festival. The Foundation also supports a Scholarship program as well as significant operating programs including Mohican Farm, The Clark Sports Center and the Cooperstown Beautification Program.

For additional information on the grant, contact Director of Corporate, Foundation and Government Relations Lisa A. Iannello at 607-431-4061 or at iannellol@hartwick.edu.