Pikes Peak State College received a $900,00O grant from The Colorado Springs Health Foundation to help build PPSC's Center for Healthcare Education & Simulation. 

This new facility just north of PPSC's Rampart Range Campus will significantly increase the college's ability to get healthcare grads into the region's workforce with an estimated 325 additional annual healthcare graduates by 2022.

 

The region's current healthcare worker shortage is a result of a perfect storm. Not only is our region growing exponentially but our population is aging, including our nurses. PPSC has been working in partnership with local health care providers for two years to find solutions.

The Center for Healthcare Education & Simulation is a $20 million, 69,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility that will house an interdisciplinary simulation lab (the only one like it in the region), as well as the nursing, surgical technology, pharmacy tech, EMS, dental assisting and medical assisting departments.

The Foundation's gift is part of the $6 million PPSC still needs to raise for equipment to ensure the simulation lab is fully state of the art and for scholarships.

 

One of the crucial and unique benefits of the simulation lab is that students learn to communicate and collaborate across departments, greatly increasing positive patient outcomes.

The Colorado Springs Health Foundation's generous donation to PPSC was the largest portion of the $3.4 million in grants given to 33 organizations serving El Paso and/or Teller counties. Recipients were chosen based on one or more of the Foundation's funding focus areas: access to care for those in the greatest need, suicide prevention, healthy environments, and healthcare workforce shortages.

ABOUT PPSC

Established in 1968 and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, PPSC offers associate degrees, certifications in career and technical fields, and two bachelors’ degrees. With three campuses, various off-campus locations, two military education centers, and hundreds of online classes, PPSC provides access to a quality, affordable and flexible education to more than 20,000 students annually with both credit and non-credit classes.

About Colorado Springs Health Foundation

The Colorado Springs Health Foundation was established in 2012 through the City of Colorado Springs’s lease of Memorial Health System to UCHealth. The Foundation’s mission is to provide grants that target immediate healthcare needs and encourage healthy living. More than $16 million in grants have been awarded since inception, and grant-making started in 2016.