Participating in the ribbon cutting are from left:  Clarion University President Joseph Grunenwald; Sandra Usher, chair, board of directors, The Western Pennsylvania Hospital Foundation; B. J. Leber, president and CEO of The Western Pennsylvania Hospital Foundation; Nancy Cobb director, The Western Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing; Dawn M. Gideon, president and CEO, The Western Pennsylvania Hospital; David Bursten, co-chair, Touching Tomorrow Capital Campaign and member, board of directors, The West Penn Allegheny Health System

Western Pennsylvania School of Nursing, where Clarion University provides nursing education, celebrated the completing of its capital campaign’s major renovations to its facilities with a donor reception, ribbon-cutting ceremony, and tour of the new facilities.
    Clarion University President Joseph Grunenwald was one of the speakers. “Clarion University has been a proud partner of the West Penn School of Nursing for nearly two decades,” said Grunenwald. “Over the years we have together provided critical nursing and allied health personnel for an untold number of regional hospitals and other health care providers. All of us at Clarion University congratulate West Penn on their visionary approaches to providing for the health care needs of all who they serve.”
    For more than 18 years, Clarion University, through its Pittsburgh Site, has been affiliated  with the nursing program at The Western Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing.   
    The Clarion University Pittsburgh Site offers the 10 Arts and Sciences general education courses (30 college credits) that are a required part of the West Penn nursing curriculum. West Penn nursing students who take all 30 credits at Clarion receive an Associate of Science in Allied Health (ASAH) degree, along with their diploma when they graduate.
    Since 1988, many students who graduated from West Penn furthered their nursing education through Clarion’s BSN completion program. With the inception of Clarion’s graduate nursing program in 1995, many West Penn graduates earned their MSN and became family nurse practitioners.
    The Clarion University Pittsburgh Site is committed to its strong affiliation with The Western Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing and works to help students succeed. This is demonstrated through the special orientation, academic, and social programs that the School of Nursing and Pittsburgh Site plan together and co-sponsor. These include Summer Enrichment, Family Night, and a Mid-Term Saturday Strategy Session.
    Clarion University also provides technical support and equipment to its Pittsburgh Site office, located in the School of Nursing, and to its nursing students. Clarion converted a classroom at the site into a “smart” classroom. A new plasma display and computer donated by Clarion is in the first floor microbiology lab, and Clarion makes sure the microbiology and anatomy and physiology labs have the scientific equipment and educational materials, that instructors and nursing students need to create the highest quality of teaching/learning experiences.
    Also on the first floor is the newly equipped and updated Computer Lab/Learning Center.
    To further support these initiatives, the Clarion University Foundation, Inc. will offer three $500 “Touching Tomorrow” scholarships to graduates of the West Penn School of Nursing program toward enrollment in the Clarion University Bachelor of Science in Nursing program for the 2009-10 academic year.
    “In 2003, The Western Pennsylvania Hospital Foundation launched the Touching Tomorrow: Investing in the Health of Future Generations capital campaign,” said B. J. Leber, president and chief executive officer, Western Pennsylvania Hospital Foundation. “More than $6 million was raised to help modernize The Western Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing building. Many donors to the campaign are alumni of the School.”
The campaign provided funding for innovation and renovation.
    A major renovation made room for the new Simulation, Teaching and Academic Research (STAR) Center. This state-of-the-art training facility uses medical simulators that provide highly realistic training experiences for nursing and medical students. Simulators are the “gold standard” of health education today and ultimately enhance patient safety as well as student training.
    STAR is a virtual hospital. From the ambulance, to the ICU, to the delivery room, allowing aspiring and practicing healthcare professionals to perfect their skills in virtual reality, gaining confidence and proficiency prior to true patient encounters.
    STAR opened with eight lifelike mannequins used to provide training in fields such as anesthesiology, surgery and emergency medicine. These “patients” speak, breathe, cough and mimic other symptoms to provide students with realistic learning

President Joe Grunenwald speaks during the ceremony.

experiences and immediate feedback on their treatment decisions. Responses to fluctuations in their patient’s condition are filmed so that participants in the cases can review them with instructors and peers and look for opportunities for improvement. 
    Task trainers available at STAR make it possible for healthcare professionals to rehearse specialized procedures such as lumbar puncture and ultrasound-guided central line placement in an authentic clinical environment.
    In 2008, STAR introduced three new simulation technologies. A full-size ambulance cab – the first of its kind in western Pennsylvania – lets trainees experience what it’s like to deliver emergency care within a confined space, complete with the distractions of lights and a siren.
    Another first for the region is STAR’s simulated Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, which includes an incubator and a life-like neonate mannequin that can have seizures and change colors.
    STAR also features a Family Birthing Center, equipped with mother and baby simulators to prepare healthcare providers to handle routine deliveries as well as those with complications.
    A partnership between The STAR Center and the Pittsburgh Public Schools makes it possible for health careers students to use the same sophisticated training tools used by nursing and medical students. Pittsburgh Peabody High School students spend one to two mornings a week at STAR.     
    The renovations also improved the 85-year-old School of Nursing building. The six-story building received a sprinkler system, a handicap-accessible ramp and an elevator. Renovations have made the building more energy-efficient and made residential, administrative and classroom spaces more functional and inviting. All of the windows and the roof, gutters and downspouts were replaced and repairs were made to the lintels, masonry and terracotta. The porches received new roofs, ceilings, floors and railings.  The building’s lighting, bathrooms, showers and kitchens were upgraded, a wireless network was added, classrooms and residence hall rooms were renovated and furniture and equipment replaced.
    Also speaking at the ribbon cutting ceremony were: Sandra Usher, president, board of directors, The Western Pennsylvania Hospital Foundation; David Burstin, and David McClenahan co-chairs, Touching Tomorrow Capital Campaign; Dawn M. Gideon, president and chief executive officer, The Western Pennsylvania Hospital, executive vice president and chief of hospital operations, West Penn Allegheny Health System; and Nancy Cobb, director, The Western Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing.
    Capital campaign co-chairs were: Sandra Usher, chair, board of directors, The Western Pennsylvania Hospital Foundation; David Burstin, member, board of directors, West Penn Allegheny Health System and The Western Pennsylvania Hospital Foundation; and David McClenahan, chair, board of directors, West Penn Allegheny Health System. The Celebrating Our Renaissance Celebration Committee included: Beverly Beisgen, Patricia Black, Jean Brieck, Laura Burke, Kathleen Cecil, Nancy E. Cobb, Yvonne Currin, Jennifer Davis, Cindy Fair, Andrea Fleisher, Nancy Grover, B.J. Leber, William Marshall, Lori Slade, Norma Walter, and Dona Marie Wilfong.
    Clarion University is the high-achieving, nationally recognized, comprehensive university that delivers a personal and challenging academic experience.