HCA Houston Healthcare has broken ground on the HCA Healthcare Center for Clinical Advancement, a new, state-of-the-art training center housing high-fidelity hospital simulation labs, connected classrooms and de-briefing rooms, where the health system's nearly 7,000 nurses will receive ongoing clinical education and training.
Scheduled to open by early 2021, the HCA Healthcare Center for Clinical Advancement is a 48,400-square-foot, ground-up new build located at Pearland Town Center, 11200 Broadway Street, just west of Texas 288. HCA Houston Healthcare officials will gather with shovels and hard hats at the site of the HCA Healthcare Center for Clinical Advancement for an official groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday, February 26 from 2pm - 4pm.
"The HCA Healthcare Center for Clinical Advancement is a significant part of our strategic nursing plan to support and grow our nurses as the differentiator at our hospitals and other facilities," says Kelli Nations, chief nurse executive at HCA Houston Healthcare, one of the city's largest healthcare systems. "It certainly helps us raise the bar for nursing care in Houston."
Nations adds the HCA Healthcare Center for Clinical Advancement will help standardize training across the health system's 13 Houston-area hospitals, outpatient surgery centers, freestanding emergency centers and freestanding diagnostic imaging facilities where approximately one million patients are cared for every year.
"Bringing the latest teaching technologies under one roof in a new, advanced facility is a major step in preparing our nurses to provide the highest level of care," she says.
Nurses may train up to 22 weeks at the center, depending on the service line and certification requirements, Nations says.
Besides providing clinical training, the center will serve as a hub for all HCA Houston Healthcare new hire orientations and the division's Leadership and Organizational Development training.
Clinical education will take place on the center's first floor. New hire orientation space for up to 250 employees will be located on the second floor.
A second HCA Healthcare Center for Clinical Advancement is planned for a location north of Houston.