Bangalore: Bangalore Baptist Hospital in collaboration with researchers from U.S.-based Baylor University inaugurated today a state-of-the-art “Simulation, Education and Research Centre for Nursing Excellence” (SERC) in Bangalore. The four-storied SERC, which includes a state-of-the-art simulation laboratory to train nurses and doctors in the art and science of medicine, and will house medical trainees, has been built with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) Program.

Dr. G. Parameshwara, President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee and former Karnataka Home Minister, inaugurated the facility along with USAID Mission Director to India Mr. Mark A. White and Dr. Naveen Thomas, Director, Bangalore Baptist Hospital. Also present were Dr. Shelby Garner and Dr. Lyn Prater, Professors at the School of Nursing at Baylor University, Dr. Sunil Chandy, Director of Christian Medical College in Vellore, and representatives from U.S.-India Education Foundation.

Speaking at the inauguration, Mark White, USAID Mission Director to India, said, “USAID is very pleased to be part of this partnership to build a simulation training and education center for nursing excellence. This center will not only provide a space for learning but also provide safe living accommodations for nurses to live and thrive.”

The SERC is spread across 16,000 square feet and the simulation laboratory will use high-fidelity mannequins and teaching materials to impart Medical and Nursing Education to nurses and doctors studying at the facility. The faculty at the Bangalore Baptist Hospital Nursing Institute collaborated with researchers at Baylor University, a premier academic institution in the U.S., to equip the laboratory and also underwent intense training at Baylor University’s School of Nursing for over the last three years to develop skills to teach simulation.

The launch of this new facility is in line with the call by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under the National Health Policy 2017 to establish Centers of Excellence for nursing education throughout