Published on July 14, 2017 by Philip Poole  
St Vincents

St. Vincent’s Health System, which is a part of Ascension, held an open house and blessing service July 14 for its new state-of-the-art nursing education training center on the Samford University campus. The Ascension St. Vincent’s Education Center will serve as an advanced training site for new nursing hires. 

The center is in F. Page Seibert Hall. It is Ascension’s third nursing onboarding center to go live across the U.S. and officially opens July 18. 

The training center includes a skills lab, medication room and classroom, as well as two simulation and debriefing rooms for nurses to receive hands-on training in real-life scenarios. All aspects of the center are designed to fully immerse and prepare new nurses for the high standard of care and technology offered at St. Vincent’s. In addition to training St. Vincent’s nurses, Samford College of Health Sciences students will also have access to the center, as well as the latest electronic health record system technology, Cerner OneChart. 

The opportunity for Samford’s health sciences students to share the facility is an added dimension to the new facility. 

“As a result of this new collaboration with St. Vincent’s, we are enhancing the learning opportunities for our students,” said Nena Sanders, vice provost of Samford’s College of Health Sciences. “The addition of Cerner OneChart in our facilities will allow students to gain invaluable experience with the latest electronic health record prior to entering the workforce.” 

Chris Moore, St. Vincent’s chief nursing officer, echoed Sanders. Moore earned the Master of Science in Nursing and Master of Business Administration from Samford. “The partnership we share only grows stronger today as we provide access to Cerner for College of Health Sciences students,” he said. 

“We are excited to provide this advanced training offering to our new nurses,” said Jason Alexander, senior vice president and Birmingham ministry market executive, Ascension Healthcare; and president and CEO, St. Vincent's Health System. “Providing our patients with the highest level of quality care is our top priority, and this new training center allows us to enhance the skills and knowledge of our new nursing staff. These nurses will have the opportunity from day one to have hands-on training on the standard of care and technology that sets St. Vincent’s and Ascension apart.” 

Samford also contracts with St. Vincent’s Health System to manage and staff University Health Services on Samford’s campus.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.