Spectrum Health opens cardiac education simulation center

Spectrum Health, a nonprofit health system in Grand Rapids, Michigan, opened a 2,700-square-foot cardiac education simulation center. The Jacob and Lois MoI Cardiovascular Simulation Center will be used to train healthcare professionals, surgeons, and physicians in real-life scenarios for procedures such as heart catheter and vascular surgical interventions.

Dr. Robert Cuff, the simulation center director, says it’s one of the few simulation centers focused strictly on the training of cardiovascular residents. “It allows us to do everything from standard lectures to practicing very complicated surgeries to actually practicing surgeries based on a patient’s own CT scan," explains Cuff, who says they can also televise a surgery to an internal site where a group of nurses, residents, fellows or students can actually watch a live surgery and be able to interact with the surgical team.