Hospital Foundation Raising funds for Training Simulator

The Wyandot Memorial Hospital Foundation is raising funds to help the hospital purchase training simulation equipment for use by clinical staff throughout the hospital and its off-campus locations.

Mackenzie Hug, staff education director, explained a simulation manikin exposes staff members to realistic challenges in a safe learning environment, provides hands-on skill practice and assures skill competency.

“The existing manikins we have for training are unable to provide realistic feedback, which is now a standard of healthcare education in both academic and hospital settings,” she noted. “The new equipment will feature real-time movements and reactions in response to the clinical interventions practiced by staff.”

Hug said the simulation manikins are so life-like that they even can blink their eyes, make breath sounds, show heart rhythms and more.

“With the purchase of the education simulator, we aim to improve our quality and enhance our clinical excellence,” Chief Nursing Officer Danielle Pagnard stated, “as well as make sure that our staff is comfortable in stressful situations.”

She indicated some of the Emergency Department staff had the opportunity to train with a simulator when Nationwide Children’s Hospital brought one earlier this year. The staff said it was beneficial seeing the responses to the treatment being provided and knowing if their actions were working. They also found it very effective when the trainer controlling the manikin via laptop altered the scenarios for a variety of potential symptoms, reactions and outcomes.

Hug reported the hospital is strengthening its onboarding, training and continuous learning of staff with practice-oriented education, and the simulator is key for this initiative.

“Clinical providers – from physicians and nurses to therapists and assistants – must be ready to apply their knowledge and skills at a moment’s notice when seconds count,” she emphasized. “Our focus on education ensures important patient care skills are learned and practiced regularly.”

“We are very proud of all of our staff members for their dedication to their patients and our hospital,” Pagnard added. “They have been called upon again and again – especially in recent years – and we are grateful for their commitment to our mission and their professions.”

The WMH Foundation invites community members to give to the campaign to fund the simulation equipment. The WMH Foundation is a Section 501(c)3 nonprofit and contributions may qualify as a charitable deduction for federal income tax purposes. The annual campaign donors are recognized in the newspaper and the hospital newsletter mailed to every household in the county.

“This is a great opportunity to demonstrate our support of our local hospital,” Foundation Chairman Andy Loose said. “Gifts of any amount are appreciated, and even small gifts add up when combined with donations from others.”

Loose noted the success of last year’s campaign enabled the Respiratory Department to purchase not one, but two new units for Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure – BiPAP for short – for patient care. The BiPAPs have seen frequent use as the respiratory therapists continue to care for more patients with shortness of breath and other respiratory issues as a result of COVID-19 infections and the increase in influenza and RSV cases.

Donations to the annual campaign for the simulator may be mailed to WMH Administration or made online on the Giving Opportunities page at the hospital’s website. For more details, phone 419-294-4991, extension 2043, or email akemerley@wyandotmemorial.org.