The unveiling of Lebanon’s new medical simulation lab came with a ribbon cutting, speeches, and state officials.
The City of Lebanon and its partners unveiled the simulation lab, located inside the Lebanon R-3 School District’s Robert W. Plaster for Student Success (2020 Evergreen Parkway) Thursday afternoon with a ceremony and ribbon cutting. Gov. Mike Kehoe was present alongside other state officials.
“This collaborative effort between a local community college, a K-12, a municipality, is something you just don’t see very often,” said Dusty Childress, President of Ozarks Technical Community College Education Centers, in his opening remarks.
“This is going to be an amazing workforce development project for the region, and I am just super excited,” he continued.
The Lebanon City Council approved the plans for the lab in 2024 in partnership with OTC and Lebanon R-3.
Mayor Jared Carr said at the ceremony that it was a proud day for the future of public safety and healthcare in the community, thanking Lebanon’s partners, which also include healthcare providers CoxHealth, Jordan Valley Community Health Center, Lake Regional Health Center, and Mercy Hospital Lebanon.
Carr said the projects origins lay in the city’s comphresive plan that noted the healthcare provider shortage in Lebanon and Laclede County.
R-3 Superintendent David Schmitz in his remarks recognized the family of Robert W. Plaster, whose donation made the Plaster Center possible. He also thanked the R-3 School Board, City of Lebanon, healthcare providers, Missouri State University and OTC whose partnerships the district relies on.
OTC Chancellor and President Hal L. Higdon highlighted the collaborative nature of Southwest Missouri. He noted that Lebanon’s lab would give OTC needed capacity to run more of its simulations – it has a simulation center in Springfield – as well as give other entities the capacity for training they need.
In an earlier interview, R-3 Assistant Superintendent of Quality Learning and Experiences Holly Schrage said the simulations would allow high school student observers the opportunity to learn about the medical field.
Kehoe congratulated Lebanon, OTC, the R-3 School District and healthcare providers on the rare partnership they had formed and what it would bring to the community.
“And it will, literally, keep kids in your own backyard,” Kehoe said, noting the shortage of healthcare professionals in the state.
After the ceremony, attendees went inside the Plaster Center for a ribbon cutting and then the wall breaking for the district’s construction of its space for its medical and business Schools of Discovery (formerly referenced as academies). Attendees were then free to tour the simulation lab.
Headline label updated at 1:39 p.m. Tuesday.
