Learning Environments

Des Moines U to Apply CARES Act Funding to Telehealth Tech

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 02/22/21

Des Moines University, a medicine and health sciences institution in Iowa, has received a $2 million CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to outfit a planned state-of-the-art simulation center on a new campus. Goals of the project include enabling healthcare providers and students to train on simulated and live patients, to advance their clinical skills, and to boost the addition of telehealth as a permanent feature of the state's healthcare system.

Besides simulation labs, the equipment will incorporate the use of artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

The university, which broke ground last September on the new center, has located the new campus on an 88-acre site. The facility is designed for innovation and will include flexible class environments, learning studios and laboratories.

"Having the ability to use telehealth programs has been more important than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic, and as we look forward it will be critical for Iowans to have a variety of care options," said Angela Walker Franklin, university president and CEO, in a statement.

She noted that the school is hoping to partner with other healthcare organizations for training, specifically those that reach into rural communities.

"This investment will help train Des Moines area healthcare providers in telehealth technologies critical to responding to the pandemic, while also preparing students for the future of healthcare delivery," added Dennis Alvord, acting assistant secretary of commerce for economic development at the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration, in a statement.

The new center is scheduled to open in 2023.