The mission of the Rural Health Innovation Collaborative (RHIC) is to advance the health and wellness of the public through the innovative, interprofessional education and training of current and future healthcare professionals.

To be a premier center for innovation, collaboration, and interprofessional health education and training.

The Rural Health Innovation Collaborative values our partnerships with educational and healthcare institutions, and their willingness to share resources among the member institutions. Through those partnerships, the RHIC supports excellence in interprofessional education to produce highly skilled healthcare professionals who serve the public, especially the vulnerable and underserved. We support and value the wellbeing of our rural communities and the unique needs these communities face. The collaborative model the RHIC has developed provides shared, stable, and sustainable financial resources that support the RHIC mission and the missions of the RHIC partners.

The RHIC uses evidence from the scholarship of teaching and learning to create experiential learning opportunities that help healthcare professionals remain current in their field and prepare novice professionals for safe and effective practice. The use of simulation-based methodologies provides an important bridge toward the attainment of critical thinking and psychomotor skills. In addition, simulation provides participants with an opportunity to synthesize and apply their knowledge and skills in a safe and nonthreatening environment. We support research and the examination of evidence-based practice to establish innovative benchmarks in healthcare. We value and reinforce quality improvement strategies that make healthcare safer for those we serve in the broader community. We value the role of community outreach as a mechanism for supporting health education for the public.

The RHIC is a unique combination of public and private entities. The collaborative boasts partners from government, higher education, healthcare, economic development, and public health. It is this diversity that allows the RHIC to pursue innovative answers to wide-ranging issues in healthcare access and delivery. • Indiana State University • Union Health System • Ivy Tech Community College • Indiana University School of Medicine • Saint Mary of the Woods College • Indiana Area Health Education Centers • Valley Professionals Community Health Center In addition, the RHIC has an agreement with the Indiana State Department of Health and the Indiana Hospital Association to provide simulation-based education to Critical Access Hospitals across the state of Indiana.

The initial structure of the collaborative was guided by a leadership committee that included the executives of the founding partners; who convened when needed to make high-level decisions. In 2008, an operations committee was initially established to handle the day-to-day setup of the RHIC. This Operations Committee was composed of representatives from each of the institutions and was responsible for the initial implementation of the RHIC’s initiative elements. Founding Partners made significant progress toward establishing a more formal structure to ensure a strong foundation for the collaborative. The collaborative formally adopted bylaws and other guiding partnership documents in 2009. On December 10, 2009, the RHIC became officially incorporated through the state of Indiana. The leadership and operations committees were transformed into a formal board of directors, including standing committees as follows: executive, finance, and governance. Through this more formal structure, the partners are excited about the RHIC’s ability for continued successful growth that will ensure our collaborative success toward improving and expanding the education and training of current and future health care professionals; especially those committed to serving rural and underserved populations. This continued success will also ensure a brighter future and long-term economic vitality in our community and those surrounding it. In 2011, the collaborative added the RHIC Simulation Center: a facility to provide an incubator for interprofessional education and innovative solutions to hands-on, immersive educational opporutinities for the partners as well as the community

The RHIC Partners have each contributed to the initial organization; as well as the continual operational and capital costs for the RHIC. In addition, the RHIC is pursuing strategic investments and grant funding at the federal, state, and local levels, and through the private sector as appropriate.

For more information about the RHIC and the RHIC Simulation Center, you can go to the our CONTACT US page, or contact Jack Jaeger: Email: jack.jaeger@therhic.org Phone: 812-237-8489

(1) Promote patient safety. (2) Support continuing professional development. (3) Help learners at all levels across all disciplines acquire and maintain cognitive and technical knowledge and skills. (4) Teach and train teams across all disciplines to enhance each member’s role and communication. (5) Provide opportunities for remediation. (6) Access technical and cognitive competency across all disciplines and all levels of care providers. (7) Assist in curriculum development and validation for procedural and cognitive skills. (8) Educate the educators of today and tomorrow. (9) Develop meaningful collaboration with other institutions and centers of learning.

LOTS OF CHARTS AND TABLES

The RHIC Simulation Center serves over 40 different health-related professional disciplines that span the entire spectrum of health and human services. This is due to the collaborative partnership that exists between the eight RHIC partner organizations. It is also important to note that, due to this collaboration, the pieces are in place for a wide variety of interprofessional education activities. Four of the RHIC Partners (Indiana State University, Indiana University School of Medicine, Saint Mary of the Woods College, and Ivy Tech Community College) have students that span the horizons of health professions, including everything from nursing and medicine to athletic training to social work. From paramedic sciences to recreation sports management. Union Health System, Hamilton Center, and Valley Professionals Community Health Centers provide current professionals opportunities for simulation-based training for acute care, primary care, and mental health-based services. In addition to educational offerings to RHIC Partners, the Simulation Center provides training for Small Rural and Critical Access Hospitals across the state of Indiana through a contract it has with the Indiana State Department of Health and the Indiana Hospital Association.

The Rural Health Innovation Collaborative (RHIC) was formed in September of 2008. Its mission is to improve and expand interprofessional education, training, and deployment of future healthcare providers, especially for those committed to serving rural populations. The Collaborative’s founding partners included leaders in healthcare, higher education, and government throughout the state of Indiana. In conjunction with the organization’s mission, the group determined that one of the essential components of providing an environment for true interprofessional education was to create a medical simulation facility. Three of the partners within the RHIC (Indiana State University, Ivy Tech Community College-Wabash Valley, and Union Hospital Health Group) developed a one-year Memorandum of Understanding that took effect in August of 2010 in which the partners agreed to establish a joint facility to be housed in the former Intensive Care Unit in the West Building of Union Hospital-Terre Haute. The original space used for the Simulation Center was 3.500 square feet and consisted of 8 simulation rooms, one control room, and one debriefing room. Union Hospital, through its Lugar Center for Rural Health, was awarded an HRSA federal grant to offset start-up and equipment costs for the Center. The partners agreed to relocate existing simulation equipment from each of their facilities into the new center. The new center was named the Rural Health Innovation Collaborative Simulation Center. An Operations Committee was formed with representation from all three partners as well as the Executive Director of the RHIC. A Director, Jack Jaeger, was hired to manage all aspects of daily operations. After a general renovation of the space, the first simulation to take place in the new facility happened on January 19, 2011. In November of 2011 a four-year agreement, through a new Memorandum of Understanding, was completed and included the three original partners as well as the Indiana University School of Medicine. At the beginning of the 2017 fiscal year, the partners agreed to add Saint Mary of the Woods College and Harrison College-Terre Haute to the partnership, and in 2019, Valley Professionals Community Health Centers, Hamilton Center Inc, and the Indiana Area Health Education Centers were added to the partnership. In October 2018, the Simulation Center expanded to include an additional location across the street from the original facility at the Landsbaum Center for Health Education. The new facility houses the Primary Care Simulated Clinic, that includes an additional 9 simulation suites, a control room, 2 debriefing rooms, 3 classrooms, and a 150-seat auditorium.

Organizations and individuals that are not part of the Rural Health Innovation Collaborative partnership can utilize the Simulation Center's services through a fee schedule that has been created by the Partnership. That fee schedule is available upon request. The RHIC is also involved in a wide variety of community-based initiatives which are paid for by the partnership or through grant funds that the RHIC and its partners have obtained. It is through these means that the RHIC is reaching out to underserved and rural communities and the healthcare providers in them to provide high-fidelity simulation-based training that they otherwise would not be able to get.

The Simulation Center is in two buildings, both located on the campus of Union Hospital Terre Haute. The Simulated Acute Care Wing is located on the Second Floor of Union Hospital's West Buidling at 1606 N 7th Street, Terre Haute, Indiana, 47804. The Simulated Primary Care Clinic is located on the First Floor of the Landsbaum Center for Health Education at 1433 N 6th 1/2 Street, Terre Haute, Indiana, 47807.