April 23, 2019

Media Advisory – Health Care Informatics Learning Lab Dedication

Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Health Care Management Program will dedicate a new healthcare informatics education learning lab made possible with the assistance of Southern Illinois Healthcare on Thursday in the School of Allied Health

Reporters, photographers and news crews are invited to the dedication and ribbon cutting of the Experiential Learning Lab for Informatics Education, or ELLIE, at 12:30 p.m., in the CASA Building, Room 60. The building is located west of the SIU Arena. 

SIH and the Health Care Management program are collaborating to bring the most up-to-date access in electronic health/medical records to students and faculty through EPIC training modules. EPIC is one of the premier electronic/medical records platforms available, according to Sandra Collins, SIU’s Health Care Management program director. 

“Technology is a driving force in healthcare and it continues to rapidly change how the industry operates both clinically and administratively,” Collins said. “ELLIE will provide both our on campus and online Health Care Management students access to important electronic medical/health record training modules and simulated case scenarios specific to healthcare for the purpose of perfecting students’ skills in predictive analysis.” 

The laboratory underwent remodeling and SIH is providing time, training space and staff toward this technology training initiative. 

“Were it not for SIH’s generosity, providing this level of hands-on training would likely have been cost-prohibitive, if not impossible, for the health care management program,” Collins said. 

Three students in the health care management program will receive honors at the event. 

Mitchell Dierkes, a senior from Marion, and Savanah Hopkins, an online graduate student who now works in Denver, Colorado and is originally from Carterville, will receive their 2019 Mid-America Healthcare Executives Forum awards from Bart Millstead, SIH senior vice president and chief operating officer. In addition, Jessica Vicente, a senior, will receive a 2019 Foster G. McGaw Scholarship from the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA). The Foster G. McGaw Scholarship provides financial support to undergraduate and graduate students in health administration. 

For more information, contact Collins at 618/453-8802, 618/322-6245 or by email at skcollin@siu.edu.