The 27th Annual Medical Center Open Golf Tournament raised a record $320,000 this year for the purchase of a new mobile simulation unit to provide life-saving training to Northeast Georgia Health System staff and community partners.

All of the proceeds will go directly toward the purchase of the simulation unit and cover operational costs for the first five years.

According to a press release, the mobile simulation unit will directly enhance the quality of patient care by training NGHS staff on how to react in life-threatening situations through immersive, hands-on training in rare, emergent, life-threatening situations.

“Being new to the area, I am amazed at the willingness of this community to give back through their participation in the Medical Center Open,” Chris Bray, president and chief development officer of The Medical Center Foundation, said. “With the first mobile simulation unit in Georgia, NGHS will have the ability to provide training that will touch many lives in the northeast Georgia region and beyond.”

This simulation unit will help meet the training demands of trauma program providers, respiratory therapists and EMS professionals, as well as nurses and caregivers on patient floors.

“Using the simulation unit, we’re able to build a bank of experience that we can draw from in a time of real crisis without the risk of harming actual patients,” Dr. Michael Appel, chief patient safety officer for Northeast Georgia Health System, said. “Simulation enables us to refine both our technical and teamwork skills, so we can raise the bar and deliver the highest quality health care possible.”

Since 1997, the Medical Center Open has raised more than $3.5 million to support community health improvement initiatives. 

Compiled by Joshua Silavent