Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC) partnered with Pickering Associates to design and construct a new three-story 65,569 SF building for their Center for Learning and Research on a 1.45-acre lot across from their Memorial Campus at 3044 Chesterfield Avenue in Charleston, W.Va. The facility allows CAMC to expand its role as an Academic Medical Center and strengthens the hospital’s commitment to providing simulation training, education, research and learning experiences to staff, employees, and health care professionals throughout West Virginia with this new, state-of-the-art Center for Learning and Research. The two lower levels were designed to house various simulation and educational training spaces, and the third story is home to numerous staff offices, meeting rooms, and additional classrooms. The building boasts the latest in technology including anatomage 3D anatomy and virtual dissection platform, immersive virtual reality training simulation software, and high-fidelity lifelike training mannequins. The advanced simulation training includes: Patient simulation, human patient simulation, virtual reality simulation ,task trainer simulation, and computerized simulation.

The building program included a large welcoming entrance and reception area, a 4,000 SF multi-purpose room, 3 operating rooms, 1 critical care room, a labor and delivery suite, 5 training rooms, 8 inpatient rooms and 6 outpatient rooms along with various other training and support spaces. This facility provides residents, nurses and a variety of other medical professionals the most life-like, realistic clinical training environment to learn, practice skills and utilize new equipment with a safe transfer of skills and knowledge to patient care. The Center serves as a learning environment for residents and students from affiliated universities nationwide.