BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Lehigh Valley Health Network has expanded its teaching opportunities by acquiring Venel Institute Medical Education and Research Center, a Bethlehem anatomical research and education facility, officials announced Wednesday.
- Lehigh Valley Health Network acquired Venel Institute
- The Bethlehem institute is an anatomical research and education facility
- This will expand LVHN's educational programs
The acquisition of what LVHN called "a world-class anatomical research and education facility" will add to the education already provided by LVHN’s medical school program.
“As the premiere health care provider in a large region in eastern Pennsylvania, we know continuous improvement means continued excellence, and adding the Venel Institute certainly fits with that mindset,” LVHN Chief Academic Officer Robert Barraco, a trauma surgeon, said.
LVHN said it expects Venel will be an excellent complement to its new state-of-the-art Center for Healthcare Education in Center Valley, slated to open in February.
Together, they form a new regional and national health care education hub, LVHN said.
“This will really allow us to tailor the educational content and method to a group and its needs, whoever that group may be,” Barraco said. “It will allow us to examine the educational need and fill it in the most appropriate way possible.”
The program is run in partnership with Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
“Our partnership with the USF Morsani College of Medicine sets us apart, and the addition of Venel will enrich an already top-notch learning experience for our students,” Barraco said. “The addition of Venel will help make them as ready as they can be for their residencies.”
LVHN will consider offering more cadaver dissection labs for high schools in the region, thanks to the new partnership.
LVHN called Venel Institute "a world-class anatomical research and education facility" that will add to the education already provided by LVHN’s medical school program.
Venel Institute is at 261 Broadhead Road, Suite 201,
Bethlehem.
The institute says on its website that it offers the possibility of same-day educational sessions "that minimize away time from hospitals and practices — and maximize learning."
It says learning sessions are held in its state-of-the-art anatomical lab, which can be configured to "support multiple sessions simultaneously and features precision optics and audio by Olympus, the world leader in medical optics."
An adjacent auditorium seats 50 in stadium seating and viewing on a big screen.
LVHN said in a statement that, along with the Center for Healthcare Education, Venel could serve as "a potential
training ground and education facility for LVHN’s institutes, including Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute, Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute and Lehigh Valley Institute for Surgical Excellence."
Barraco said the potential benefits from Venel, and the new Center for Healthcare Education are exciting and build on an already strong legacy of healthcare training.
“The combination puts us in rare air,” he said. “We’re excited for the future of medical education and ready to continue the strong tradition of excellent caregiver training across the health care spectrum.”
