THE COST FOR CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION OF A SIMULATION CENTER

Purpose: Lack of financial information results in planning difficultie s and may delay the introduction of simulator based education, We coll ected data from an existing simulation centre and describe a construct ion and operating budget to facilitate planning and construction for i nterested institutions, Methods: After obtaining approval from the man aging board, the plans and financial statements of the Canadian Simula tion Centre, Sunnybrook Health Science Centre, University of Toronto w ere reviewed from the period from July 1994 through June 1996, Costs w ere calculated from the financial reports and separated into construct ion and operation phases. A list of the ongoing educational and resear ch activities was compiled, Results: All dollar figures are expressed in 1996 Canadian Dollars. The planning and construction took place fro m July 1994 through June 1995. Construction costs for the simulation c entre totalled $665,000, of which 85% Was related to capital equipment purchases and 15% for salary support. The net costs of ongoing educat ion and research activities (3.35 days/week) were $167,250 from July 1 995 through June 1996, About 65% of this consisted of salary supper? a nd was absorbed by the existing educational resources of the Universit y of Toronto Department of Anaesthesia. Conclusion: Substantial resour ces are required for the construction of a simulation centre ($665,000 ) primarily because of capital equipment purchases, However, there is also a considerable operating cost per year($167,250) which consists m ostly of salary support.