The Yukon Hospital Foundation is $200,000 closer to its goal of raising $1 million to build a medical simulation centre.

Alkan Air announced its contribution Thursday at a press conference held at the Gold Rush Inn.

Philip Fitzgerald, the foundation’s chair, said so far, $600,000 has been raised in the first half of the two-year fundraising campaign.

The $1 million will pay for equipment used in the simulations, repurposing a space at the Whitehorse General Hospital as the simulation centre, and up to five years of overhead.

Fitzgerald said there will be no cost to the hospital.

He hopes the centre will be fully funded and running in 12 months.

Alkan president Wendy Tayler said the company is proud to help and support the foundation to ensure Yukoners received the highest level of care.

Pediatrician Katharine Smart spoke on the simulation centre itself. She explained it would help medical professionals keep up their skill sets.

The simulations will not just take place in Whitehorse, as there will be a focus on other communities.

There will be simulations at the Dawson City Community Hospital and the Watson Lake Community Hospital.

Smart said it’s important to bring these simulations to rural areas, because the smaller hospitals don’t see the same number of medical emergencies as they would in a larger centre.

“You need to be constantly practising and sharpening your skills so that when unusual or significant situations happen, we’re ready to act and work as a team,” Smart said.

She explained it’s important for people to go through training in their own environment.

This means staff would simulate a medical emergency in their own building, with their own equipment and their own co-workers.

Staff from the smaller hospitals will be able to travel to Whitehorse for training as well.

Simulations give hospital staff a chance to practise working as a team.

Smart said there is more to providing excellent health care than just knowledge. Teamwork is a crucial factor; staff need to be able to work together in an emergency.

The simulations will include not just hospital staff, but EMS as well as other first responders. \ This can include the first responders who attend a medical emergency at a mine site, for example.

Smart said the idea is to simulate a process from the incident all the way through the individual’s medical care.

Smart said some of the equipment needed will be infant and adult-sized mannequins. They’re designed to mimic a person experiencing a health emergency and react to medical personnel’s actions.

She thanked Alkan for its support and helping make this happen in a more rural area, stressing it’s needed in the territory.

“Yukoners want to get treated where they live,” Smart said. “They want to be with their families.”

She hopes the simulation will help facilitate that sentiment.

Smart was not able to say how many jobs will be created through this centre.

She estimated that there would be at least one – a co-ordinator, adding the centre will involve several people already working in the field.

As for the biggest challenges, she said, it has been choosing the best equipment for the job and looking for the best space to use in the Whitehorse hospital. She added that everyone has been enthusiastic about this project.

Smart said medical staff will have time to participate. She explained that to stay licensed, they have to participate in ongoing medical education, and simulation is regarded as the highest tier.

She hopes these simulations will happen often.

She imagines that there will be pop-up simulations which will focus on various medical scenarios, figuring there will be multiple simulations per month.