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About the Gina and Frank Day Health Institute
The Gina and Frank Day Health Institute at MSU Denver develops the next generation of health-care professionals with a radically different approach to applied education.
Spanning 10 academic departments, students learn alongside experts both in and out of the classroom, modeling the interdisciplinary needs of today’s in-demand healthcare industry.
And at the center is access, for individuals and communities to change what health and wellness looks like.
Programming
The Gina and Frank Day Health Institute has strategically facilitated a variety of programs aimed at creating change. Our programs focus on workforce development, taking a whole-person approach to education and training and supporting diversity and health equity.
Building
To meet the programming needs of the Gina and Frank Day Health Institute, we are building a new 70,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility that will allow us to increase the number of students we accept and graduate each year by 32 percent.
Simulation Lab Ribbon Cutting
Metropolitan State University of Denver ushers in a new frontier for the future of patient-centered health care this September with the opening of its Interprofessional Simulation and Skills Laboratory, or Sim Labs. The state-of-the-art space, housed in the renovated West Classroom building, features a nurses station, an ambulance bay, a home health lab and other simulated care environments. The Sim Labs are a centerpiece of the Gina and Frank Day Health Institute at MSU Denver.
Breaking ground on new Health Institute simulation lab
On Sept. 26, 2023, MSU Denver celebrated the groundbreaking of a new Simulation and Skills Lab that will drastically improve the University’s ability to help meet Colorado’s growing health care workforce needs. The new facility, a key component of the University’s multidisciplinary Health Institute, will serve as a training ground for students preparing for careers in nursing and other in-demand health care fields, allowing them to practice clinical skills in simulated hospital and exam rooms.
Fundraising Priorities for the Gina and Frank Day Health Institute
Gina and Frank Health Institute Programming
One of the most critical needs facing Colorado is the shortage of a qualified workforce. Below is a snapshot of types of wraparound programs and services that have the greatest impact on our students while supporting MSU Denver in meeting Colorado’s needs:
Health Scholar Program
Unique wraparound services — including stipends, scholarships and professional development — that ensure our students transition from the classroom to meaningful careers in Colorado’s health care industry. We retain 94% of our Health Scholar students.
Peer Health Exchange
Hands-on experience for Health Institute students to teach a skills-based health curriculum in under-resourced high schools throughout Denver.
Behavioral Health Stipends
Financial support that lowers the barriers that keep students from completing the curricular client-facing requirements of behavioral health degree programs. We retain 98% of our Behavioral Health Scholar students.
Gina and Frank Day Health Institute Capital Building
To achieve its bold and transformative vision, MSU Denver must build and create better facilities and research technologies. Today, due to space limitations, MSU Denver’s Nursing program turns away half of all qualified applicants for pre-licensure programs. Our high-demand Master of Social Work program leaves behind 45 percent of its qualified applicants. A new 70,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility will allow us to increase the number of students we accept and graduate each year by 32 percent.
The facility will also provide simulation technology that decreases dependency on scarce clinical placements, allowing students to graduate faster. Finally, the design will facilitate our vision for interdisciplinary learning and research, offer community-serving clinics, increase collaboration with Community College of Denver’s health programs and enhance industry connections through events and seminars.