Idaho State University awarded $532,180 grant for Treasure Valley Anatomy and Physiology Laboratories

The Idaho Department of Labor has awarded Idaho State University a $532,180 grant to develop the Treasure Valley Anatomy and Physiology Laboratories, an 8,000-square-foot facility designed to enhance health professions education for students and practitioners.

The TVAPL will be constructed at the ISU-Meridian Health Science Center.

“This grant is a significant investment in the economic development for not only the Treasure Valley but the entire state and region. These dollars will play a major role, along with our medical and hospital partners, in providing the state-of-the-art training facility for health-professions students and current and future health-care providers,” said ISU-Meridian pharmacy professor and the grant’s principal investigator, Dr. Robin Dodson.

The award is part of $1.8 million in special training grants to ISU, Boise State University and North Idaho College under a new state initiative that leverages industry support to enhance the skills of Idaho workers, according to a press release from the Idaho Department of Labor.

ISU-Meridian’s new TVAPL will enable the university to increase the number of physician assistant studies graduates beginning in 2016. The labs will also help expand the physical therapy and occupational therapy programs. St. Luke’s Health System, Saint Alphonsus Health System and Blue Cross of Idaho are putting up a combined $141,709 match. Physician assistants average $42 an hour, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.

The state labor department, with support from the Idaho Department of Commerce, awards the grants to educational institutions that partner with at least three Idaho businesses to train workers in a target occupation critical to those businesses. The businesses must contribute at least 25 percent of the grant award.