INDIANAPOLIS, July 14 -- Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson and President and CEO of BioCrossroads David Johnson joined Clarian President and CEO Daniel F. Evans Jr., D. Craig Brater, dean of the IU School of Medicine, Marion Broome, dean of the IU School of Nursing, and the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation Vice President and Chief Grant Making Officer Betsy Bikoff to formally break ground on IU/Fairbanks Hall -- the Clarian Education and Resource Center. This new building is a collaboration between Clarian Health Partners and the IU schools of medicine and nursing.

The event took place on the site of the new center between 10th and 11th streets on the east side of Central Canal. The new center will include a 30,000 square-foot, high fidelity simulation center jointly operated by Clarian and the IU schools of nursing and medicine. Other educational space and some administrative offices of the IU School of Medicine and Clarian also will be housed in the center.

"We are excited about the benefits this project will have on the education and training of medical professionals at Clarian, throughout our state and beyond," said Evans. "This project adds further momentum to the growth of the life sciences corridor, and it builds on our vision of preeminence in clinical excellence, patient safety, quality, and in the education and training of physicians, nurses and students."

"This is the product of a strong partnership," said Dr. Brater, who also serves as vice president of Indiana University with responsibility for life sciences. "This will raise the level of education and training that the IU School of Medicine and Clarian are able to provide and will further position both organizations as national leaders."

"The simulation center will give us real time virtual training resulting in enhanced quality, patient safety and clinical outcomes. It will allow us to continue to be on the forefront of advances in clinical training and education," Dr. Brater said.

IU/Fairbanks Hall -- The Clarian Education and Resource Center will be a 182,000-square-foot, six-story building. Situated squarely inside of the city's vibrant life sciences quadrant, the center will serve as a strategic component in the continued development of the life sciences initiative in Indiana and strengthen the ability of the city and state to retain and recruit talented and skilled companies and employees to the Indianapolis area.

According to Indianapolis Downtown, Inc., IU/Fairbanks Hall -- The Clarian Education and Resource Center represents one of 12 life sciences projects scheduled to be completed in the next four years. These projects represent a total investment of $1.22 billion and more than 2.86 million square feet. These projects reinforce the efforts of BioCrossroads, Indiana's life sciences initiative, and reflect the `bricks-and-mortar' growth of the state's life sciences sector. The center will cost an estimated $44 million, largely financed by Clarian, along with the IU schools of medicine and nursing, and a generous contribution of $6 million from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation Inc. The partners expect to open the building during the summer of 2008.

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