August 19, 2021
La Roche University Dedicates Clinical Simulation Center in Honor of Distinguished Alumnus
PITTSBURGH, Aug. 19, 2021 – Today La Roche University dedicated its new clinical simulation center in honor of Anthony J. Battaglia ’95, M.S., RN.
Mr. Battaglia contributed the largest outright gift from a La Roche graduate in the institution’s history to erect the Anthony J. Battaglia Clinical Simulation Center, which opened in April 2020. The Center allows students, including those in the Entry Level Master of Science in Nursing (ELMSN) program, to study their craft.
“The ELMSN program and the clinical simulation center, made possible by Anthony’s generosity, is doing something positive to meet the need of educating future nurses and giving them the kind of experience that will impact all those for whom they care. Those sentiments capture how I feel as we gather today to officially dedicate this Center,” Sister Candace Introcaso, CDP, Ph.D., president of La Roche, said. “It is in these spaces, that our students, our faculty and others, will experience an education that has the potential to change the world in which we live.”
Following the official ribbon cutting, guests toured the center and watched nursing faculty and students demonstrate and use the state-of-the-art equipment and patient simulators.
As the founder, president and CEO of Pocket Nurse®, a global simulation and health care education solutions organization, the entrepreneur has built a company that carries and creates thousands of products designed to let nursing and medical students practice their skills before working with real patients.
Mr. Battaglia earned his B.S. in nursing from La Roche, and his M.S. in training and development from Carlow University. He also is a fellow in entrepreneurial business with the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. Mr. Battaglia was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus of La Roche in 2018.
The Anthony J. Battaglia Clinical Simulation Center provides students with a variety of opportunities to practice assessment skills and critical thinking before dealing with live patients. Low- to mid-fidelity simulators are used to teach vital signs assessments, wound care and more. High-fidelity simulators are programed so that students can use higher order thinking to respond to more complex conditions related to neurological, respiratory and cardiac problems.
The simulation center also provides an opportunity for students in La Roche’s new ELMSN program to practice their skills. Introduced in 2019, the accelerated, 77-credit ELMSN degree is a hybrid program that enables college or university graduates with a bachelor’s degree in any area to earn a master’s degree in nursing in as few as 20 months.
About La Roche University: A private liberal arts university in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, La Roche University offers 66 undergraduate programs of study, six master’s degrees and one doctoral degree, with particular strengths in education, business, criminal justice, psychology, and health and medical sciences as well as interior design and graphic design. This residential university provides a vibrant campus community for nearly 1,300 men and women enjoying 30-plus student organizations and an exciting NCAA Div. III athletics program. Founded by the Sisters of Divine Providence in 1963, La Roche University embraces its Catholic heritage while welcoming people of all faiths and backgrounds. With a legacy of social justice and a commitment to international exchange, La Roche University educates students to be lifelong learners and achievers in an increasingly diverse and global society.
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