Aerial view of Vancouver General Hospital Campus

Elevator Modernization - Leon Judah Blackmore Pavilion

Due to elevator renovations, some elevators may be out of service or reserved for authorized traffic. If you have an appointment in the Leon Judah Blackmore Pavilion, please give yourself extra time in case of delays. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding while we upgrade our elevators to serve you better.

The Vancouver General Hospital Simulation Centre (VGH SIM) is located in Blackmore Pavilion and supports a wide range of simulation education for health-care professionals and staff. The state-of-the-art centre provides a realistic, safe learning environment where learners can practice and develop skill sets to advance patient care. VGH SIM Centre supports the learning and growth of all health-care professionals within VGH, provincially, nationally and internationally.

How to access

  • Centre spaces and capabilities

    The centre consists of 12 rooms, which include a lecture theatre, BC's only simulation surgical cadaver lab, a computer and skills lab, a dedicated high-fidelity patient simulator room and 8 multipurpose breakout rooms. For simulation technology, we have a range of Low- to High-Fidelity Patient Simulators, as well as airway heads, CPR training manikins, and various specialized task trainers. 

    View room and facility information

  • Request a booking

    Visit the VGH Simulation Centre availability page to see the most up-to-date information on room availability and openings. Check availability at the VGH Simulation Centre

    Submit a booking request using the online system. Booking requests will be processed and assigned rooms/resources in the order received. Please allow up to 3 business days for a team member to contact you regarding your booking. Request a booking at VGH Simulation Centre

    For clients who currently use our centre, check out Client Hub to view and manage your upcoming bookings.

  • Fees

    Visit our VGH Simulation Centre fees page for costs and fees for room bookings and other services offered at the VGH Simulation Centre.

  • ACLS and BLS courses

    VGH Simulation Centre offers a variety of courses, including Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) through the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada. These courses provide the opportunity to practice scenarios that mirror real life situations, helping you in your role as a healthcare provider. This includes covering a wide range of life-threatening scenarios that involve systems of care, immediate post-cardiac arrest care, acute dysrhythmia, stroke, and acute coronary syndromes. The aim of our courses is to strengthen your ability to communicate and work effectively as a critical member of a team.

    View and Sign up for Upcoming Courses

  • Delivery information

    If you require equipment for your event that is unavailable in the centre, you must bring the items to VGH Sim Centre. It is also your responsibility to arrange set up, take down, packing and delivery of returning the items.

    Please note that the shipping and receiving entrance is at 902 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver. This allows you to park and unload the package/equipment. The shipping and receiving area is open between Monday – Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Please call the Session Support phone at (604)-875-4623 when you are in shipping and receiving for a VGH SIM staff member to give you access to the service elevators to the VGH simulation centre.

    It is the sender's responsibility to ensure delivery comes direct to the centre from shipping and receiving (often, this is done by a sender's representative). If no representative is available, please ensure you hire an outside company to deliver the equipment from VGH Shipping and Receiving Department to the VGH Simulation Centre.

    Please note the maximum dimensions of the equipment, including packaging, cannot exceed 203cm in height and 290cm in width.

Hours of operation

Currently open
  • Monday:   8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
  • Tuesday:   8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
  • Wednesday:   8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
  • Thursday:   8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
  • Friday:   8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
  • Saturday:   Closed
  • Sunday:   Closed

Please email vghsim@vch.ca to discuss bookings outside of these hours.

Parking & transportation

The VGH Simulation Centre is located inside the Leon Judah Blackmore Pavilion,

Map and directions to VGH Simulation Centre

There is pay parking available at our two visitor lots located on the VGH campus:

  • Multi-level parkade at the corner of West 12th Avenue and Laurel Street, across from the main entrance of the Jim Pattison Pavilion.
  • The Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre parking lot is located off of Laurel Street between West 12th and West 13th Avenue.

There is a wheelchair-accessible overpass from the VGH parkade at Level 4 and a crosswalk at Level 2.

Parking rates for VCH facilities

Simulation resources and equipment catalog

    • Facilities and rooms

      The centre consists of 12 rooms, which include a lecture theatre, BC's only simulation surgical cadaver lab, a computer and skills lab, a dedicated high-fidelity patient simulator room and eight multipurpose breakout rooms.

    • Manikins

      Manikins are human-scale models that are used for medical and surgical simulations.

    • Task trainers

      Task trainers focus on particular tasks or techniques, providing a realistic and often anatomically accurate environment for learning and refining skills.

    • Consumable parts

      Disposable parts for manikins and task trainers, as well as other consumables.

    • All resources

    • Equipment connectivity and troubleshooting

      Connecting and troubleshooting VGH Simulation Centre equipment including manikins, software and other equipment.

    • Portable conference equipment instructions

    • ACLS learner resources

    • Booking instructions

    • Example locker agreement

    • Laerdal Manikin Facilitator orientation (Manual Mode with SimPad)

    • Laerdal Manikin Learner orientation

    • MegaCode Kid - Manikin info sheet

    • Nursing Anne - Manikin info sheet

    • Resusci Anne - Manikin info sheet

    • Shipping and receiving instructions

    • SimMan ALS - Manikin info sheet

    • SimMan Essential - Manikin info sheet

Lecture theature inside the VGH Simulation Centre

Lecture Theatre

Capacity: 34 seated people plus presenters.

The large breakout room in the VGH Simulation Centre

Breakout Room 1 (BOR-1)

Capacity: 18 people for lectures (no tables) or 12 for simulation/skills

Breakout Room 2 in the VGH Simulation Centre

Breakout Room 2 (BOR-2)

Capacity: 8 people

Breakout Room 3 in the VGH Simulation Centre

Breakout Room 3 (BOR-3)

Capacity: 8 people

Breakout Room 4 in the VGH Simulation Centre

Breakout Room 4 (BOR-4)

Capacity: 8 people

Breakout Room 5 in the VGH Simulation Centre

Breakout Room 5 (BOR-5)

Capacity: 8 people

Breakout Room 6 in the VGH Simulation Centre

Breakout Room 6 (BOR-6)

Capacity: 8 people

Breakout Room 7 in the VGH Simulation Centre

Breakout Room 7 (BOR-7)

Capacity: 8 people

Breakout Room 8 in the VGH Simulation Centre

Breakout Room 8 (BOR-8)

Capacity: 8 people

Web Lab inside the VGH Simulation Centre

Wet Lab (Tissue Simulation)

Capacity: 30 people

Web Lab inside the VGH Simulation Centre

Wet lab (Tissue simulation)

Capacity: 30 people

Human Patient Simulation room in the VGH Simulation Centre

HPS (Human Patient Simulation)

Capacity: 8 people

Computer and skills lab inside the VGH Simulation Centre

Computer/Skills Lab

Capacity: 16 computer stations or 24 people for lectures.

Main entrance of the VGH Simulation Centre

Main entrance

Hallway inside the VGH Simulation Centre

Hallway 1

Hallway inside the VGH Simulation Centre

Hallway 2

Floor plan of the VGH Simulation Centre

About Simulation

Simulation is an artificial representation or imitation of a real-world process to achieve education through experiential learning. The simulated environment is made to resemble the intended environment as closely as possible to immerse students in an experience closest to real life. The participant feels the same emotional and physical responses as in real-life situations (AL-ELQ, 2010).  Simulation is an alternative to practicing on actual patients – a participant can make mistakes and learn from them without the fear of harming someone.

Art You Will See

To get the most out of the simulation, it is vital that the simulation environment consists of not only physical space and its contents but also a place where participants feel safe and comfortable to challenge themselves, think outside of the box, perform skill sets in front of others, and debriefing/reflect on their learning experience with others.

VGH SIM Centre is truly honoured to partner with VGH/UBC Hospital Foundation Art Program to intentionally create a safe and supportive learning environment through amazing pieces of art.  Art that "does not show people what to do, but connects them to their senses, body, and mind. It can make the world felt. And this felt feeling may spur thinking, engagement, and even action" (Eliasson 2016, para.1).  Action where participants feel inspired to challenge themselves and each other; to stand up and perform skills in front of others; share their experiences with others, and be bold and fearless as they dive into each simulation learning opportunity.

Please view some of our amazing pieces in our Centre from the VGH/UBC Hospital Foundation Art Program.  These pieces have helped turn our Centre into a wonderful, inspiring learning environment that is well and truly beyond just physical rooms.

Vancouver General Hospital (VGH)

Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) offers specialized health-care services to residents in Vancouver and across the province through regional programs. We provide a full range of basic and highly specialized emergency health-care and trauma services to British Columbia.

Simulation Centres

Simulation Centres utilize simulation to support learning and skill development (from clinical to communication and teamwork skills and process development) for all staff in the health-care field.