The Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation has donated $100,000 to develop a high-tech training laboratory for nursing students in Auburn.

The “Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation Nursing Simulation Center” will include life-like patient simulators and allow students at Central Maine Community College to gain clinical experience in a safe environment, the foundation announced today.

Dan Corcoran, president and general manager of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Maine, said the gift – along with a previous one to the Northern Maine Community College – will help fill a shortage of trained nurses.

There are over 1,000 nursing vacancies in Maine today and by 2020 the number is expected to grow to over 5,000, according to the foundation.