MOBILE, Ala. — There’s a healthier future in store at the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center. Officials from the Exploreum and Infirmary Health System (IHS, parent of Thomas Hospital in Fairhope and North Baldwin Infirmary in Bay Minette) announced Tuesday plans for a new exhibit designed to increase awareness of issues regarding our health.

My BodyWorks is scheduled to open in January 2009 as a permanent exhibit that is expected to not only impact the community’s well-being through interactive displays, but also stimulate economic growth and boost workforce development throughout the region.

“It’s nothing short of fantastic,” said Chandler Bramlett, CEO of IHS. “The integration of computer imagery with hard data will have an impact on all ages.”

The exhibit will fill the Exploreum’s 6,500-square-foot first floor gallery, home to numerous blockbuster exhibits over the last several years, including OUR BODY: The Universe Within, which ends Sunday.

Bramlett said the new educational display should have a 10-year life span, but can be easily updated during that time.

Ron Snider, chairman of the science center’s board of trustees, said nearly 50 health exhibits as well as a professionally equipped laboratory relating traditional biological concepts to everyday living will be built in the space.

Among the other features, he said, will be a virtual operating room and a 12-by-6-foot beating heart model that will periodically suffer a heart attack before recovering again.

Alabama currently ranks fifth in the nation for deaths attributed to heart disease, seventh for stroke and 10th for diabetes.

My BodyWorks will address these issues, as well as the many problems linked to obesity by offering children, adults and seniors interactive exhibits designed to teach how body systems work and how diet and exercise can influence their health.

According to The Institute of Medicine, 90 million people, nearly half of all American adults, have difficulty understanding information about their health care. Studies have shown low health literacy has an impact regardless of age, race, income and education level. It is hoped the new exhibit will encourage everyone to be more proactive when it comes to their health.

Meanwhile, a growing nationwide shortage of trained health care workers also continues to raise concern. My BodyWorks is expected to serve as a recruitment tool, geared toward showing children considering career choices, and adults seeking career changes, what the health care profession might offer them.

As part of the planned virtual activities, visitors will be able to perform knee-replacement surgery through leading-edge interactive exhibits. To bolster the experience, health care professionals will present educational demonstrations and informative lectures in the Health & Bio Lab, telling audiences why their individual careers are satisfying and rewarding.

Bramlett said exposing youth now to the wonders of the human body could indeed spur their interest in pursuing a medical career that would ultimately benefit a growing (and aging) coastal population.

“We’re looking at ways to encourage our young people to think about health care as a career,” he said. “When you let them have a hands-on experience, it will go a long way toward helping them to decide”

More than 90,000 children visit the Exploreum each year, producing a large pool of candidates who might one day pursue a health care career.

Statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics show health care will generate three million new jobs between 2006 and 2016, more than any other industry.

Over that same period, growth in the labor force is projected to slow significantly because the baby-boom generation is aging and retiring, and the labor force participation rates of women have peaked.

Gallery construction and exhibits for My BodyWorks are expected to cost around $3 million, including the special building preparations needed to accommodate the bio lab.

IHS has committed to support the project financially with contributions from the Infirmary Foundation and by soliciting support from other partners.

Exploreum Executive Director Michael Sullivan said in addition to the partnership with IHS, the exhibit is being made possible by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama and the Ernest G. DeBakey Charitable Foundation.

“For a number of years, we’ve been working with the DeBakey Foundation with the drug education bus,” Bramlett noted. “The bus exhibit shows what happens to the lungs of a smoker and the brain of a drug abuser. When you catch them at 9 or 10 years old, they don’t forget that.”

Snider acknowledged the loss of the temporary exhibit space will have an impact on some future educational displays, but noted Exploreum officials are looking at other options.

“We realize the impact of the traveling exhibits,” he said. “If this were a traveling exhibit, it would be one of the largest and most popular we’ve had.”

Exploreum spokesman Brett Berg said future exhibits include FROGS! Beyond Green, which will run June 13 through Nov. 2. The interactive exhibit brings with it live frogs from around the world, giving visitors a chance to learn more about various species and their habitats.

Also planned for June 7 through 15 are Marcan Tiger Preserve educational demonstrations. Live Bengal tigers will call the site of the old Mobile County Courthouse home for a few days, where the demonstrations will be held that Monday through Saturday, at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. You will also be able to see the tigers Sunday at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.

For more information about upcoming and current exhibits, visit www.exploreum.com.