U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor touted Tampa's efforts to boost job growth Monday, using as a backdrop a University of South Florida medical training center under construction downtown.

The Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation – CAMLS – is expected to bring about 150 new jobs to downtown when it opens next month. Officials say more will come later as it attracts health care and training companies to the area.

The center represents the kind of project that will make Tampa "the premier health innovation center in the United States," Castor said.

But the region has some work to do to get there.

Last year, the Tampa Bay Partnership used a $540,000 federal grant to develop a plan to bring solid, high-paying jobs to the region. It targeted four areas: applied medicine and human performance; high-tech electronics; financial and data services; and marine and environmental activities.

The partnership has created work groups to figure out how to establish these industries in the Tampa area. But projects such as CAMLS show "we're not waiting around. We're on the ground making it happen," said Stuart L. Rogel, president and CEO of the partnership.

CAMLS is a 90,000-square-foot center devoted to training and testing health care workers on state-of-the-art medical simulators. It includes a virtual care center where doctors and nurses can assess their ability to work together.

"This is the beginning of a different model of health care" focused on reducing health care mistakes, which cost taxpayers billions of dollars, said USF Health CEO Stephen Klasko.

"You're not going to leave here until we know you're competent," Klasko said.

It's a unique mission that will distinguish Tampa from all other regions trying to develop a core of health care jobs, Klasko said.