Brownwood Regional Medical Center was honored for their commitment to workforce development on Wednesday December 17th, at the regularly scheduled Workforce Solutions Board Meeting.

As the largest community hospital in Texas, Brownwood Regional Medical Center recognized the importance of attracting and retaining qualified workers. When the Board first established a healthcare scholarship program with TORCH (Texas Organization of Rural Community Hospitals) several years ago, BRMC was the first hospital to participate in the program.

A total of 20 employees have successfully upgraded skills, obtained new certifications and/or advanced in their careers, while also increasing their wages by over $6.50 per hour on average and ten employees are still in healthcare training programs. BRMC has provided a dollar-for-dollar match as an added incentive. A majority of the scholarships have been for additional skill certifications in the nursing field.

Workforce Solutions Board presented the Service to Workers Award to Brownwood Regional Medical Center for their achievement in development of a successful strategy to retain a skilled healthcare workforce by offering their employees opportunities to upgrade skills and obtain new certifications.