Texas Hospitals Will Expand Apprenticeship Programs with New Funding

The Texas Workforce Commission has recently awarded Texas-based workforce governing body Workforce Solutions Capital Area an estimated $540,000 in funds that will be used to expand local health care apprenticeship programs. Some of these programs include  St Davids Healthcare, Baylor Scott and White Health, as well as Austin Regional Clinic. Baylor Scott and White Health have been operating an apprenticeship program since 2019 where they have been using on-the-job training to teach participants while also helping to fill in-demand healthcare positions like medical assistants and patient care technicians.  

“There’s just been a number of successful results and stories that our employees have of entering this program at an entry-level minimum wage and progressing their career through Baylor Scott and White to become a nurse or to become a clinic manager, the goal of the full program through Workforce Solutions is to train 270 apprentices".

Mark Sherry,  Regional Human Resources Director at Austin Region of Baylor Scott and White Health.

According to data collected by Workforce solutions, the healthcare industry is one of the largest in Austin’s regional area as they have over 100,00 workers on payroll with around 65,000 of those being middle-skilled positions that can easily be filled by incoming apprentices. This opportunity not only helps those participating in the program but also addresses the current staffing shortages the health care industry currently faces as a result of the ongoing pandemic. Hospital executives at Baylor Scott and Health believe that the apprenticeship model will be key to upskilling their workforce as well as help to alleviate some financial pressures in the city as the cost of living in the area continues to rise as well. 

Read full article here: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/austin-hospitals-expand-apprenticeship-programs-funding-workforce-solutions/269-b1745bbc-a232-4fc2-81e4-61121637a1ca