Grayson College wins record $2 million skills grant

Andres Alcantar, chairman of the Texas Workforce Commission will present a $2 million check to Grayson College for a skills grant on Wednesday, June 14 at 11 a.m. at the Center for Workplace Learning Auditorium on the Denison campus. This will be the largest skills grant that Grayson College has received to date.

The grant will provide 44,301 hours of training to more than 1,200 people through partnerships with Beacon Hill, Carrus Specialty Hospitals, UHS/Texoma Medical Center and Wilson N. Jones Regional Medical Center. 

"The Skills Development Grant (SDG) has been a huge success here at TMC.  We have been able to meet training needs of not only nurses but also other health professionals within our hospital like engineering, environmental services, information technology and health information," said Candy VanSant, DNP, RN-BC with Texoma Medical Center.  "The SDG has allowed us to focus on the new nursing graduate which has allowed us to improve their newly found skills along with the acclimation to the real world of nursing. This has allowed TMC to form a stronger partnership between the area nursing schools and workforce. The SDG has allowed nursing staff to obtain National Nursing Certification in their specific specialty. This Certification validates the individual’s knowledge and skills in their defined clinical area of practice which improves patient outcomes."

The training will help with the following:

• Improve quality of healthcare services to area population;
• Provide additional certifications for nurses who will gain increased experience and capacity to treat patients that need specialized care;
• Increase the number of Certified Nurse Aides in the regional workforce pool 
• Improve patient customer satisfaction ratings for partners 
• Equip Grayson College to provide new training in pediatric emergency assessment recognition and stabilization to other hospitals in the area 
• Enable the college to purchase new equipment

"Education is the key to success. Carrus Specialty Hospital is honored to partnership with Grayson College and the other facilities and to be a part of this amazing educational opportunity," said Kristi Harral, MSN, MHA, BSN, RN, AGE, with Carrus Specialty Hospital.

”WNJ is excited to be a participant in the education consortium sponsored by Grayson College and the Texas Workforce Commission,” said Kitty Richardson, WNJ Administrator.  “This grant will facilitate the education and training of our healthcare professionals who help our hospital provide quality care to our patients and community.”