Nurse receives rural health ambassador award - The Richland Hospital, Inc.

May 29, 2024

Nurse receives rural health ambassador award

Richland Center, WI – Michele Brewer, a registered nurse at The Richland Hospital and Clinics, was honored last week and awarded The Rural Health Ambassador Award. Brewer has been a nurse at TRHC for more than 26 years and is currently the lead nurse in the Kraemer Infusion Center.

The Rural Health Ambassador Award is presented annually to a health care worker whose dedication to their organization and to their community is exemplary. For those who work alongside Brewer or have received care from her, there is no question that she is a worthy recipient.

“Michele goes above and beyond providing exemplary care for the most vulnerable members of our community,” said Vice President of Professional Services DeAnna Beve Caspers in her nomination of Brewer. “She gets to know her patients on a personal level and truly represents the best of rural health care in that respect,” she continued.

Brewer works in The Richland Hospital and Clinics Kraemer Infusion Center, providing infusion treatments for patients battling cancer and other difficult illnesses. Beve Caspers says Brewer is “a fierce advocate for our patients’ privacy, autonomy, safety, and overall well-being.”

For Brewer, offering care to patients is a “gift” and a “privilege.” “When people receive a cancer diagnosis, they respond to it in different ways—some play tough, some are fearful, some are looking for answers. Throughout the process though, everyone seems to come full circle and end up with a deep appreciation for the time they do have and the people in their lives. It’s a privilege to witness that,” Brewer says.

Brewer was nominated for the award by multiple co-workers. A second nominator, said Brewer’s care “incorporates the physical, psychosocial, and spiritual needs of her patients.”

In addition to the outstanding care she provides for patients, both nominators spoke to Brewer’s involvement with Greater Richland Area Cancer Elimination (GRACE), an organization Brewer speaks of with reverence and gratitude. “The amount of good that GRACE does for families in this community is astounding,” Brewer says, “and they’ve also donated significantly to cancer research.”

As one of her nominators said, Brewer “personifies the best of The Richland Hospital and Clinics.”

The Richland Hospital and Clinics is a nationally awarded health care facility dedicated to caring, educating, and healing. Providing compassionate care for nearly 100 years to residents of the greater Richland County area, TRHC operates an independent, integrated group medical practice in three locations, including rural health clinics in Spring Green and Muscoda and a critical access hospital at its primary location in Richland Center, WI.