ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- There's a new name for a Rochester facility aiming to address the nursing shortage.

The Wegman Center for Workforce Development is the result of the Wegman Family Charitable Foundation’s $5 million donation to Rochester Regional Health.

The facility opened last year as a learning center to help jump-start careers in nursing.

“The way out of poverty is a job," said Danny Wegman of the Wegman Family Charitable Foundation. "And I’m so proud of what Rochester Regional is doing. They’re working with young kids, still in high school, and then they’re giving them educational opportunities to develop as nurses or other practitioners, and I’m just so proud of that, that we wanted to support it. And we hope that others in the community do as well.”

Thanks to the donation from the Wegman family, the workforce center has a new name – but its mission stays the same: connecting the next generation of nurses to jobs.

“What’s needed today and what was needed in prior times was just different," Rochester Regional Health CEO Eric Bieber said. "We also have an aging demographic, where people are living longer; people are able to deal with chronic illnesses over a longer period of time.”

There's a growing need for nurses – and yet, a consistent shortage of people interested in the job.

“Nursing is an art of the heart, we call it," said Director of Clinical Education Gloria Berent. "It’s difficult work. However, it’s a calling. Those of us who have that calling get into nursing because we want to help people. There are folks out there who don’t even know that this exists as a career option for many, many people. The need in the community for health care workers is huge. So our ability to train folks to be home health aides, who can then go on to be CNAs, and go on to be nurses, or physicians or physician assistants or nurse practitioners, is grand.”

Trainees say nursing is a fulfilling career that’s always in demand.

“I want to be a nurse because I want to give back and help people," said trainee Johanna Campbell. "I’m going to be old one day, older, and I want somebody to take care of me the same way I want to take care of my parents. So I just want to give back. It’s a job that probably isn’t ever going anywhere. It’s a career you can keep going on and on with.”