WATERLOO - Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare will develop a number of employee training programs over the next five years in partnership with Hawkeye Community College.

Ranging from therapy assisting to medical lab technician, the programs will help current employees advance, as well as provide training for potential employees. The programs have been tentatively labeled "The Encore College Institute."

"Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare is pleased to collaborate with Hawkeye Community College to meet the educational and clinical needs for the Cedar Valley," Dave Olejniczak, Wheaton Franciscan's chief operating officer, said in a statement.

Linda Allen, Hawkeye's vice president of academic affairs, said the partnership is an important part of the college's growth strategy. "We want to have a comprehensive therapy program, because our goal is to become a regional leader in health education," she said.

"We see this as a great opportunity to develop and retain top-notch talent for our current and future workforce requirements," Olejniczak said in his statement. "The program will also assist us in meeting our recruitment strategy for difficult-to-fill positions. This is not a short-term initiative but rather a long-term commitment to continue to provide high-quality health care in the communities we serve."

"With the health-care system that we have, we perceive that there will be good opportunities for placement locally," said Andrea Barker, Wheaton Franciscan's director of marketing communications. The organization includes Covenant Medical Center, Sartori Hospital in Cedar Falls, Mercy Hospital in Oelwein and 22 Covenant clinic locations.

Currently, medical lab assistants can receive additional training to become medical lab technicians. Development of other programs is now under way.

"We've already begun the process of developing the two therapy assisting programs, physical therapy and occupational therapy," Barker said. "We'll be launching those programs in 2009-10."

Allen said for 2010-11, they will be developing an ultrasound program and expand therapy assisting programs to include speech and recreational therapies.

"For 2011-12, we'll expand the ultrasound program to include vascular certification training (along with two more therapies)," she added. "That would be pediatric therapy, which serves clients age 5 to 15. And then geriatric therapy, that's clients age 50 and up.

"Then in 2012-13, our goal is to offer regional/national ultrasound and vascular certification training for practitioners."

Allen noted the planned programs "are essential areas for us to move forward" in meeting training and retraining needs for the region's health care system.

Contact Andrew Wind at (319) 291-1507 or andrew.wind@wcfcourier.com.