Job training: Health care is hot.

Byline: SHERRI BURI McDONALD The Register-Guard

Connie Fullmer, a 27-year-old Sweet Home resident, worked a string of retail and manufacturing jobs before enrolling in Lane Community College's program to train as a dental hygienist.

Her last job was at Santiam Forest Products in Sweet Home, first as a laborer, then tracking inventory.

"I got tired of physical labor," Fullmer said. "I thought, I've got to stop doing this or I'll kill myself by the time I'm 40."

Unlike mill work, jobs in dental hygiene typically follow a regular work day, with weekends off.

Plus, Fullmer said, the relatively high pay in hygiene gives her the option of working just two or three days a week.

A growing number of workers in Lane County are in situations similar to Fullmer's. By choice - or more often lately, through layoffs - they're finding themselves needing to train for a new career.

In the mid-1990s, Lane County residents looking to change careers had their pick of short-term training programs that could quickly lead to a job in the fast growing high-tech industry.

The state's jobless rate was at a record low, and high-tech manufacturers had more openings than qualified people to fill them.

To help bridge the skills gap, compact disc producer Sony and software maker Symantec Corp. joined forces with Lane Community College to teach students about computers, team work and customer service.

Hynix, formerly Hyundai, was hiring hundreds of employees and paying them $9.20 an hour while they trained as manufacturing technicians for the company's west Eugene computer chip plant.

Fast forward six years.

"We're in a different day and age now," said Dave Oatman, director of LCC's business and industries program. "Today, we don't have any major training programs going on."

Oregon's unemployment rate of 7.1 percent was the highest in the nation in December. Lane County has lost about 2,000 manufacturing jobs in the past year. The layoffs have claimed some of the graduates of those earlier high-tech training programs.

High-tech manufacturing, which created hundreds of jobs in Lane County in the past decade, won't be the prime job generator in the next 10 years, the state Employment Department predicts.

Instead, financial services, health care, computer programming and support, education and security work will be the hotbeds for new jobs in Oregon, said Brian Rooney, a labor economist with the department.

Health care boom

Many laid-off workers are pursuing training in those fields. Of the roughly 700 people seeking training at Lane Community College through The Workforce Network, most are signing up for classes to improve basic skills, such as English, math and writing.

But many are enrolling in health care programs and computer training, said Kristina Payne, manager of The Workforce Network. The network is a joint venture of LCC, the Lane Workforce Partnership, a work force development group, the Oregon Employment Department and other state agencies. The network serves both job seekers and employers in Lane County.

"Right now, one of the greatest needs is in health care," Payne said.

Nationwide, health care jobs are burgeoning as aging baby boomers, as well as their parents, increase demand for medical services.

Health-related jobs in Oregon are projected to grow 17 percent from 2000 to 2010, outpacing the state's overall anticipated job growth rate of 12.5 percent, according to the Employment Department.

The projected growth rate in health occupations is slightly higher in Lane County (17.8 percent), Rooney said, noting the proposed expansions of both Sacred Heart and McKenzie-Willamette hospitals.

Some positions predicted to grow more quickly than usual are registered nurses, dental hygienists, medical office assistants and health records technicians, who handle medical records for hospitals, physician offices and insurance companies, said Matt Schubert, assistant manager of LCC's Family and Health Careers department.

The nationwide shortage of nurses is bad now and expected to worsen as many nurses hit retirement age. Local hospitals are feeling the pinch.

"At any given time, (Sacred Heart) has 50 open nursing positions," said Sandra Scheetz, regional director of behavioral health for PeaceHealth, the Bellevue, Wash.-based parent of Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene.

McKenzie-Willamette Hospital in Springfield currently has 15 openings for registered nurses, said human resources director Cathy Starkey.

All licensed health care positions are getting harder to fill at hospitals across the country, she said.

The state Employment Department projects that positions for 376 registered nurses and 70 licensed practical nurses will be created in Lane County from 2000 to 2010.

Positions for 70 dental hygienists will be created in the county in those 10 years, according to the department.

The boom in jobs isn't going unnoticed. Two training programs with the longest waiting lists at LCC are the nursing and dental hygiene schools.

LCC's nursing school has funding for 56 students a year, but 120 students usually apply, Schubert said.

"These are all qualified people who have completed their prerequisites and done their testing," he said.

Limited expansion options

The solution might seem as simple as enrolling more students, but state law mandates low pupil-to-teacher ratios, and more money would be needed to support more students.

The program could expand, but probably not beyond 80 students a year because of the limited availability of required clinical training at local hospitals or skilled nursing facilities, Schubert said.

To boost the number of graduates who complete the two-year program in 2003, Sacred Heart and McKenzie-Willamette are contributing $176,000 to support two clinical nursing instructors, Schubert said. There are 72 slots in the 2003 class, up from the regular 56.

With a projected budget shortfall at LCC of $6.8 million, the college is looking for more help from the private sector.

"Our continued viability depends on our ability to form partnerships with industry," Schubert said.

Students hoping for a space in the dental hygiene program face even stiffer competition than the nursing school, with just 18 slots for 130 applicants annually.

With a state mandated student-to-teacher ratio of 6-to-1, dental hygiene is a costly program, second only to LCC's flight technology school, said Sharon Hagan, dental hygiene program coordinator.

Yet, if LCC had the funding, she said, the dental hygiene program could accommodate up to 12 more students.

Good pay, benefits

Along with the bright employment prospects, health occupations appeal to students because they typically offer good pay and benefits.

The average wage for registered nurses in Lane County is $23.30 an hour, or $48,459 a year, based on a 40-hour week, according to the Oregon Employment Department. The average wage for dental hygienists in Lane County is $29.74 an hour, or $49,487 a year, based on a 32-hour work week. Many hygienists work just two or three days a week. A 32-hour week is considered full-time in hygiene, said Bryant Scott, spokesman for the American Dental Hygiene Association in Chicago.

CAPTION(S):

Connie Fullmer, who used to work at a mill, is learning a new career in Lane Community College's dental hygiene program. LCC gets more than 100 applicants for 18 slots.