Community Health Worker

Description

North Star Health, an FQHC comprised of multiple PCMH practices delivering team-based care in Southern VT and Southwest New Hampshire, is seeking a Community Health Worker (CHW) to be a part of our Community Health Team (CHT) and play a critical role in helping individuals access the care they need through the provision of screening,  brief interventions and connections to services to address a range of needs including clinical care, food insecurity, housing and economic assistance. Our ideal candidate will be a team player who is community-minded, an exceptional listener and advocate, with experience in meeting people where they are at and providing assistance to help them access the service they require, ideally in a healthcare or social service setting. We have positions serving our Springfield, Ludlow and Londonderry Vermont health centers.

 In this role you will: 

• Promote and work to achieve our mission and vision to connect with and care for our community so everyone may enjoy health and wellness.
• Work as part of the Community Health Team, in collaboration with primary care, behavioral health and substance use treatment teams
• Reach out to individuals following a psychosocial assessment; foster relationships as the face of North Star Health and key point-of-contact to assist individuals in achieving goals, identifying needs, and coordinating services.
• Conduct follow-up assessments and engage individuals through motivational interviewing to identify priority needs and areas for intervention or follow up
• Identify next steps to address findings including referral to an appropriate level of care either with North Star Health or an external service provider
• Provide brief interventions as appropriate to address screening results, either directly or through referral
• Outreach to both organizations and individuals, including meeting individuals in their home and going to a variety of service locations; 
• Assist in coordinating care for individuals, identifying and addressing their barriers to and social influences on good health; assist in patient enrollment, schedule appointments, assist with transportation, and follow up on care delivery.
• Collaborate with local health and social service organizations to assist them in enhancing services and addressing systemic barriers to health and social services.
• Documents all patient encounters; complete required reports; maintain electronic patient files, including referrals, releases, assessments and other documents acquired on behalf of the patient. 
• Support fellow team members in answering phones and addressing patient requests and other tasks as needed.

Requirements

Requirements for the role

• You have experience with direct service provision, preferably in a healthcare or social service setting
• You have a passion for working within the community you are a part of, or have been a part of in the past.
• You are flexible, team-oriented, and willing to wear different hats
• You have an ability to effectively and independently plan, organize, and coordinate access to health services.
• You have excellent communication skills, including writing, listening and organizing information 
• You excel at empathy and human interactions, and want to improve the health of individuals and communities.
• You are comfortable working with people who are in distress and who may be experiencing a range of challenges and difficulties in their lives and living circumstances
• You are an independent self-starter and a strategic thinker who is eager to learn, improve, and grow.
• You have experience or the capacity to use computer-based tools including typing, web-based applications and client-related databases
• You are excited about how technology can support your work and help drive the ongoing evaluation toward new, better, care.
• Unrestricted Driver’s License 

Interested candidates should provide a cover letter addressing the scope of the role, in addition to completing the application. 

All new hires are required to show proof of COVID vaccination or request an exemption prior to starting work.