HIV Peer Navigator

Sea Mar Community Health Centers, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) founded in 1978, is a community-based organization committed to providing quality, comprehensive health, human, housing, educational and cultural services to diverse communities, specializing in service to Latinos in Washington State. Sea Mar proudly serves all persons without regard to race, ethnicity, immigration status, gender, or sexual orientation, and regardless of ability to pay for services. Sea Mar's network of services includes more than 90 medical, dental, and behavioral health clinics and a wide variety of nutritional, social, and educational services. We are recruiting for the following position:

Sea Mar is a mandatory COVID-19 and flu vaccine organization

HIV Peer Navigator - Posting #26846

Hourly Rate: $23.36

Position Summary:

Full-time HIV Peer Navigator position available for our Vancouver - Salmon Creek Medical Clinic. The HIV Peer Navigator, ideally a person living with HIV, will be primarily responsible for helping patients engage and remain in care for HIV treatment. This person will address the gaps in care for patients with a new diagnosis of HIV and those with higher needs who have been lost to care. There will be a focus on rapid initiation of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and maintaining connection to healthcare and medication adherence to strive to achieve viral load suppression.  They will be the primary contact for patients with a new diagnosis of HIV.  Provides support and education to people living with HIV.  Meets for one-on-one sessions. Communicates with their assigned clients via texts and/or phone calls between educational sessions and provides information on community-based services for patients living with HIV and their families as needed. This is a grant supported position, regular reports and data collection will be necessary.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• The peer will have access to the electronic health record and scheduling software to support clear lines of communication between the provider team and front office to support appointments and schedule follow up.
• Reach out to patients who have been identified as being lost to follow up via telephone, social media, or other forms of outreach.
• Be in frequent communication with the Rapid ART program director through team huddles, monthly meetings, and collaboration with community partners, Clark County Public Health and DOH.
• Assist clients, as needed, to navigate mental health and substance use recovery systems.
• Help patients overcome adverse social determinants of health and other barriers to care.
• Is available to clients regarding any questions/concerns they have and be willing to provide client with appropriate resource or contacts.
• Maintain awareness of cultural challenges and develop effective relationships with a diverse patient population.
• Accompanies clients to community-based organization/institutions as appropriate.
• Understand and follow HIPAA compliance policies and other rules of confidentiality.
• Demonstrates ability to effectively use the Epic electronic health record to schedule appointments, document telephone encounters, look up clinical information and test results, and correctly enter external results.
• Monitor data reports and summaries of progress and status of assigned patients.
• Maintains professionalism and the willingness to help others at all times.  Superior customer service skills will be demonstrated at all times.
• Demonstrates sound problem solving skills and the ability to be diplomatic in the face of adversity.
• Attend trainings and learning opportunities that expand content knowledge and best practices.
• Other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications include:

• Must be able to work both independently with minimal supervision and as a collaborative team in a dynamic work environment.
• 1 year of experience in any of the following preferred: field of HIV/AIDs, health care, education, outreach and/or peer navigation.
• Ability to work with ethnic, racial, economic, and sexually diverse populations and persons who have experienced homelessness, and persons with a mental illness and/or substance addiction.
• Must be able to use good judgment, meet deadlines and prioritize workloads, and be self-motivated. Must be able to maintain professionalism and appropriate boundaries in all interactions.
• Must be detail and process-oriented with experience using electronic recording data system (i.e. Epic) and various Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, Access, Power Point, Outlook and Internet applications.
• Must be able to maintain confidentiality.
• Ability to think strategically to work though barriers with patients around medical access and procedures.
• Strong organizational and time management skills.
• Strong ability to multi-task.
• Must possess the ability to read and interpret policies, procedures, schedules and other documents proficiently.
• Must have excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Must be able to perform basic mathematical functions: add, subtract, multiply, divide in all unites of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.
• Must be able to solve problems, make independent decisions appropriately, and reason deductively.

Preferred Qualifications include:

• Knowledge of patient care processes, clinical procedures, and medical terminology.
• Knowledge about the lived experience of living with HIV and willingness to mindfully share that experience.
• Bilingual in English/Spanish or English/Russian. 

Education and/or Experience:

• High school diploma or GED required. 
• Pre-hire and annual employee health screening required.
• Initial TB test at hire and annual retest.
• Complete covid-19 vaccination is required
• Annual influenza vaccine required. Only exception is for employees with a medical or religious exemption approved by Administration. Employees with an approved medical or religious exemption must wear a mask at all times during the flu season.
• This person must receive a satisfactory background check from the Washington State Patrol and must maintain a valid Washington Driver’s license and automobile liability insurance coverage. 

What We Offer:

Sea Mar offers talented and motivated people the opportunity to work in a dynamic and growing community health organization. Working at Sea Mar Community Health Centers is more than just a job, it’s a fulfilling career with opportunity for advancement. The fringe benefits surpass most companies. For example, Full-time employees working 30 hours or more, receive an excellent benefit package of:

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• Prescription coverage
• Life Insurance
• Long Term Disability
• EAP (Employee Assistance Program)
• Paid-time-off starting at 24 days per year + 10 paid Holidays.

We also offer 401(k)/Retirement options and an exciting opportunity to work in a culturally diverse environment. 

How to Apply:

To apply for this position, complete the online application and click SUBMIT or APPLY NOW. If you have any questions regarding the position, email Zachary Forsyth, HCA, at [email protected]. 

Sea Mar is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Posted 9/6/2024

External candidates are considered after 9/11/2024

Please visit our website to learn more about us at www.seamar.org. You may also apply thru our Career page at https://www.seamar.org/jobs-general.html