Bilingual Community Health Worker
Our Mission Statement:
We foster a healthy community by connecting Orcas Islanders with the services needed to thrive and achieve equitable well-being.
About Us:
OCRC is a community hub for the delivery of social services on Orcas Island. OCRC partners with a wide range of local and regional service organizations and businesses to provide a safety net for islanders. We serve the heart of our community connecting islanders with household support, food, healthcare, transportation, & more.
Job Description:
This Bilingual Community Health Worker (CHW) position is a trusted member of and/or has a close understanding of the Spanish speaking community. This trusting relationship enables the worker to serve as a link between community members and the health/social services to facilitate access and improve the quality and cultural competence of service delivery.
The community health worker also builds individual and community capacity by increasing health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of activities such as outreach, community education, informal counseling, social support and advocacy.
The CHW position works to:
- Improve health outcomes on a community-wide level through advocacy, networking and engaging in strategic planning/projects that decrease local health disparities.
- Increase quality of medical care and improve individual health outcomes for underserved community members through provision of direct support and advocacy.
- Model healthy choices and practices for the community.
- Act as a non-judgmental, confidential and knowledgeable professional who can link diverse and underserved populations to health and social services care.
The position also performs various general administrative tasks to provide support to OCRC staff and clients. This includes: assisting with daily office needs and in maintaining a clean and orderly space, and supporting the OCRC general administrative activities to facilitate smooth, day-to-day operation of the OCRC office.
The Community Health Worker position requires successful completion of the WA Healthcare Authority Community Health Worker Core Competency Training and subsequent certification as a Community Health Worker (CHW). Training to be scheduled and paid for by OCRC after hiring.
Upon certification, the position focuses on engaging at-risk community members in a broad array of support and services that promote improved health outcomes.
Job Responsibilities:
- Conduct healthcare-related community outreach to the community in Spanish and English, via in-person, telephone and online communication helping clients access services such as medical appointments, transportation, housing, utilities and food support.
- Actively participate in CHW meetings to assess community needs, build healthcare capacity - initiate, develop, and deliver community health supports and interventions.
- Work as part of a team, both within the OCRC organization and with relevant community stakeholder agencies.
- Participate regularly in OCRC staff meetings and scheduled supervision times.
- Consistently maintain all clients’ confidentiality and records all services performed in the secure OCRC client database.
- Engage in professional development opportunities.
- Support the development of future CHW positions in the community.
- Assist with translation and interpretation support services for OCRC as needed.
Job Eligibility Requirements
- Post-secondary degree or equivalent life experience in a health sciences or social services-related field preferred
- Willingness to complete WA State Healthcare Authority CHW Core Competency Training
- Excellent time management skills and ability to prioritize work independently with strong organizational skills and minimal supervision and observation of professional boundaries
- Team player, collaborator, positive attitude
- Knowledge of basic office management systems and procedures including working knowledge of office equipment and software, i.e., printing, scanning, faxing documents and software including but not limited to the Microsoft Suite (Word, Excel etc.) and ability to learn new systems/databases
- Strong verbal and writing skills in English and Spanish
Details:
Full-time or Part-time
Pay depending on experience
Benefits include:
- Health, Dental and Vision Insurance
- Full time employees eligible for 100% employer insurance premium paid
- Part time employees eligible for 50% employer insurance premium paid
- Paid vacation - 2 weeks per year
- Paid holidays - 14 per year
- Sick pay
- IRA contribution