Volunteer AmeriCorps Patient Health 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

THIS IS NOT A FULL-TIME JOB. THIS IS A FULL-TIME VOLUNTEER POSITION WITH A MODEST LIVING ALLOWANCE STIPEND.

AmeriCorps members receive up to $20,400 prorated stipend over the course of their service of 1,700 hours ending August of 2027.  Members serving less than 1,700 hours will receive a reduced Living Allowance stipend. Members receive their stipend at two-week intervals prorated though their service year. After successful completion of their service time, AmeriCorps members receive a maximum $7,395 Education Award to be applied towards the member's education/training. Members serving less than 1,700 hours will receive a reduced Education Award

Position Summary

Patient Navigators work with various health services providers to assist patients to access appropriate care, establish a medical home, assure pre- and post-visit needs are met and facilitate brief health education encounters related to chronic conditions, medically complicated cases and patients with multiple barriers to clinical care. Navigators provide translation/interpretation services as needed. Duties may vary as each position is customized to meet the specific needs of the host clinic.

Duties and Responsibilities
As a mission-driven organization, the core values of, and the services offered at Sea Mar are based on the belief that everyone deserves to be respectfully treated in a way that preserves dignity and enhances self-worth. Sea Mar is an advocate for its clients and aims to achieve industry-leading, client-centered, culturally-aware services.
Sea Mar - AmeriCorps Members serve as an extension of this mission and demonstrate their commitment to an excellent client experience by:

• Understanding and empathizing with client needs
• Surpassing client expectations
• Demonstrating a high level of integrity
• Exhibiting compassion and commitment
• Advocating for social justice
• Taking pride in individual work as well as that of the team
• Continually learning to stay current with industry standards, best practices and technology

As a Sea Mar - AmeriCorps Member, the individual in this position commits to adherence to these values to their utmost ability and endeavors to strengthen and embody this mission daily.

The AmeriCorps member will be required to complete the Member Service Agreement requirements in order to be compensated fully for their position (Stipend and Educational award).

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include but not limited to the following:

• Schedule appointments and navigate patients through health system barriers
• Initiate communication with patients and assist with support in making referrals to address the full spectrum of patient needs
• Participate in mandatory trainings, service projects and team building activities throughout their 10-11 month full time term of service.
• Create informational materials and available resources to have at Sea Mar sites. These include posters, promotional programs, healthy diet and recipes, exercise information, handouts/take-away, as well as resource binders that provide information about available Sea Mar and community resources.
• Create a community resource guide to share with patients and the AmeriCorps-Sea Mar group.
• Review electronic health record charts and patient lists to identify patients in need of important health screenings and services. Schedules appropriate appointments according to patient needs.
• Prepare mail outs with appropriate materials and patient identifier information.
• Collaborate with Sea Mar medical clinic staff, quality improvement staff, and other Sea Mar departments as needed to identify patients in need of screenings, to inform care teams about preventative care, and to reach out to these identified patients.
• Work with Sea Mar staff to roll-out additional preventive health screening and recall efforts to patients.
• Participate in an AmeriCorps site health project. This includes community outreach, health interventions, and health events regarding, but not limited to, the following health topics: smoking cessation, diabetes education, nutrition, and healthy lifestyles, stress reduction, managing chronic conditions, and adolescent topics.
• Pro-actively aid in increasing public awareness regarding health coverage enrollment opportunities by planning and conducting outreach activities within the community, participating at both Sea Mar sponsored and non-Sea Mar sponsored events.
• Assist in the development and distribution of informational/promotional materials, and establishes and maintains referral relationships with local organizations, agencies, institutions and businesses as directed by the AmeriCorps Department.

Qualifications
To perform this service successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Bilingual English/Spanish preferred
• Member must have the ability to interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals; possess the ability to write routine reports and correspondence; ability to communicate effectively with clients or employees of the organization.
• Must have excellent verbal and written communication skills, including ability to compile, interpret, and utilize information; and to communicate effectively with people of all backgrounds and educational levels.
• Must be able to work with minimal supervision, use good judgment, meet deadlines, and prioritize workloads.
• Must be able to maintain confidentiality.
• Must be well organized and have good attention to detail.
• Must be able to maintain professionalism and appropriate boundaries in all interactions.
• Must have intermediate computer skills.
• Must be computer literate and have good mathematical skills. Experience in Windows Office programs preferred.
• Must be able to solve problems and reason deductively.

Education, Certificates, Licenses, Registrations, and Medical Screening

• High School Diploma Required
• Preferred undergraduate degree or equivalent work experience.
• Must have a current TB test (within the past year). Must receive a satisfactory background check from WATCH and all CNCS background check requirements.

Service Environment

• The service environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• This member will provide service in a group office setting, with significant levels of distractions and background noise.
• Must maintain a professional appearance and demeanor at all times.
• Must wear appropriate personal protective equipment

Physical Requirements

• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.
• While performing the duties of this job, this employee is regularly required to communicate in person and by telephone with other individuals, and may be asked to speak in front of groups.
• This employee must be able to sit for long periods of time and to use a personal computer.

Supervision
The AmeriCorps Member does not supervise any other positions.

Bilingual Spanish Strongly Preferred. Reliable Transportation required.

Salary - Salary Plan, 850.00 USD Biweekly

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. 

Sea Mar is an equal opportunity employer.

Please visit our website to learn more about us at www.seamar.org. You may also apply thru our Career page at this link.