Public Health Advisor, Bureau of Hepatitis, HIV, and STI

City of New York; Lincoln (NE); On-site; USD 45,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

An established public health agency is seeking a Public Health Advisor to enhance data quality and support HIV surveillance efforts. This role involves conducting record searches, assisting with data integrity projects, and serving as a liaison with other jurisdictions. The ideal candidate will possess strong communication skills and a commitment to public health. Join a dedicated team focused on improving health outcomes and combating health disparities in the community. This position offers a unique opportunity to contribute to impactful public health initiatives and collaborate with a diverse range of stakeholders.

Benefits

Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility

Inclusive work environment

Opportunities for career advancement

Qualifications

• Bachelor's in health education or related field required.
• Experience in health promotion or disease prevention preferred.

Responsibilities

• Conduct record searches and update data registries.
• Assist with data quality assurance and case resolution.
• Perform administrative duties and attend mandatory meetings.

Skills

Excellent phone and customer service skills

Excellent written and oral communication skills

Ability to follow protocols and standard operating procedures

Ability to understand patient confidentiality regulations

Proficiency with computers and data systems

Working knowledge of HIV and disease surveillance

Education

Baccalaureate degree in health education or social/biological sciences

Four-year high school diploma or equivalent

Tools

Data tracking systems

Job description

Open to candidates who are permanent or those who will be successfully applying for the Open-Competitive PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISER, Exam No. 5116 or the PROMOTION TO PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISER, Exam No. 5541 within the filing period From: October 9, 2024, To: October 29, 2024.

Established in 1805, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (the NYC Health Department) is the oldest and largest health department in the country. Our mission is to protect and improve the health of all New Yorkers, in service of a vision of a city in which all New Yorkers can realize their full health potential, regardless of who they are, how old they are, where they are from, or where they live.

As a world-renowned public health agency with a history of building transformative public health programming and infrastructure, innovating in science and scholarship to advance public health knowledge, and responding to urgent public health crises from New York City’s yellow fever outbreak in 1822 to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are a hub for public health innovation, expertise, and programs and services. We serve as the population health strategist, and policy and planning authority for the City of New York, while also having a vast impact on national and international public policy, including programs and services focused on food and nutrition, anti-tobacco support, chronic disease prevention, HIV/AIDS treatment, family and child health, environmental health, mental health, and racial and social justice work, among others.

Our Agency’s five strategic priorities, building off a recently completed strategic planning process emerging from the COVID-19 emergency, are:

1. To re-envision how the Health Department prepares for and responds to health emergencies, with a focus on building a “response-ready” organization, with faster decision-making, transparent public communications, and stronger surveillance and bridges to healthcare systems.
2. Address and prevent chronic and diet-related disease, including addressing rising rates of childhood obesity and the impact of diabetes, and transforming our food systems to improve nutrition and enhance access to healthy foods.
3. Address the second pandemic of mental illness including: reducing overdose deaths, strengthening our youth mental health systems, and supporting people with serious mental illness.
4. Reduce black maternal mortality and make New York a model city for women’s health.
5. Mobilize against and combat the health impacts of climate change.

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH)'s Bureau of Hepatitis, HIV, and Sexually Transmitted Infections (BHHS) oversees the City's response to viral hepatitis, HIV, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Its mission is to improve the lives of New Yorkers by ending transmission, illness, stigma, and inequities related to viral hepatitis, HIV, and STIs. BHHS's work includes testing initiatives; prevention, care, and treatment programming; epidemiology and surveillance; training and technical assistance; community engagement; social marketing; policy advocacy; and racial equity and social justice initiatives.

The HIV Surveillance Unit in the HIV Epidemiology Program (HEP) is responsible for the surveillance of HIV and AIDS in New York City and for generating the accurate case counts and complete descriptive data on diagnoses, clinical status, laboratory test results, and mortality that are needed to monitor epidemic trajectory and guide public health decision-making. Surveillance objectives include: 1) To describe HIV transmission occurring in NYC; 2) To count and describe new HIV diagnoses and new AIDS diagnoses, including timing of initial diagnosis relative to infection and progression to AIDS; 3) To count and describe people living with HIV/AIDS in NYC, including how and where they became infected, health status, care status, and vital status.

HEP is seeking a Public Health Advisor- Level II (PHA II) to assist with internal data quality assurance projects, to serve as a jurisdictional liaison to contact HIV surveillance programs in other jurisdictions for data cleaning and quality projects such as record search, RIDR (Routine Inter-Jurisdictional Deduplication) and any additional CDC designed projects. Additionally, this person would serve as a point of contact for HIV surveillance programs from other jurisdictions. This position would report directly to the Team Lead for Data Quality Assurance.

Duties will include but not be limited to:

1. Conduct record searches to collect missing data in response to both internal and external requests (i.e., from other jurisdictions) and update Registry appropriately.
2. Assist with resolution of duplicate and/or merged cases.
3. Conduct other data quality assurance activities as requested.
4. Utilize several established tracking systems, maintain documentation that tracks provider inquiries, record searches, and duplicate/merge activities.
5. Attend surveillance staff meetings and all other mandatory meetings.
6. Perform administrative duties to support the operation of the Surveillance Unit as assigned by supervisor or leadership. Administrative duties may include staffing phone desk.
7. If necessary, serve in emergency roles related to COVID-19 or other public health emergencies, which may include case investigations, epidemiological scientific research data collection, and community engagement activities.

Minimum Qualifications

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college, including or supplemented by twelve semester credits in health education, or in health, social or biological sciences; or
2. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college, and six months of full-time satisfactory experience in a health promotion or disease intervention/prevention program, performing one or more of the following: interviewing, conducting field investigations, assessing health risks, making referrals, or collecting and analyzing epidemiological data; or
3. A four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent, and four years of full-time satisfactory experience as described in "2" above; or
4. Education and/or experience equivalent to "1", "2" or "3" above. Undergraduate college credit can be substituted for experience on the basis of 30 semester credits from an accredited college for one year of full-time experience. However, all candidates must have a four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent, and either twelve semester credits as described in "1" above or six months of experience as described in "2" above.

Additional Requirements

A. To be assigned to Assignment Level II, candidates must have, in addition to meeting the minimum qualification requirements listed above, at least one year of experience as a Public Health Adviser, Assignment Level I, or at least one additional year of experience as described in Qualification Requirement "2" above.

Preferred Skills

Excellent phone and customer service skills
Excellent written and oral communication skills
Ability to follow protocols and standard operating procedures.
Ability to understand and follow strict patient confidentiality regulations.
Proficiency with computers and using several data systems, including data entry.
Working knowledge of HIV and disease surveillance.
Ideally, experience working with clinicians and other medical providers.

55a Program

This position is also open to qualified persons with a disability who are eligible for the 55-a Program. Please indicate at the top of your resume and cover letter that you would like to be considered for the position through the 55-a Program.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

As a prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs and state repayment assistance programs. For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website at https://studentaid.gov/pslf/.

Residency Requirement

New York City residency is generally required within 90 days of appointment. However, City Employees in certain titles who have worked for the City for 2 continuous years may also be eligible to reside in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, or Orange County. To determine if the residency requirement applies to you, please discuss with the agency representative at the time of interview.

Additional Information

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.