Salary: Negotiable :USD

Location: Chicago, IL

Hospital: RUSH University Medical Center

Department: Social Work & Community Health

Work Type: Full Time (Total FTE between 0.9 and 1.0)

Shift: Shift 1

Work Schedule: 8 Hr

Summary:
The Community Health Worker (CHW) is a key member of the RUSH Social Work and Community Health (SWaCH) department. This position supports work of the Psychotherapy team through processing patient referrals and inquiries, scheduling psychotherapy appointments, and completing insurance verification, resource coordination, and other tasks as needed. This position will collaborate with other providers and departments and may connect patients to additional community resources or refer patients to Rush Generations and other SWaCH program offerings to enhance care. The CHW will also be a liaison to community members, patients, and community partners, providing telephonic and in-person navigation services. The CHW will assist with different community initiatives and work closely with other SWaCH programs to support as needed. This position is often a first point of contact for patients initiating psychotherapy treatment as part of a team rooted in delivering trauma-informed care to individuals of diverse backgrounds and identities. Finally, this position exemplifies the RUSH mission, vision and values, and acts in accordance with Rush policies and procedures.

Qualities we are seeking include: Cultural humility, ability to build trustful relationships with clients, nonjudgmental and empathetic listener, lens of compassion and respect and showing acceptance of people and their life journey, demonstrates understanding of strengths and challenges of their community and which strategies will work best.

Responsibilities:

• Manage psychotherapy referrals including communication with patients and caregivers, documentation in Epic, and data entry, maintenance and reconciliation.
• Act as a primary contact and coordinate closely with referring providers.
• Complete insurance verification for all relevant psychotherapy referrals.
• Resource finding including basic care coordination, as needed per discussion with manager, program coordinator and/or clinical leads.
• Provide physical coverage of Waud Resource Center 1-2 days/week to receive patients and support wayfinding.
• Staff SWaCH helpline and process referrals, questions, and redirections from callers.
• Represent SWaCH at meetings, conferences or other public engagements on an as-needed basis.
• Support manager, program coordinator and clinical leads with ad hoc requests as needed to support psychotherapy clinic.

Other information:
Required Job Qualifications:
• A high school graduate or GED.
• 1-2 years of experience of working in community settings as a community health worker or navigator is desirable.
• The ability to work independently and solve problems along with strong multi-tasking, organization, communication, and expertise with information systems and Microsoft Office Suite.
• Demonstrated knowledge and/or experience with care management-related service functions such as: patient interviews, discharge planning/social service basic assessment and referral processes, community resources.
• Must be comfortable working in a variety of settings, with people’s different living situations, and across all levels of socio-economic status.
• Experience in diverse community settings preferred in particular Chicago’s West Side
• Excellent written and verbal communication and interviewing skills.
• Applicant must live in the Chicagoland area, have their own transportation with proof of current auto insurance, be able to navigate the Chicagoland area, and be available to work evenings and weekends.
Preferred Job Qualifications:
• Experience in community service through volunteering, internships, committee service, community networks, etc.
• Commitment to teamwork, collaborative approach and customer service focus preferred.
• Experience working in and/or with communities of color
• Bilingual/bicultural including Spanish, Polish, and Mandarin speaking ability desired but not required

Rush is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics.