Health Technician

Veterans Health Administration • Albany, NY

10d • Onsite

About The Position

This Health Technician position is based at the Samuel S. Stratton VA Medical Center in Albany. The incumbent serves as a Health Technician, pre-employment screening collector, and point of contact in the Clinical Laboratory. The role requires knowledge and skills to manage, train, and ensure compliance with federally regulated clinical laboratory standards.

The incumbent performs functions in the laboratory’s Central Accessioning area, supporting diagnostic services by assisting patients and VA staff and processing and delivering specimens. Duties include collecting urine drug screens for employee pre-employment physical appointments, coordinating collections with Human Resources and other collectors, maintaining the drug-screen cart and supplies, preparing specimens for transport, and ensuring chain of custody. The technician also monitors changes to the national Drug-Free Workplace Program and assists with annual updates to local urine drug screen procedures.

Other work includes receiving, preparing, labeling, examining, and delivering specimens; verifying specimen identity and test-request details; identifying discrepancies and unusual conditions; recognizing and prioritizing emergencies; notifying technologists about impending work and STAT specimens; and expediting STAT specimen delivery. The incumbent handles calls and messages, verifies add-on test requests and specimen availability, and checks request accuracy and completeness using VistA or CPRS. The role requires adherence to safety, infection-control, universal-precaution, accreditation, and specimen-handling requirements.

The position is onsite and follows a Monday–Friday schedule from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It is not a virtual position.

Requirements

• One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05, such as experience receiving, preparing, labeling, processing, and distributing laboratory specimens; verifying patient and specimen identification; maintaining specimen integrity and chain-of-custody documentation; performing specimen collection procedures; maintaining laboratory records; and following laboratory safety, infection-control, and specimen-handling procedures.
• Alternatively, successful completion of six months of directly related graduate-level education demonstrating the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for the position.
• Alternatively, an equivalent combination of specialized experience and directly related graduate-level education that meets 100 percent of the GS-06 qualification requirements.
• Must be a U.S. Citizen.
• Must complete the application, questionnaire, and required online assessment.
• Applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing-designated position must undergo urinalysis for illegal drug use before appointment; refusal results in denial of VA employment.
• Selective Service registration is required for males born after December 31, 1959.
• Must complete a background/security investigation and online onboarding process.
• Must provide acceptable identification for pre-employment requirements; beginning May 7, 2025, non-REAL-ID-compliant driver's licenses or state identification cards are not acceptable for this purpose.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is required for VA Health Care Personnel.
• Must serve a one-year probationary period.
• A transcript must be submitted if education is used to meet qualification requirements; qualifying education must be from an institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
• Foreign education used to meet qualification requirements must be accompanied by a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency and transcript.

Responsibilities

• Perform urine drug-screen collections for employee health pre-employment physical appointments.
• Coordinate drug-screen collection scheduling with Human Resources and other collectors.
• Maintain the drug-screen cart in a sanitary, stocked, secure, organized, and ready-to-use condition.
• Monitor stored supplies and contact ordering staff when supplies are low.
• Prepare specimens for transport to the testing laboratory and maintain chain of custody.
• Monitor regulatory and procedural changes from the national Drug-Free Workplace Program and assist with annual updates to local urine drug-screen Standard Operating Procedures.
• Receive, prepare, label, examine, and deliver specimens for laboratory departments.
• Verify specimen identity, patient identification, collection time, and requested test; work to correct discrepancies.
• Identify unusual conditions and discrepancies that could cause erroneous test results.
• Recognize emergency situations and prioritize workload.
• Notify technologists of impending work and STAT specimens, and expedite delivery of STAT specimens to departments.
• Receive and relay telephone calls and messages.
• Receive verbal requests for add-on tests and verify specimen availability and request accuracy.
• Verify request accuracy and completeness using VistA or CPRS computer systems.
• Follow safety, infection-control, universal-precaution, accreditation, and specimen-handling requirements, including proper control of contaminated or potentially dangerous specimens.

Benefits

• Federal employee benefits package available to the employee and family; specific eligibility and benefits depend on position type and should be confirmed with the hiring agency.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level