Public Health Advisor

City of New York • Long Island City, NY

5d • Hybrid

About The Position

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). The ACE (Assess. Connect. Engage.) Team within BHHS is staffed with Public Health Advisors (PHAs) who are responsible for providing partner services to approximately 2000 New Yorkers newly diagnosed each year. This includes the identification, tracing, notification, and HIV-testing of their sex and needle-partners. The PHA ensures that all newly HIV-diagnosed persons are linked to HIV clinical care. The PHA is also responsible for outreach to approximately 2,000 HIV providers and community-based organizations, undertaking continuous education of providers and community members about HIV-related laws and regulations, and building/maintaining structures for timely reporting of HIV diagnosis and linkage and services for patients and partners to curb the spread of HIV. The ACE unit is housed in the HIV Epidemiology of the Bureau of Hepatitis, HIV, & STIs. The ACE unit staff are responsible for the provision of HIV partner services and linkage to care to HIV-diagnosed persons in New York City (NYC), including the collection, analysis, and dissemination of service data of participating patients. NYC has a large and diverse HIV epidemic, and analyses of partner and linkage to care service data in NYC inform public health policy at the local, state, and national levels.

Requirements

• 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
• 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
• A four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent, and four years of full-time satisfactory experience as described in "2" above; or
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Responsibilities

• Interview HIV-diagnosed persons to elicit HIV-exposed partners, locate and notify partners, and provide HIV rapid testing in mobile settings to notified partners.
• Connect persons with a new HIV diagnosis with HIV to clinical care.
• Use HIV transmission network data to identify and reach out to not in care persons, including contact tracing. Connect persons who are not in HIV care with HIV clinical care providers.
• Trace and locate HIV-diagnosed persons who are out-of-care and connect them to clinical care.
• Engage HIV-diagnosed persons and their partners with HIV prevention and ancillary services.
• Link HIV-negative partners to PrEP providers for evaluation and counseling.
• Collect data on HIV cases to fulfill surveillance and case investigation data requirements, including record review, patient and provider interviews.
• Serve in an activated role and reassigned to work as emergency response when needed by serving in an emergency within Surveillance/Epidemiology or Clinical Operations groups.
• Other duties as assigned to support overall goals and mission of the department/organization.

Benefits

• A premium-free health insurance plan that saves employees over $10K annually, per a 2024 assessment.
• Additional health, fitness, and financial benefits may be available based on the position’s associated union/benefit fund.
• A public sector defined benefit pension plan with steady monthly payments in retirement.
• A tax-deferred savings program
• A robust Worksite Wellness Program that offers resources and opportunities to keep you healthy while serving New Yorkers.

What This Job Offers

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