Canton Public Health Disease Intervention Specialist

Starting salary: $50,189.00 (+$10 - $20/hour in benefits)

Employment at the canton city public health department comes with a full array of benefits. We offer comprehensive health insurance, paid vacations, and paid holidays and a retirement plan.

Interested in this position?  Please submit your application through  by clicking the "apply" button on the posting.  Applicants must submit a copy of their valid drriver's license and any other documents pertinent to this position with their application.

This is an open examination. To be eligible for this position applicants must be a u.s. Citizen or have a permanent residence card.  Applicants must be a high school graduate or possess a ged and be at least 18 years of age.

Position summary:

Under the general supervision of the dis supervisor, a person in this role performs a broad scope of disease investigation and client interviewing, including partner services and case management to those individuals who are infected with sexually transmitted infections (stis) and to other person who are at increased risk for infection, with the goal of preventing transmission of these diseases and their complications.

The focus is on identifying and locating the sexual contacts of persons infected with hiv and/or syphilis and other persons at risk for behavioral and other factors, and then refer them for medical examination and treatment, if appropriate. This also includes linking individuals diagnosed with hiv into care.

This role serves a large, multi-county region and is responsible for developing and/or maintaining working relationships with all health departments, healthcare facilities, physicians and other appropriate resources in the region. The employee receives periodic review and appraisal of performance plus functional and administrative supervision.  They must exercise independent judgment in the performance of duties. The employee will be responsible for confidential and personal information and must adhere to the confidentiality and privacy policies of the department.

Essential duties & responsibilities:

Job duties include:

* maintains documentation of confidential client medical records for all clients.

* assesses laboratory results and ensures adequate testing has been performed.

* works with and around blood borne pathogens and infectious diseases.

* conducts field visits to homes, hospitals, jails, prisons, and other public and private institutions to locate known and suspected cases of syphilis, hiv, and other priority sti infections to obtain medical information and records, conduct interviews to obtain sexual contacts, and administer blood draws (phlebotomy).

* performs a variety of investigative and staff work, including counseling, related to the prevention and control of communicable diseases.

* provides education and assistance to providers, medical groups, laboratories, community groups, schools, voluntary agencies and other organizations to enlist and maintain their cooperation in a program of communicable disease prevention and control.

* performs record searches in a variety of electronic medical records and other databases.  

* interviews cases, contacts and others in the community concerning personal behaviors and activities which contribute to disease transmission; makes collateral contacts to obtain pertinent information concerning other individuals who may have been exposed or infected; ensures compliance with established state and federal laws and regulations related to disease control and prevention.

* acts as patient advocate; counsels clients regarding medical and social services available and intervenes on their behalf for access to services or resolution of conflict.

* conducts case investigations on infected patients; documents case histories and possible infection sources.

* answers disease-related questions.

* keeps current with local, national and international disease trends and outbreaks.

* conducts partner services.

* produces contact reports and tracing records.

* contributes to the efficiency and effectiveness of the unit's service to its customers by offering suggestions and directing or participating as an active member of a work team.

* counsels and educates patients before testing, patients receiving test results and post test results.

* develops and produces public information materials for intervention activities.

* collects patient case histories and medical information for pre-clinic evaluations on patients; obtains listings of all sexual partners and performs field investigations to locate listed persons.

* draws blood samples from children and adults to test for diseases.

* performs tests at offsite locations; educates the public to provide risk reduction training; gives speeches and informative talks to various small groups.

* compiles and submits epidemiological data and reports of case activities to supervisor and epidemiologist for morbidity reporting, caseload monitoring, and data abstraction.

* facilitates congenital…