Vacancy Announcement

Job title:  

Facility Based Officer

Work Location:

Gorama Chiefdom

Department:

Community Based Program

Reports to:

Community Health Worker Program Officer

Requisition #:

4282

Line Management

No

Application Status

Internal Advert

Organisation Profile

Partners In Health (PIH) is an international health organization relentlessly committed to improving the health of the poor and marginalized. PIH partners with local governments to build local capacity and works closely with impoverished communities to deliver high-quality health care, address the root causes of illness, train providers, advance research, and advocate for global policy change. Our delivered services in the field are based in our partnership with the Governments and Ministries of Health and the support to education, training and mentorship to Health care workers and students is one of our pillars for the Health care system strengthening.

PIH currently has implementation programs in Haiti, Rwanda, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Peru, Mexico, Russia, Sierra Leone and Navajo Nation. Through our partnership with Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, we support a wide range of programs in dozens of other countries around the world. 

Our Work In Sierra Leone:

Partners In Health (PIH) began supporting the government of Sierra Leone in response to the Ebola epidemic in October 2014. Recognizing the large need for continued investments in the health system after Ebola, PIH is committed to long-term health system strengthening in support of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS), guided by the same principles as our emergency response and our work around the world: public sector accompaniment, integrated and comprehensive services, social justice, nimbleness and flexibility, partnership, community ownership, and evidence-based interventions. In the aftermath of the epidemic, PIH is committed to supporting the delivery of comprehensive health services in Sierra Leone, from the community level to the health center and to referral hospitals.

Position Overview

 The home based care community health worker has a big role to play in supporting patients and communities, including: educating patients and community members, providing psychological and social support, serving as the link between the clinic and the community, and performing home visits. He/she works as part of a large clinical team of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and social workers. A CHW should seek information from other team members when necessary. He/she notices the needs of his/her patients, patients’ families, and other community members and makes referrals to appropriate clinic staff when necessary.  It is important to record information accurately on the CHW’s Form

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Act as a main liaison between the facility, patients and community, including CHWs.
• Serve as main representative of PIH and PIH values at facilities.

•          Receive community-based referrals of presumptive cases as well as referrals from other facilities with proper paperwork and accompany patients throughout clinical process

•          Keep track of all positive and presumptive patients and their sputum, including ensuring that tests are coordinated and tests results communicated back to patient through CHWs and supervisors, that positive patients are initiated on treatment, linked to CHWs and their contacts are being traced, that positive patients show up for their clinical follow-up appointments

•          Ensure accurate and up-to-date information on HIV/TB on patient files, CommCare, registers, log books

•          Provide counselling and support to patients, including advocating for them where necessary

•          Assist facilitation of TB /HIV drugs orders and supply chain with CHW Program Officer and TB /HIV District Supervisors.

•          Attending all HIV/TB clinics

•          Accompanying patients across the clinical process

•          Keeping a tracking sheet of all HIV/TB patients and their assigned CHWs

•          Compile a bi-weekly report of the number of patients with and without CHWs and share with program officer

Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment

At Partners In Health, we are committed to ensuring that those who benefit from our work- including our patients, families and community members – as well as our staff are treated with dignity and respect and protected from sexual exploitation, abuse and sexual harassment. A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Partners In Health’s PSEAH policy. Partner In Health will request information from applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment.  By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.

Education and Work Experience Requirements

• Preferably must have completed Ordinary National Diploma or Higher National Diploma.

• Commitment to social justice and human right.
• Should be an exemplary, honest, trustworthy, and respectful.
• Must be able to read and write in English as well as add and subtract using basic maths.
• Should be willing, able, and motivated to serve his/her community and dedicated to caring and supporting TB and HIV patients, family members and the community at large.
• Must be a permanent resident of the community and willing to work in it.
• Should be interested in community health and development
• Should be a good mobilizer and communicator
• Should be involved in community projects in the past
• Must be at least 18 years’ old

Must be residing in the community in which they are serving

Social Justice

We are a global health and social justice organization that responds to the moral imperative to provide high-quality health care globally to those who need it most. We strive to ease suffering by placing patients at the center of all care, bringing the benefits of modern medicine to all.

Method of application

Interested candidates are required to apply through our website: www.pih.org/employment.   In your application, please ensure to include names, addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers of three (3) referees not later than 12:00pm GMT (Midnight) on Thursday 29th  August 2024