West Cecil Health Center (WCHC) is seeking a dedicated Community Health Worker to join our team
WCHC is a thriving nonprofit, community health organization that provides comprehensive and collaborative patient centered healthcare services. Based primarily in Conowingo. Bilingual is a plus.
Position Summary:
The Community Health Worker (CHW) serves as a trusted liaison between West Cecil Health Center (WCHC), patients, and community-based resources. The CHW supports care coordination and outreach activities that improve patient outcomes, reduce barriers to care, and strengthen connections to community and behavioral health services.
This position plays a key role in supporting the Clinical Quality Assistant and the Population Health and Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) Coordinator in achieving WCHC’s Maryland AHEAD program objectives. These efforts focus on improving population health, promoting health equity, and enhancing quality performance measures through outreach, education, and patient engagement.
The CHW helps patients and families navigate health and social service systems, adopt healthy behaviors, and adhere to care plans developed by the care team. This role emphasizes outreach and relationship-building with individuals from underserved populations.
WHY SHOULD YOU APPLY?
- Growth and Advancement Opportunities
- Company Sponsored Events
- Employee Engagement Committees
- WCHC offers a compressive benefit package including:
- Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance
- Health Reimbursement Arrangement
- Employer paid Life and AD&D and Disability insurance
- 401K with employer match
- Generous Paid Time Off and Volunteer time
- Paid Holidays
- Education reimbursement
Key Responsibilities:
- Provide compassionate, unbiased, and culturally competent support to vulnerable and historically marginalized populations.
- Collaborate closely with the Clinical Quality Assistant and Population Health and MAT Coordinator to support Maryland AHEAD program initiatives, including patient outreach, engagement, and follow-up related to chronic disease management, preventive screenings, and behavioral health.
- Conduct outreach calls and community-based follow-ups to support patients with care coordination and linkage to services.
- Assist in identifying patients due for preventive services, chronic disease monitoring, or care plan follow-up.
- Track and document outreach efforts and patient interactions in the Electronic Health Record (EHR) within 48 hours of contact.
- Support care teams by helping patients understand and act on care plans, medication adherence, and treatment goals, including for those enrolled in MAT programs.
- Provide appointment reminders, help arrange transportation, and address barriers to accessing care or community resources.
- Establish and maintain trusting relationships with patients, families, and community partners while providing encouragement and follow-up support.
- Educate patients about community assistance programs, health literacy, and available resources.
- Collaborate with providers and clinical staff to ensure coordinated, patient-centered care.
- Participate in data-driven outreach campaigns and quality improvement activities related to AHEAD population health targets and performance metrics.
- Maintain HIPAA compliance and protect patient confidentiality at all times.
- Attend regular staff meetings, trainings, and collaborative planning sessions related to AHEAD and other population health initiatives.
- Perform other duties as assigned to advance the goals of the Behavioral Health Department and Maryland AHEAD program.
Maryland AHEAD Program Alignment
The CHW will actively support WCHC’s participation in the Maryland Primary Care Program (MDPCP) AHEAD initiative, which aims to strengthen population health infrastructure, address social drivers of health, and reduce preventable hospital utilization.
Specific activities may include:
- Supporting outreach and care coordination to achieve performance goals in the following domains:
- Preventive Health: Increasing rates of screenings (e.g., colorectal cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer), immunizations, and annual wellness visits.
- Chronic Disease Management: Supporting patients with hypertension, diabetes, and behavioral health conditions to achieve target control levels.
- Behavioral Health Integration: Coordinating follow-up after positive behavioral health screenings (e.g., PHQ-9, GAD-7, SBIRT), and assisting with warm handoffs to counseling, MAT, and community recovery resources.
- Social Determinants of Health (SDOH): Assisting with SDOH screenings, identifying unmet needs, and connecting patients with food, housing, transportation, and financial resources.
- Population Outreach and Engagement: Conducting outreach for attributed patients with care gaps or high utilization patterns to improve engagement in primary care.
- Documenting activities, outreach results, and community resource connections in accordance with Maryland AHEAD reporting requirements.
- Participating in quality improvement (QI) projects and team huddles focused on AHEAD key performance indicators (KPIs).
- Providing feedback to the Population Health and MAT Coordinator to help adapt interventions and community strategies based on patient needs and barriers identified in the field.
Key Competencies:
- Advocacy and community capacity-building skills
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills
- Cultural competency and empathy
- Knowledge of local health and social service resources
- Understanding of care coordination and population health concepts
- Ability to work collaboratively with interdisciplinary teams
- Competence in data collection, documentation, and EHR use
- Motivational interviewing and health behavior change support
- Outreach and engagement strategies
- Commitment to ethics, confidentiality, and professional boundaries
Qualifications & Experience
Education
- High school diploma or equivalent required.
- Associate’s degree or higher in a health-related field preferred.
- Completion of an approved Community Health Worker training program preferred.
- Medical terminology and/or clinical background preferred.
Certifications
- Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) or Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) preferred.
Experience
- Minimum of 1–2 years of experience in a community-based or healthcare setting preferred.
- Experience supporting care coordination, quality improvement, or population health initiatives strongly preferred.
- Bilingual (English/Spanish) preferred.
Reasonable Accommodations Statement
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable Accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Supervisory Responsibility
This position has no supervisory responsibilities.
Position Type and Expected Hours of Work
This is a full-time position based on the needs of WCHC. Days and hours of work will be scheduled in accordance with operational needs.
Physical & Environmental Requirements
To successfully perform this role, the Community Health Worker must possess the following abilities:
- Sufficient capability to fulfill job responsibilities.
- Standing, walking, sitting: Ability to stand, walk, and/or sit at a desk/workstation for prolonged periods (typically 8-12 hours per shift).
- Lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling: Ability to lift, carry, push or pull up to 20 pounds (examples: medical equipment, supplies, patient files).
- Reaching: Capacity to reach (choose overhead and/or at or below shoulder level)
- Keyboarding: Entering text or data into a computer or other machine by means of a traditional keyboard.
- Gross Manipulation: Seizing, holding, grasping, turning, or otherwise working with the hand(s). It is often present when lifting involves the hands. Note: Fingers are involved only to the extent that they are an extension of the hand to hold or operate a tool such as tin snips or scissors.
- Fine Manipulation: Touching, picking, pinching, or otherwise working primarily with fingers to execute tasks such as answering phones, typing, transporting, and filing charts.
- Speaking: Ability to express or exchange ideas by means of the spoken word to impart oral information to clients or the public and to convey detailed spoken instructions to other workers accurately, loudly, or quickly.
- Hearing Requirements: The ability to hear, understand, and distinguish speech and/or other sounds (e.g., machinery alarms, medical codes or alarms). Including in-person speech, over the telephone, and/or using equipment
- Visual Acuity: sufficient to clearly see and distinguish small objects, including while using a computer, as well as to recognize individuals and features at a distance
Location & Travel
This position is located in West Cecil Health Center and/or its qualified subsidiaries. Regular local travel is required to surrounding communities, schools, and partner agencies. Local travel between sites may be warranted.
Other Duties:
This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.
WCHC is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, marital status, credit history, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, uniformed service member status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Compensation details: 19.5-23 Yearly Salary
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