Surveillance Officer

SUMMARY

The California Emerging Infections Program (CEIP) is a program administered by Heluna Health. It is one of twelve EIP sites nationwide, which serve as a national resource for surveillance, prevention, and control of emerging infectious diseases. CEIP functions under a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is a collaborative effort involving the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, and several local health departments.

Under general direction from the CEIP Active Bacterial Core Surveillance Project Coordinator, the Surveillance Officer will assist with disease surveillance and related activities of the CEIP. The applicant should possess excellent communication skills, both verbal and written. Work will be conducted at the CEIP Oakland office. Travel to hospitals and health departments in the San Francisco Bay Area may also be required. Duties will include, but are not limited to, medical chart abstraction, data entry, contacting hospitals and laboratories for information regarding patients, coordinating bacterial isolate submissions, scheduling medical courier services, preparing isolate mailer supplies, requesting medical records, and general organizational office work. The Surveillance Officer will also interact with local health departments regarding reportable conditions--ensuring necessary follow-up--and submitting reports to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Surveillance Officer may conduct public health interviews of case-patients (as necessary) and lead special studies under direct project coordinator supervision as assigned.

*Applicant must submit a resume and cover letter for consideration.

*Salary for this role is $72,996

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Establish/maintain laboratory-based infectious disease surveillance system
• Medical record data abstraction, data entry, and data edits
• Project protocol development and modification
• Assist Project Coordinator in compiling reports including feedback to participating hospitals and labs
• Attend general CEIP and core staff meetings
• Conduct follow-up with local health departments (LHD) in disease reporting and ensuring necessary follow-up for reportable conditions; assist LHD and state health dept. in outbreak investigations

JOB QUALIFICATIONS

Education/Experience

• Master’s degree in Public Health, Epidemiology, or related field. This may be substituted with a Bachelor’s degree in Public Health or related Science (Microbiology, Statistics, Health Science, Biology) plus 2 years of public health experience.
• Microbiology or epidemiology coursework strongly preferred.

Public Health Experience Requirement: 

• Experience with infectious diseases in either an academic, clinical, public health, or research setting. 
• Understanding of medical terminology. 
• Experience collecting data on standardized forms.
• Experience with basic data analysis (e.g., R/SAS/SPSS/STATA). 
• Excellent attention to detail and organizational skills. Candidates can demonstrate their skills in this area. 
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, particularly in email communication and over the telephone.
• Self-motivated person who has strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work independently and in a team setting. 
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, especially Word, Excel and Access. 
• Strong data entry skills. 
• Strong knowledge of public health practices and methodology. 
• Capacity to perform public health interviews and patient follow-up.
• Capacity to train and transfer skills to others such as phone interviewing and data entry. 

Other Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities

• Experience working with protected health information and maintaining patient confidentiality preferred.
• Experience abstracting information from electronic medical records preferred. (Epic and/or Cerner)
• Experience interviewing patients with structured questionnaires for research purposes preferred.
• Experience contacting patients for public health follow up purposes preferred.
• Experience preparing IRB submissions preferred
• Experience with database creation (MS Access, REDCap) preferred.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

Stand                                       Frequently

Walk                                        Frequently

Sit                                            Frequently

Handling / Fingering               Occasionally

Reach Outward                       Occasionally

Reach Above Shoulder           Occasionally

Climb, Crawl, Kneel, Bend     Occasionally

Lift / Carry                               Occasionally - Up to 10 lbs

Push/Pull                                 Occasionally - Up to 10 lbs

See                                          Constantly

Taste/ Smell                            Not Applicable

Not Applicable          Not required for essential functions

Occasionally             (0 - 2 hrs/day)

Frequently                 (2 - 5 hrs/day)

Constantly                 (5+ hrs/day)

WORK ENVIRONMENT

General Office Setting, Indoors Temperature Controlled

In Office Remote-Hybrid (Project based in Oakland, CA, USA)

EEOC STATEMENT

It is the policy of Heluna Health to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants, without regard to age (40 and over), national origin or ancestry, race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy or perceived pregnancy, reproductive health decision making, physical or mental disability, medical condition (including cancer or a record or history of cancer), AIDS or HIV, genetic information or characteristics, veteran status or military service.