Current Pittsburgh
Health Corps Positions
Auberle 
This position has been filled
Site Information:
Site Location:
Auberle is located in the Mon Valley and serves children and families from several counties in Southwestern PA.
The SNAP program was funded as a result of proven need by the juvenile probation department. They reported younger and younger children in the area being referred for probation and having difficulty with the police and in their schools.
The Mon Valley has an increasing need for foster homes. Allegheny County has placed an emphasis on foster care as a preferred alternative to residential placements. As a result – nearly 100 teenagers are in the county child welfare system in need of foster homes. Families are often reluctant to take teenagers and this position will ideally identify foster homes willing and able to care for teens.
This region has a high level of Outpatient needs including drug and alcohol abuse and mental health issues. Auberle Outpatient services are relatively new (less than 3 years) and this position will create awareness of the types of services available to needy children and families.
This is an excellent opportunity for someone who wants to be engaged in dynamic and visionary service to increase access to three of Auberle’s community services. This position will create an increase in awareness of these vital services being provided to several surrounding communities, and will create a seamless entry for our needy consumers. The Community Services Recruiter will carry out recruitment strategies designed to increase enrollment and participation in the following Auberle programs:
Auberle SNAPTM For Boys Program
Auberle Family Foster Care
Auberle Outpatient Drug and Alcohol Services
Auberle Outpatient Mental Health Services
Area Health Education Center
This position has NOT been filled
Site Information
Site Name and Location:
Southwest Pennsylvania Area Health
Education Center (AHEC), Inc.
5614 Elgin St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
412-363-0185
Organization Description and Mission:
Southwest PA AHEC is a non-profit organization designed to help communities meet their primary health care needs. The AHEC serves seven counties in southwestern Pennsylvania, and is part of the National AHEC system. To meet its short-ranged strategies, AHEC places primary care health professions students in preceptor rotations in rural and underserved areas in southwestern Pennsylvania. For its long-range goals, AHEC works with students in grades K-12 to introduce them to different health care careers, and provides programs so that young students may develop a comfort level with science and math through enrichment programs. The AHEC also sponsors the Summer Health Career Academy for students in ninth and tenth grades. This program takes place for one week each summer at the Pitt Medical School. AHEC also works closely with the Governor’s School for Health Care and the Health Occupation Students of America organization to foster health career learning opportunities for high school students. Additionally, AHEC provides continuing education courses for practicing physicians and other practicing primary care providers. Southwest AHEC works in the area of public health as well doing tobacco prevention programs among students. Southwest AHEC also facilitates the Pittsburgh Schweitzer Fellows Program for students in professional schools.
The Birth Circle This position has been filled
Site Information
The Birth Circle of East Liberty Family Health Care Center
Organization Description and Mission:
The Birth Circle is a grassroots partnership between East Liberty Family Health Care Center, and Metro Family Practice, housed at East Liberty Family Health Care Center, aimed at reducing infant mortality. East Liberty Family Health Care Center and Metro Family Practice have each been providing health care within their designated Medically Underserved communities since 1982 and 1978. The family practices are known throughout their neighborhoods for providing whole person healthcare. The patient populations at both offices are primarily African-American and a majority of patients live at or below the poverty line. The East Liberty Family Health Care Center is a faith-based and federally-qualified health care center with a mission to witness to God’s love, known in Jesus Christ, by offering quality, whole-person health care to all, especially to the poor. Metro Family Practice is a federally-qualified health care center look-alike, known for its care for the poor and underserved, as well as its commitment to the gay, lesbian and transgendered communities in Pittsburgh.
Dental Sealant Program This position has NOT been filled
Site Information
Site Name and Location:
Dental Sealant Program
Allegheny County Health Department
3333 Forbes Avenue, Room 303
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Organization Description and Mission:
The Health Department mission is:
To assure quality public health services by promoting individual and community wellness, preventing injury, illness, and premature death or disability, and protecting the population from harmful effects of chemical, biological and physical hazards within the environment.
The Dental Sealant Program is a component of the Dental Program, which addresses dental needs of underserved children (1-21 years of age). The Dental Sealant Program provides oral health education, a dental examination and sealants to first, second and sixth grade children in eligible schools.
The Program Objective:
Conduct the Dental Sealant Program in Allegheny County elementary and middle schools where children at highest risk for dental disease are enrolled.
Critical Community Need(s) to be addressed through member service:
This school-based prevention-oriented program provides oral health education, examinations, and dental sealants for a population of children in need of these services. AmeriCorps members will participate in the delivery of these services to as many schools and students as possible. It is expected that these activities will be conducted in an organized manner and provide high quality service. It is imperative that members communicate with all staff.
Global Links This position has been filled
Site Information
Site Name and Location:
Global Links
4809 Penn Ave.
2nd Floor
Pittsburgh, PA 15224
www.globallinks.org
Global Links is in the Bloomfield/Garfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh and is accessible by PAT bus lines from downtown or Oakland.
Organization Description and Mission:
Global Links is a medical relief and development organization dedicated to a two-fold mission of environmental stewardship and improving health in developing countries. Global Links collaborates with U.S. Hospitals and the World Health Organization to redirect still useful materials away from the waste stream to public health improvement efforts in targeted countries throughout the hemisphere.
Critical Community Need(s) to be addressed through member service:
Global Links relies on the support of volunteers throughout the greater Pittsburgh area to efficiently and economically fulfill our mission. Since we focus on recovering unused supplies and gently used medical furnishings and equipment from area hospitals, Global Links relies on hundreds of hospital personnel from the major hospitals of the area to set aside appropriate materials for Global Links. We serve an important role in the Pittsburgh area by providing hospitals with an environmentally responsible alternative to disposing of useful materials thereby reducing the amount of hospital generated waste entering landfills.
Each year over 100 individuals and 80 groups volunteer more than 6,000 hours to help sort and pack critically needed medical supplies for shipments overseas. In addition, Global Links relies on specialized medical volunteers to advise Global Links staff regarding the appropriate use of many of the sophisticated supplies and surgical instruments that we receive.
Never before has the demand for our services of providing medical support to hospitals overseas been greater. Additionally, the national Green Health movement has spurred hospitals to find alternatives to landfill and incineration of surplus materials. To do this, it is essential that we further increase the organization’s volunteer base and expand our outreach and education work within area hospitals.
Health Care for the
Homeless This position has been filled
Site Information
Site Name and Location:
Health Care for the Homeless/Primary Care
Health Services, Inc.
7227 Hamilton Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15208
Organization Description and Mission:
PCHS provides comprehensive primary and preventive health care services to medically underserved and indigent populations residing in Allegheny County. Health Care for the Homeless operates as part of PCHS, Inc. and serves homeless men, women, and children in the greater Pittsburgh area, providing primary care, mental health, substance abuse, and/or case management services. HCH, in partnership with Allegheny County, has been awarded a three-year federal grant to create an Integrated Delivery System, co-locating primary care, mental health, and substance abuse services at several sites across Allegheny County where the homeless population frequently seeks services. The purpose of the IDS is to provide a "no wrong door" approach to service access for the homeless.
Critical Community Need(s) to be addressed through member service:
Consumers utilizing HCH clinics face many barriers to accessing care. Many of these consumers are uninsured or underinsured, lack transportation, and fail to seek care except on an episodic basis, therefore jeopardizing the continuity of their care. The Homeless Consumers served in HCH Clinics have little or no resources with which to navigate the health care system. The Pittsburgh Health Corps members will provide case management assistance to address these issues by assisting consumers in applying for entitlement programs, obtaining transportation, providing health education, improving continuity of care by assisting in the set-up and utilization of Electronic Medical Records in our homeless clinics, and more.
Site Supervisor Name/Title/Phone/Fax/Email:
Jennifer Williams, MSN, RN
Program Director
412-244-3529
Fax 412-244-4992
jwilliams@pchspitt.org
II. Service Description
Position Title: Clinical Assistant
Service Activities/Responsibilities:
Perform client intake at various collocated clinic sites, documenting client information and completing the HCH encounter form, and other documents as needed. Assist in setting up and entering referral information into the electronic medical record system. When not at the various clinic sites, the Clinical Assistant will report to the HCH office and assist with answering phones, fielding requests for assistance and other duties as assigned.
Service Goals: (be sure to include numbers, amounts and timelines)
Clinical Assistant will assist at 6 HCH clinics per week providing homeless consumers with assistance in obtaining access to medications, Mental Health, Substance Abuse, Dental, and vision services through a minimum of 1,872 referrals per year.
Clinical Assistant will provide monthly client focused health education groups at 6 HCH Clinic locations for a minimum of 250 homeless consumers.
Hazelwood Initiative Hi-Hope
This position has been filled
Site Information
Site Name and Location:
Hazelwood Initiative, Inc. dba HI HOPE
(Hazelwood Initiative Health Outreach Promoting Empowerment)
5001 Second Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15207
412.422.0690
Organization Description and Mission
Hazelwood Initiative, Inc., (HI) is a growing community-based organization committed to economic and social development of Greater Hazelwood. HI’s roots date to 1994 and two local interest groups: the Hazelwood Neighborhood Maintenance Task Force and the Hazelwood Economic Leveraging Partnership. The Neighborhood Maintenance Task Force began in response to then Mayor Murphy’s call to form neighborhood organizations to combat crime and blight. The task force engaged city departments to address ongoing quality of life issues such as abandoned housing, maintenance of public infrastructure, and open air drug sales. The Economic Leveraging Partnership attempted to garner financial resources for community development.
During the later-1990s, both groups joined a coalition that opposed rebuilding of LTV Steel’s Coke Works in Hazelwood. For over 75 years, the plant was a major employer, but at great cost to community health. With the imposition of stricter environmental standards, America’s decline in steel production, and the emergence of the hi-tech industry, coke processing did not conform to a new community vision for redevelopment. Successful opposition to the proposed coke works led to the formation of the Hazelwood Initiative. In 1999, HI filed a corporate charter and received IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit status.
Mon Valley Providers Council and
McKeesport Collaborative Programs
This position has been filled
Site Information
Site Name and Location:
Human Services Center Corporation
For Mon Valley Providers Council, McKeesport Collaborative, and Youth Programs
519 Penn Avenue
Turtle Creek, PA 15145
Organization Description and Mission:
The Human Services Center Corporation improves the quality of life for children, adults, and families in the Mon Valley area. It fulfills this mission in four ways:
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Serving as a collaborative leader by promoting and supporting a network of providers within and outside the walls of its multi-purpose center.
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Serving as a bridge between human service organizations and those who develop policies and funding that impact the quality of life in the Mon Valley area.
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Monitoring community needs and initiating innovative strategies to fill service gaps.
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Providing essential services to both community members and human service organizations.
The McKeesport Collaborative serves women and their children at risk of substance abuse in a comprehensive manner with 50 member agencies with emphasis on Housing, Education and Training, and HIV/AIDS (three working committees). The Mon Valley Providers Council fills gaps in services in Employment and Training, Health, Housing, and Youth through 70 dues paying member agencies in 37 municipalities of the Mon Valley of Allegheny County. The youth programs include an after-school and summer program for children ages five to thirteen, an annual children’s health and safety fair, as well as a workforce development program for youth ages 14 to 18.
North Side Christian
Health Center This position has been filled
Site Information
Site Name and Location:
North Side Christian Health Center
816 Middle Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15212
Northview Heights Health Center, 525 Mt. Pleasant Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15214
Organization Description and Mission:
The North Side Christian Health Center is a 501c3, inner city primary health care center providing whole-person outpatient care to low income, uninsured, and medically vulnerable populations on Pittsburgh’s Northside. We operate 6 days per week and two evenings with a staff of 17 including board certified physicians, physician assistants, social workers, and nurses. In addition to providing comprehensive primary health care to adults and children, the health center reaches out to the surrounding neighborhoods through churches, home visitations, wellness classes, and special projects. The health center operates a discount pharmacy for patients unable to afford prescribed medications. We also offer behavioral health counseling on-site and Pittsburgh’s only clinic for patients being treated for hepatitis C and other viral liver diseases. Our immediate service area is Pittsburgh’s North Side, including 18 city neighborhoods with a combined population over 48,000. Approximately 53 percent of the NSCHC patients live on the North Side, with nearly all of the other 47 percent coming from other neighborhoods within the city of Pittsburgh. Over 80% of our patients meet federal poverty income guidelines. We recently acquired a much larger building around the corner to substantially expand services which we will relocate to in August 2008. .
Operation Saftey Net This position has NOT been filled
I. Site Information
Site Name and Location:
Operation Safety Net
1518 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Patient locations: streets, alleys, underpasses; riverbanks, abandoned buildings; drop in centers; newly housed scattered apartments; and hospital rooms Most of these sites are in the greater Pittsburgh area.
Organization Description and Mission:
OSN’s mission is to promote the health, health care access and well being of those living on the streets. It is to provide leadership in creating an educational environment for nurturing and training service-oriented health care professionals.
Critical Community Need(s) to be addressed through member service:
Create an environment for the exchange of information between clinicians, staff and patients for public health projects including: Operation TB Outreach; street and van outreach sessions; severe weather shelter.
Site Supervisor assigned to support member: Nurse Case Manager - TBD
Name/Title/Phone/Fax/Email: Interim: Rebecca Wellinger, RN/ Nurse/ 412-232-8735; rwellinger@mercy.pmhs.org
II. Service
Service Activities/Responsibilities:
Participate by providing information to clients, staff of ACHD and OSN on clients needing health care screenings during the months of March – June, 2009.
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Gather medical supplies for volunteers, staff on a monthly basis.
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Prepare a monthly newsletter for volunteers.
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Prepare a weekly schedule consisting of visitors, students, volunteers and staff.
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Update field clinicians weekly on the progress of patients for better decision making in the field.
Overall Service Goals:
Disseminate key information between clients, staff and volunteers for continuum of care and quality assurance: weekly, intermittedly or monthly.
Persad Center, Inc. This position has been filled
Site Information
Organization Description and Mission:
Persad Center, Inc. is the nation’s second oldest licensed counseling center specifically created to improve the well being of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community. Persad’s mission also includes improving the well being of the HIV/AIDS community regardless of sexual or gender orientation. We fulfill this mission through professional counseling, training, advocacy and research programs.
Persad serves the Western Pennsylvania region and has offices in Pittsburgh and Washington, PA.
Critical Community Needs to be Addressed through Member Service:
Persad serves two target populations (GLBT and HIV+) that are often discriminated against and that experience significant health disparities. Stigma surrounding these populations results in health care avoidance and suspicion. The Health Corps member will work to reach out to these populations, conduct health care screenings and interventions to encourage and welcome their participation in prevention and care. The Health Corps member will provide important information and education regarding the health disparities experienced by these groups and will increase the awareness of health issues among the population.
Pittsburgh AIDS
Task Force This position has been filled
Site Information
Site Name and Location:
Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force
5913 Penn Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Organization Description and Mission:
The Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force is dedicated to saving, sustaining, and empowering the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS and preventing the spread of infections.
Through compassionate and caring work we respond to the disease in all its diversity by:
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Providing seamless, integrated services to individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS, including direct services, housing, referrals, and advocacy;
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Delivering innovative, targeted outreach and education programs to those at risk of infection;
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Taking leadership in collaborating with other organizations to achieve mutual goals.
In the tradition of PATF’s caring founders, we will continue to employ these ethics and values: Compassion, Confidentiality, Dignity, Excellence, Integrity, Respect for Diversity.
PATF is the largest and oldest AIDS service organization in Southwestern PA. We provide case management, supportive services, legal advocacy, food bank, and housing to anyone who is HIV/AIDS positive. Our prevention department conducts HIV testing at our primary site as well as at community locations, including the Allegheny County Jail. Through contracts with the ACHD, the CDC, and SAMHSA we provide a variety of HIV prevention programs throughout the county.
The Positive Health Clinic This position has been filled
Site Information
Site Name and Location:
The Positive Health Clinic
Allegheny General Hospital
320 East North Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15212
412-359-4984
Organization Description and Mission:
The mission of the Positive Health Clinic of Allegheny General Hospital, under the auspices of the West Penn Allegheny Health System, is dedicated to healing, caring for, and educating our patients in an environment in which employees and physicians strive to meet and respect the complex needs of people living with HIV and the needs of their families and loved ones.
The Positive Health Clinic is a federally qualified health center that receives monies to provide free care to the uninsured or underinsured. We also accept most insurance plans. Our staff includes four physicians, two nurse practitioners, one nurse, two medical secretaries, two patient advocates and two social workers.
Critical Community Need(s) to be addressed through member service:
The Positive Health Clinic (PHC) has a percentage of patients, approximately 10%, that are non compliant with the medical treatment regimen or are out of care entirely. We would like to utilize a Pittsburgh Health Corps Member to actively engage these patients and provide intensive case management to get them back into care or compliant with care. We believe that unstable housing and not enough housing supports are a great part of why our patients are unable to be compliant with care. Mental health, drug and alcohol issues and poverty also play a significant role in non compliance with care. We would like a Pittsburgh Health Corps Member to establish an intensive care treatment plan alongside a PHC team nurse and or social worker to accomplish the above goal with 10% of PHC patients. We expect that care plan to include finding more stable housing whether it involves more affordable, supportive, safer or other housing options. We also expect that the engagement process will involve incentives offered to the patient by the member which will be provided by the PHC team. We expect that the member will work closely alongside the already established HIV supportive housing programs: The Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force Housing Program and The Open Door Housing Program.
Program for Health Care
to Underserved Populations This position has been filled
Site Information
Site Name and Location:
Program for Health Care to Underserved Populations (PHCUP)
University of Pittsburgh
Division of General Internal Medicine
Joyce Holl, Program Administrator/Service Learning Coordinator
Montefiore University Hospital, Suite 902N
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
412-692-4759
Organization Description and Mission:
The Program for Health Care to Underserved Populations is committed to improving the lives of individuals needing health care but lacking appropriate access to health services. We seek to do this through innovative partnering with communities-in-need, catalyzing a spirit of service and volunteerism within the heath profession, and articulating the individual, health system, and societal benefits of these unique models of care and service.
Critical Community Need(s) to be addressed through member service:
Provide appropriate and needed health services to those in-need, regardless of their ability to pay
Foster a system of care and education programming that allows health professionals at all levels of training to be exposed to, participate in, and learn from providing care to disadvantaged and distressed communities of patients
Promote a better understanding among health care providers of the need for patient respect and cultural competency in the provision of care, the connection between poverty and health, and the unique social fabric that connects a community and defines its capacities and needs
Assist our community partners, government agencies, and others concerned, in the accumulation and analysis of data that promotes a better understanding of community needs, barriers to and gaps in service delivery, and outcomes from innovative models of care
Become a community and University resource for facilitating dialogue, collaboration, and cooperation in the development of unique and innovative programs of mutual beneficence
Develop programs, in partnership with community agencies that address holistic and social needs of our patients that will ultimately improve their access to health services.
Promote academic curiosity with this emerging field of “social medicine” through scholarly actual-life experiences that assess outcomes and foster an understanding of the specific skills and attributes necessary for practice in this area
Facilitate and promote the constructive engagement with health systems and managed care organizations as PHCUP shift from disease-centered, fee-for-service based care to capitation and risk adjusted models of health care delivery to special-needs populations.
Squirrel Hill Health Center This position has been filled
Site Information
Site Name and Location:
Squirrel Hill Health Center
200 JHF Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Organization Description and Mission:
Squirrel Hill Health Center is a federally qualified health center designed to provide highest quality, comprehensive primary and preventive health care to all members of the community, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay and with a special concern for their religious beliefs, language spoken, ethnic and cultural background, disability, sex and age.
Critical Community Need(s) to be addressed through member service:
The member would support the Center in addressing the primary health needs of the patients served by SHHC, particularly the many geriatric and immigrant patients, but also those with other barriers to care such as lack of insurance or disability.
Site Supervisor assigned to support member: Name/Title/Phone/Fax/Email:
Mary Ann Crescini, Practice Manager. 412-422-7442. mcrescini@squirrelhillhealthcenter.org.
YWCA – Bridge Housing This position has been filled
Site Information
Site Name and Location:
YWCA Greater Pittsburgh – Housing Programs
6907 Frankstown Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15208
Organization Description and Mission:
The mission of the YWCA Greater Pittsburgh is the elimination of racism and the empowerment of women and girls. Current programming is designed to empower low-income women and their families to become self-sustaining through a holistic approach that includes asset development, housing and case management, childcare and childcare training, children and youth services, anti-racism training, and legal and personal counseling services.
The housing programs are designed to assist homeless women towards stability and empowerment for themselves and their children. The YWCA houses a total of 36 families at any given time in scattered site apartments throughout the City of Pittsburgh. Families also receive home-based case management and life-skill training and support. The goal of the YWCA’s housing programs is to empower homeless women to make choices that lead to improved self-esteem and economic stability.