Patient and Community Navigator in Seaford

Under the direct supervision of the Patient Navigation Manager, and in close collaboration with the Patient Access Center, Medical Services Department, Operations, and the External Affairs Department, the Patient and Community Navigator (PCN) is responsible for providing proactive, equity-centered navigation services that bridge clinical care and community-identified needs. The PCN works to reduce racial, geographic, and structural barriers to sexual and reproductive health care by supporting patients who are due or overdue for care, addressing unmet social needs, and strengthening trust between Planned Parenthood of Delaware (PPDE) and the communities it serves. This role combines patient navigation, barrier resolution, proactive outreach, and community engagement, including convening and facilitating county-level community advisory groups. The PCN supports completion of preventive and essential services, including STI testing, contraception care, cancer screenings, HIV services, and related follow-up, while ensuring culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and nonjudgmental care coordination in alignment with PPDE’s mission and values.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Conduct proactive outreach to patients who are due or overdue for services (e.g., STI testing, contraception renewals, cancer screenings), including patients lost to follow-up, using phone, text, and electronic communication platforms.
• Organise and manage appointments to ensure patients receive services in a timely manner and at locations that align with clinical needs and patient preferences.
• Schedule appointments according to PPDE protocols and demonstrate knowledge of PPDE services to support basic assessment and appropriate visit scheduling.
• Identify, document, and actively resolve barriers to care, including transportation, financial concerns, language access, childcare needs, technology access, and other social determinants of health.
• Coordinate transportation and logistical support by working with internal teams, external vendors, and community-based organisations to facilitate access to care.
• Educate patients on care processes, preventive health recommendations, and follow-up expectations to improve care completion and patient confidence.
• Facilitate communication between patients, support persons, healthcare providers, and internal teams to promote continuity of care and patient satisfaction.
• Maintain strict confidentiality and demonstrate sensitivity and a nonjudgmental approach when addressing sexuality, reproductive health, mental health, and other sensitive topics.
• Provide accurate financial counselling, including education on estimated costs of care and linkage to financial assistance or external resources as indicated.
• Work collaboratively with the Medical Services team to identify complex psychosocial needs and ensure warm handoffs to appropriate support services.
• Facilitate pre- and post-care follow-up, ensuring continuity of care and linkage to internal and external community resources.
• Convene and co-facilitate county-level community advisory groups to surface community-identified needs, strengthen trust, and inform culturally responsive outreach, messaging, and service delivery.
• Build and maintain relationships with community-based organisations, particularly Black-led and identity-affirming partners, to strengthen referral pathways and bidirectional communication.
• Collect, track, and maintain accurate documentation of all patient interactions, outreach efforts, barriers identified and resolved, referrals, and follow-up activities in accordance with PPDE standards.
• Participate in quality improvement activities to reduce no-show rates, improve care completion, and enhance patient experience.
• Collect, track, and report required program data, including navigation metrics and equity indicators, as directed by the supervisor.
• Work as part of a cross-functional team to meet established productivity, quality, and customer service standards.
• Assist in identifying trends and gaps in access to care and make recommendations to improve workflows, patient experience, and equity outcomes.
• Participate in required training sessions, including trauma-informed care, equity-centered navigation, and computer-assisted learning.
• Demonstrate commitment to PPDE’s mission, Workplace Values, and Service Standards, with a clear focus on advancing health equity.
• Perform additional duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

• High School diploma or equivalency required; associate degree in social services, Public Health, Human Services, Community Health, or a related field preferred.
• Minimum of one year of experience in patient navigation, care coordination, community health work, medical administration, or a related customer-facing role; experience serving historically marginalised communities strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience working with electronic health records or practice management systems; Epic experience preferred.
• Experience with clinical appointment scheduling and patient outreach required.
• Familiarity with sexual and reproductive health care, preventive services, and/or social determinants of health preferred.
• Experience with community engagement, facilitation, or partnership-building is strongly preferred.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, including Word and Excel; comfort with data tracking and documentation required.
• Bilingual or multilingual skills preferred (Spanish/English; Haitian-Creole/English).
• Commitment to PPDE’s mission, values, and goals.

Reasoning Ability

Must have the ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. The ability to multi-task and work effectively under pressure due to conflicting demands is required. Must be flexible, highly organised, creative, and detail-oriented with the ability to set and meet deadlines. Must demonstrate a commitment to a positive and proactive approach to problem solving.

Language Skills

Ability to read, analyse and interpret periodicals, procedure manuals, and technical procedures. Must have the ability to respond effectively to the most sensitive inquiries or complaints. Requires excellent verbal and written communication skills, listening and interpersonal relationship communication skills. Must be able to communicate clearly and interact comfortably with a diverse group of clients, staff, and volunteers in a non-judgmental, professional, and sensitive manner.

Mathematical Skills

Must possess the ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions and decimals.

Computer Skills

Excellent keyboarding skills with high level of accuracy required. Proficiency in Internet usage and Microsoft Outlook is required. Must possess the capacity to learn software programs required for specific position and access electronic communications, including e-mail, extranet and intranet.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. All of the job functions listed within this job description involve to greater and lesser degrees the following physical demands: close vision; hearing/listening; clear speech; walking; lifting and carrying up to 10 or more pounds; stooping; kneeling; bending; sitting; standing; and use of hands to finger, handle, feel and use keyboard.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. The employee must possess a demonstrated ability to work in a diverse environment and build productive relationships. A demonstrated ability to effectively work independently and collaboratively as part of a team is essential.

Work in a diverse environment, build productive relationships, and effectively work independently and collaboratively as part of a team. Work in an environment where protestors may be present at work and related sites. This position requires the ability to work an irregular schedule which could include some weekends, early mornings and evenings. Work in a cost-effective and flexible manner, multi-task and work effectively under pressure due to conflicting demands. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. The position requires state-wide travel and as such a valid driver license or otherwise ability to provide own reliable transportation is required.

This description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and requirements associated with this job. While this is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current job, management reserves the right to revise the job or to require that other or different tasks be performed.