Vaccine and Lab Program Manager

At Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, we honor all members of our community and acknowledge the dignity of each person we serve. Our purpose is to provide high quality, comprehensive primary health care to the communities of Washington and Yamhill counties with a special emphasis on migrant and seasonal farm workers and a view to removing barriers to health care. We strive to provide an environment that welcomes and values the people we employ and serve.

If you are unsure whether you meet all the required qualifications for this role but are interested and passionate about this potential position, we encourage you to apply.

Job Summary: The Vaccine and Lab Program Manager oversees the development and compliance of these programs across all Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center sites. This position supports site-level coordinators and leaders to ensure operational excellence of these programs, and delivers regular, focused trainings to maintain and improve the quality of these programs.  The Vaccine and Lab Program Manager evaluates the efficacy of these programs through regular reports and internal site visits, and serves as the primary contact for county and state representatives for site visits and activities to ensure quality care for our patients and community.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Areas of oversight
•    Leadership of the vaccine program includes:
1.    Oversight of the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program and organization wide infrastructure to safely store and monitor state supplied and privately purchased vaccine products.
2.    Leading VGMHC’s annual seasonal vaccine program (flu, COVID, RSV) including supporting site leaders in vaccine product selection/ordering/delivery, and annual staff training. 
3.    Partnering with operations leaders to ensure effective vaccine program services delivered through outreach events and activities including vaccine for public health emergencies.
•    Leadership of the lab program includes:
1.    Oversight of CLIA waived lab programs at VGMHC sites and locations providing waived testing, including support of operations leaders to ensure effective lab services delivered through outreach events and activities.
2.    Surveillance of VGMHC’s instrument sterilization program.
3.    Maintain relationships with private and public labs serving VGMHC’s patients to develop and/or improve workflows that provide access to these services.

Develop & Optimize Vaccine and Lab Programs
•    Maintain current knowledge of vaccine and laboratory requirements and best practices; proactively provide evidence-based recommendations to clinical and operational leadership.
•    Conduct quarterly visits to clinics with VFC and CLIA programs; meet with site leadership teams and review vaccine and lab systems. 
•    Collaborate with clinic leaders and site vaccine/lab coordinators to ensure systems are in place to consistently comply with Vaccines for Children and CLIA waived lab program requirements, including development of new clinic sites.
•    Lead or coordinate structured site audits twice a year through C-Qual site visit program. 
•    Manage initiation, renewal and maintenance of certificates (CLIA) and program approvals (VFC) for the organization. 
•    Collaborate to ensure new employees receive training on these programs during orientation, develop training for existing staff and leaders as needs are identified. 
•    Develop and deliver training on core program requirements and responsibilities for vaccine and lab coordinators. Facilitate regular meetings and check-ins with coordinators, and support them in finding answers to questions and issues that arise. 
•    Collaborate with vaccine and lab coordinators to identify opportunities for program improvement. 
•    Work with VGMHC’s Organizational Development team to provide process improvement support and tracking; manage PDSA cycles.
•    Coordinate with VGMHC Learning and Development and Clinical Training Teams to ensure new program workflows are incorporated into training, when appropriate.

Develop Sustainable, Enduring Relationships with Community Partners
•    Serve as public face of VGMHC’s Vaccine and Lab programs in Washington and Yamhill Counties (e.g., occasional public speaking, resource coordination, etc.).
•    Participate in work-related conferences, and represent VGMHC within the professional community.
•    Create or improve access for VGMHC patients to vaccine and lab services through relationships with regional Coordinated Care Organizations and community hospital and other health care resources.
•    Obtain data to inform program development through relationship with external partners.
•    Attend trainings and meetings provided by the Oregon VFC program. 
•    Coordinate external regulatory site visits, prepare clinic teams, and serve as a primary contact for county and state representatives.

Develop & Lead Program Evaluation Efforts
•    Collaborate with VGMHC’s Finance team to monitor billing concerns related to lab and vaccine services.
•    Work with VGMHC’s billing department to assess revenue collection and optimize as possible.
•    Regularly review reports related to vaccine and lab programs, including unresulted orders reports, vaccine errors reports, and clinical quality metrics related to these programs. Collaborate with Clinical services Leadership Team (CSLT) and clinic leaders to address concerns through individual or group trainings, or development/improvement of workflows to resolve issues that are identified. 
•    Work with data analysts to develop and execute regular data and reporting analyses.
•    Perform other duties as assigned.

HIPAA Requirements
The Vaccine and Lab Program Manager will have access to protected health information (PHI) in the course of carrying out their duties. The Vaccine and Lab Program Manager will use the PHI for treatment purposes and quality assurance/improvement operations.  Applying the minimum necessary standard of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPA), the designated record sets to which the employee will have access include: the demographic and scheduling information in the practice management system and full medical record.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
•    Excellent written and oral ability specifically able to communicate respectfully and cooperatively with people of varied racial, educational, and socio-economic backgrounds and abilities.
•    Ability to establish a spirit of cooperation and respect and maintain good working relationships with VGMHC staff and community advocates, partners, and supporters.
•    Knowledgeable about state governance policies and regulations related to vaccine and lab programs.
•    Ability to work independently and solve problems in a creative and resourceful manner.
•    Ability to be detail oriented, multi-task, and work in the absence of detailed instructions.
•    Ability to commute during working hours to various locations.
•    Ability to remain calm and professional when faced with difficult situations or emergencies. 
•    Committed alignment with Virginia Garcia’s mission, vision and values.

Education and Experience:
•    Certified Medical Assistant (or ability to obtain CMA certification within three months), Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), or comparable certification/license.
•    Minimum two years of experience administering vaccines in a primary care setting required. 
•    Two years’ vaccine coordination and/or lab program oversight required. 
•    Bachelor’s in Public Health Administration or other relevant field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience coordinating or administering a public health program which included program integrity, quality improvement plans, and systems development strongly desired.
•    Experience developing and applying process improvements techniques.
•    Experience in developing and delivering training to medical staff preferred.
•    Experience using Excel reports to evaluate program performance preferred. 
•    Experience supervising direct reports, leading and mentoring staff preferred. 
•    Experience working in a multi-cultural, diverse, environment.
•    Valid driver’s license, reliable transportation, safe driving record and insurance coverage.
•    Bilingual English/Spanish speaking, reading, writing preferred.
 

Behavioral Competencies
Accountability
•    Role model VG’s mission, vision, and shared values
Customer-Focus
•    Listen to the voice of the customer and strive to delight them by exceeding their expectations
Teamwork
•    If someone needs help, help them
Initiative
•    Be innovative, apply fresh ideas, and continuously improve how you do your work
Confidentiality
•    Maintain strict confidentiality and respect the privacy of others
Ethical
•    Demonstrate integrity, honesty, and stewardship in all encounters at work
Respect
•    Demonstrate consideration and appreciation for co-workers and patients
Communication
•    Demonstrate the ability to convey thoughts and ideas as well as understand perspective of others

Physical Requirements:
•    Standing: up to 10%
•    Walking: up to 10%
•    Sitting: up to 75%
•    Reaching/stooping/bending: up to 5%
•    Must be able to lift/carry up to 25 lbs. 
•    Computer usage: up to 75%
•    Travel: Frequent local travel to clinics and other locations

Working Environment/Physical Hazards
•    Work in a well-lighted, ventilated environment
•    Potential exposure to blood borne pathogens and/or hazardous chemicals

Equipment Used:
•    Computer 
•    Telephone, fax, copier, scanner, printer

Immunization:
Staff members must meet immunization requirements as stated in VGMHC’s immunization policy and state and federal guidelines.

Job descriptions represent a general outline of the essential and major job duties, functions and qualifications required. They cannot be all-inclusive and comprehensive due to the dynamic nature of work performed to accomplish VGMHC’s Mission.

VGMHC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. No person is unlawfully excluded from consideration for employment because of race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, veteran status, marital status, or physical challenges. The policy applies not only to recruitment and hiring practices, but also includes fairness in placement, promotion, transfer, rate of pay, and termination.