Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed) has an opportunity for an experienced  Peer Recovery Coach and Street Outreach Lead. Street Medicine Kalamazoo (SMKzoo) provides medical care to unhoused individuals on the streets, in encampments, and shelters where they are temporarily housed. The initiative was started in January 2021 by medical students, resident physicians, and attending physicians from WMed. SMKzoo’s model of care helps overcome systemic barriers by taking medical care directly to the people and establishing a relationship of trust and mutual respect with the unhoused community while training the next generation of highly skilled and compassionate physicians.

SMKzoo is seeking an experienced Peer Recovery Coach and Street Outreach Lead to provide services to unhoused and precariously housed individuals living in Kalamazoo County. The Peer Recovery Coach is a person that is currently certified or certifiable as a recovery coach or peer support specialist in the state of Michigan within 6 months of employment. This individual will work collaboratively with the SMKzoo team to increase access to harm reduction and recovery services amongst individuals experiencing homelessness in Kalamazoo. The peer recovery coach will be billing for the services provided to insured patients. This individual will additionally guide advocacy efforts through serving as a lead for learner, staff, and faculty education, and development of advocacy initiatives focused on harm reduction, substance use disorder, and trauma-informed care practices. As the Street Outreach Lead, this individual will develop street outreach protocols and leanring materials for students, staff, and faculty working with Street Medicine. In addition, as a Street Outreach Lead, this individual will lead SMKzoo outreach to encampments throughout Kalamazoo. This includes identifying encampments throughout Kalamazoo County, fostering relationships with individuals living in the encampments, identifying any unmet needs, and leading outreach into encampments.

• Provides guidance for strategic planning, development, execution, and mangement of SMKzoo’s street outreach services.
• Leads weekly outreach to encampments, including identifiying new encampments.
• Oversees the implementation of street outreach and harm reduction related trainings and initiatives.
• Responsible for training rotating learners and staff about harm reduction, substance use disorder, trauma-informed care practices, and effective street outreach practices.
• Responsible for fostering relationships with other community organizations providing substance use treatment resources and facilitating patient connection to these resources.
• Serves as a liaison with Kalamazoo Harm Reduction (KHR) to connect patients to harm reduction services and strengthen SMKzoo’s relationship and collaboration with KHR.
• Acts as peer support for patients served by SMKzoo. This involves face-to-face and phone engagement with patients in various settings in which SMKzoo provides care (including traditional care settings – clinics, hospitals, as well as non-traditional ones, encampents, shelters).
• Documents patient encounters in a timely manner and bills for services provided under the supervision of SMKzoo attending physicians.
• Conducts intakes to understand the patient’s history of drug and/or alcohol use, treatment history, social service and other recovery support needs and motivation to change behavior.
• Provides education on risk of overdose and assures that patients and significant others have naloxone and are trained to use it.
• Supportive of all paths to recovery.
• Assists patients in setting personal recovery goals.
• Attend regular staff meetings, training, and other meetings as requested.
• Other duties as assigned.

EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE: 

• Minimum high school or equivalent degree.
• Engaged in their own recovery with at least two years of personal recovery.
• Minimum three years experience providing recovery coaching and harm reduction services.
• Minimum three years experience with street outreach.
• Experience working with individuals experiencing homelessness in Kalamazoo preferred.

LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS, CERTIFICATIONS: 

• Certification as a peer recovery coach or peer support specialist required or obtained within 6 months of hire.

OTHER SKILLS AND ABILITIES: 

• Demonstrates interpersonal, negotiation, and problem solving skills.
• Proven ability to build and maintain relationships with community members and outside agencies.
• Knowledge and proficiency in working with the Electronic Health Record system (Training will be provided).
• Knowledge and proficiency in word processing and file management using Microsoft Office, Outlook and other software as required by the department.
• Ability to effectively communicate with others verbally and in writing.
• Ability to interpret, comprehend, and transmit complicated and detailed instructions accurately.
• Demonstrates the ability to recognize priorities in organization of work flow.

About Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed)

We are committed to excellence and health equity through transformative medical education, high-quality, patient- and family-centered care, innovative research, and community partnerships within a welcoming, supportive, and engaging culture. Our vision is health equity for all in Southwest Michigan through innovation in the practice and study of medicine.

The medical school is a collaboration of Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo's two teaching health systems, Ascension Borgess and Bronson Healthcare. The medical school is a private nonprofit corporation supported by private gifts, clinical revenues, research activities, tuition, and endowment income. WMed is the recipient of a $100 million foundational gift and the Empowering Futures Gift, a philanthropic commitment of $300 million to support the mission of the medical school. WMed contributes to the economic vitality of Southwest Michigan through the services we provide, as well as the creation of 1,600 new jobs, with an estimated annual economic impact of $353 million in Kalamazoo and Calhoun counties.

WMed is fully accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and the Higher Learning Commission. The medical school offers a comprehensive, innovative four-year Doctor of Medicine degree program as well as a Master of Science degree program in Biomedical Sciences. We train physicians in 10 residencies and four fellowships accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. To support our educational mission, we have Joint Accreditation for interprofessional continuing education, which incorporates accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education.

WMed Health is the clinical practice of the medical school with more than 300 providers offering comprehensive primary care and specialty services in several locations throughout the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek areas. Faculty in the Department of Pathology serve as the Office of the Medical Examiner for counties throughout Michigan and northern Indiana.

The W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus located in downtown Kalamazoo serves as the primary educational facility with student study and social spaces, team-based learning halls, faculty and administrative offices, a state-of-the-art Simulation Center accredited by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, basic science research labs, as well as toxicology and forensic pathology labs.

WMed builds upon Kalamazoo’s century-long foundation of drug discovery and medical device development with a strategic investment in clinical, laboratory, community, and educational research. The Center for Immunobiology, Center for Clinical Research, Research Histology Lab, Innovation Center, and Human Research Protection Program contribute to the medical school’s advancement of knowledge through innovation and discovery.

Equal Employment Opportunity Employer in compliance with applicable State and Federal law.