Career Opportunity

Health Worker I (2585) - San Francisco Department of Public Health

Recruitment: REF50534M

Published: March 14, 2025

Apply using SmartRecruiters, the City and County of San Francisco's application portal.

About:

The Department of Public Health prioritizes equitable and inclusive access to quality healthcare for its community and values the importance of diversity in its workforce. All employees at the Department of Public Health work to advance equity, inclusion, and diversity with a specific lens and focus on race, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexuality, disability, and immigration status. 

• Application Opening : Friday, March 14, 2025
• Application Deadline : Application filing will close on or after Friday, March 28, 2025.
• Salary: $64,324-$78,104 Annually
• Appointment Type: Permanent Civil Service
• Recruitment ID: CBT-2585-H00147

The Mission of the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) is to protect and promote the health of all San Franciscans. SFDPH strives to achieve its mission through the work of multiple divisions - the San Francisco Health Network, Population Health, Behavioral Health Services, and Administration. The San Francisco Health Network is the City’s only complete system of care and has locations throughout the City, including Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, and over 15 primary care health centers. The Population Health Division (PHD) provides core public health services for the City and County of San Francisco: health protection, health promotion, disease and injury prevention, and disaster preparedness and response. Behavioral Health Services operates in conjunction with SFHN and provides a range of mental health and substance use treatment services.

Role description

ESSENTIAL DUTIES 

The essential functions of a Health Worker I (2585) include, but are not limited to: 

• Participate in an intensive training program to become familiar with community resources
• Provide general advice to patients and others regarding available services
• Assist patients in utilizing available health and community resources
• Receive, sign in, and route patients reporting for treatment or other assistance at program facilities
• Set up and clean up after clinics and other meetings
• Maintain needed supplies; may collect patient specimens for required lab tests
• Provide language interpretation services for patients; may translate letters, pamphlets, booklets, films, and other materials
• Assist patients in making appointments for needed services
• Guide and process patients through clinics, hospitals, and other facilities
• Visit patients and community residents at home or in hospitals to provide assistance and support
• Perform routine clerical tasks related to maintaining records of the specific program involved
• Perform other duties as assigned

How to qualify

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS 

1. EXPERIENCE: Six (6) months of verifiable experience, performing a combination of at least two (2) of the following duties:

• Serving as a liaison between targeted communities and healthcare agencies
• Providing culturally appropriate health education/information and outreach to targeted populations
• Providing referral and follow up services or otherwise coordinating care
• Providing informal counseling, social support and advocacy to targeted populations
• Escorting and transporting clients;
• Providing courier/dispatcher functions
• Performing pre-clinical examinations of vital statistics, such as measuring a patient's weight, height, temperature and blood pressure

Substitution: Possession of a Community Health Worker Certificate from City College of San Francisco can substitute for 6 months of the required experience. 

SPECIAL CONDITIONS: Depending on the department's needs, some positions may require applicants to meet additional special conditions, which may include, but are not limited: 

• Bilingual Proficiency in a variety of languages. Only those eligible candidates who pass the bilingual proficiency test will be considered for bilingual positions
• Experience providing health or social services to diverse populations

Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

One year of full-time employment is equivalent to 2000 hours. (2000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40-hour work week.) 

Important Note: Please make sure it is absolutely clear in your application exactly how you meet the minimum qualifications. Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. Please be aware that any misrepresentation of this information may disqualify you from this recruitment or future job opportunities. 

What else should I know?

Selection Procedures: 
After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following:

Assessment Component

Candidates that meet the minimum qualifications will be invited to participate in a Multiple Choice exam that is designed to measure the knowledge, skills, and abilities in job related areas including, but not limited to: 

• Knowledge of the ethnic, economic and social factors affecting the residents of the neighborhood served by the health program
• Ability and skill to speak, read and write English as well as the language predominant in the district served
• Ability to communicate with the clients of the program
• Ability to work effectively with professionals and other staff members

Written Exam: (Weight: 100%) 

Candidates must achieve a passing score on the written multiple-choice exam in order to continue in the selection process and will be placed on the confidential eligible list in rank order according to their final score. 

Additional selection processes may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions.

Certification
The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be the Rule of the List Scores.

Eligible List/Score Report:
Once you pass the exam, you will be placed onto an eligible list and given a score and a rank. For more information, visit https://careers.sf.gov/knowledge/process/.

The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be 12 months and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

How to apply:

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit careers.sf.gov and begin the application process. 

Our e-mail communications may come from more than one department so please make sure your email is set to accept messages from all of us at this link. 

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment therefore, it is their responsibility to contact the Analyst if they update their email address. 

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

Terms of Announcement and Appeal Rights:
Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. (Note: The correction of clerical errors in an announcement may be posted on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.sf.gov/). The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 110.4. Such appeals must be submitted in writing to the Department of Human Resources, 1 S Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-5413 by close of business on the 5th business day following the issuance date of this examination announcement. Information concerning other Civil Service Commission Rules involving announcements, applications and examination policies, including applicant appeal rights, can be found on the Civil Service Commission website at http://sfgov.org/civilservice/rules.  

Additional information regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco: 

• Information about the Hiring Process 
• Conviction History 
• Employee Benefits Overview 
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Workers
• Reasonable Accommodation
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement
• Veterans Preference

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the analyst, Elaine Adams at elaine.adams@sfdph.org or (628) 271-6974.

We may use text messaging to communicate with you on the phone number provided in your application. The first message will ask you to opt in to text messaging.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.