Food Program Director
: Job Details :

Fair Haven Community Health Care

FHCHC is a forward-thinking, dynamic, and exciting community health center that provides care for multiple generations at nearly 140,000 office visits in 20 locations. Overseen by a Board of Directors, the majority of whom are patients themselves, we offer a wide range of primary and specialty care services, as well as evidence-based patient programs to educate patients in healthy lifestyle choices. Our mission is “To improve the health and social well-being of the communities we serve through equitable, high quality, patient-centered care that is culturally responsive.”

For over 50 years, we have been a health care leader in our community focused on providing excellent, affordable primary care to all patients, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. Fair Haven is proud to have a diverse and motivated team of professionals who are constantly seeking ways to enhance and improve the health and well-being of all patients.

Job purpose

The Food Program Director is a vital member of FHCHC's leadership team who is responsible for growing and sustaining our food-related programs. FHCHC serves a diverse population with a high proportion of pediatric obesity, diabetes, and nutrition-sensitive chronic conditions. We aim to support our patients nutritionally so that they may achieve their best health. The ideal candidate is innovative, visionary, and has experience directing food-related programs. A primary responsibility is the implementation and operation of the ‘Food as Medicine program', which consists of an on-site food farmacy, prescription-for-food program, and nutrition education. This position works closely with medical providers, primary care teams, care coordination, and social services agencies to provide nutrition education and nutritional support to families with chronic disease/malnutrition and food insecurity.

Duties and responsibilities

Fair Haven Community Health Care is seeking a Program Director with experience working in food systems to oversee food-related programming to best meet the nutritional needs of our patients.

Typical duties include but are not limited to:

Food Programming:

• Works with FHCHC team members, local farms, stores, food banks, and other stakeholders to design and implement the food programming to best meet the needs of our patients, including an onsite Food Pharmacy.
• Works with Population Health Team to identify target patient populations for the “Prescription for Food” intervention.
• Recruits, trains, and supervises interns and volunteers for various food pharmacy responsibilities.
• Oversees Gather New Haven's farm coordinator, who handles referrals to their farm-based Diabetes Prevention Program.
• Coordinates community-facing nutrition education programming to take place in our multipurpose room/kitchen space.
• Stocks and maintains pharmacy shelves in coordination with the food pantry, with attention to nutritional content of foods.
• Ensures pantry, store room, freezer, and refrigerator are clean, stocked, and in compliance with established standards from the Department of Health.
• Maintains statistics on food pharmacy visits and items procured for FHCHC and community food bank.
• Participates in budget development, tracks all expenses and adjusts accordingly to ensure budget compliance.
• Participates in grant writing and maintains grants, including completion of outcome reports.
• Coordinates various licenses and agreements: Connecticut food banks and Connecticut Department of Health.

Community Outreach and Collaboration:

• Attend and actively participate in FHCHC department and team meetings to promote collaboration of services.
• Attend and actively participate in meetings related to food scarcity and food distribution in New Haven to coordinate with area resources.

Patient-centered care duties include:

• Provide dietary services in the form of clinical visits in accordance with FHCHC guidelines, state and federal laws and regulations for 60% of scheduled work hours.
• Develop nutrition plans and implement interventions based on knowledge of patient's current health.
• Complete monthly, quarterly, and yearly assessments of clients and adapt nutrition plans as needed.
• Implement personalized, age-specific, and culturally appropriate nutrition strategies.
• Deliver client nutrition recommendations to physicians, nurses, and aides.
• Provide nutrition education and counseling for patients.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Nutrition or related field required; a Master's degree in Nutrition or related field preferred; Registered Dietitian certificate; CT State Board licensure; experience with one-on-one and group nutrition counseling and with implementing and managing programs during training or career required.
• Cultural competence and sensitivity to work with a diverse population; fluency in the Spanish language and experience implementing and scaling programs, managing teams, and providing culturally competent nutrition programming is highly desired.
• Familiarity with New Haven and/or Connecticut Emergency Food Systems is a plus.

An ideal candidate is collaborative and works well within the healthcare team and with community partners. Must be able to use computer software systems including, but not limited to, word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and nutrient analysis programs, as well as varied electronic medical records systems.

Direction of Others

None

OSHA Status

Category I—Increased Risk Position

Potential exposure to hazardous waste and blood borne pathogens in clinical settings.

Physical requirements

Physical Demands: Requires walking, bending, sitting, standing, writing, reading, telephone use, data input into computer, pulling medical records.

Mental Demands: Ability to cope with continually changing priorities under potentially stressful conditions.

Manual Dexterity Required: Ability to use a keyboard, telephone.

American with Disabilities Requirements

External and internal applicants, as well as position incumbents who become disabled, must be able to perform the essential job-specific functions (listed within each job-specific responsibility) either unaided or with the assistance of a reasonable accommodation to be determined by the organization on a case-by-case basis.

Fair Haven Community Health Care is an Equal Opportunity Employer. FHCHC does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need.