Job Description

Established in 1805, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (the NYC Health Department) is the oldest and largest health department in the country. Our mission is to protect and improve the health of all New Yorkers, in service of a vision of a city in which all New Yorkers can realize their full health potential, regardless of who they are, how old they are, where they are from, or where they live.

As a world-renowned public health agency with a history of building transformative public health programming and infrastructure, innovating in science and scholarship to advance public health knowledge, and responding to urgent public health crises from New York City’s yellow fever outbreak in 1822, to the COVID-19 pandemic we are a hub for public health innovation, expertise, and programs, and services. We serve as the population health strategist, and policy, and planning authority for the City of New York, while also having a vast impact on national and international public policy, including programs and services focused on food and nutrition, anti-tobacco support, chronic disease prevention, HIV/AIDS treatment, family and child health, environmental health, mental health, and racial and social justice work, among others.

Our Agency’s five strategic priorities, building off a recently-completed strategic planning process emerging from the COVID-19 emergency, are:

1) To re-envision how the Health Department prepares for and responds to health emergencies, with a focus on building a “response-ready” organization, with faster decision-making, transparent public communications, and stronger surveillance and bridges to healthcare systems 2) Address and prevent chronic and diet-related disease, including addressing rising rates of childhood obesity and the impact of diabetes, and transforming our food systems to improve nutrition and enhance access to healthy foods

3) Address the second pandemic of mental illness including: reducing overdose deaths, strengthening our youth mental health systems, and supporting people with serious mental illness

4) Reduce black maternal mortality and make New York a model city for women’s health

5) Mobilize against and combat the health impacts of climate change

Our 7,000-plus team members bring extraordinary diversity to the work of public health. True to our value of equity as a foundational element of all of our work, and a critical foundation to achieving population health impact in New York City, the NYC Health Department has been a leader in recognizing and dismantling racism’s impacts on the health of New Yorkers and beyond. In 2021, the NYC Board of Health declared racism as a public health crisis. With commitment to advance anti-racist public health practices that dismantle systems that perpetuate inequitable power, opportunity and access, the NYC Health Department continues to work in and with communities and community organizations to increase their access to health services and decrease avoidable health outcomes.

PROGRAM AND JOB DESCRIPTION:

The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) implements a Citywide Doula Initiative, which focuses on doula support before, during, and shortly after childbirth, as well as related services. This work is performed by DOHMH directly and in partnership with community-based doula programs around the city. The program strengthens DOHMH's work with maternity hospitals though the Maternity Hospital Quality Improvement Network (MHQIN), which creates doula-friendly hospital policies and practices, and increases provider referrals to doula services. The Doula Program Manager, Clinical and Community Partnerships provides quality improvement program implementation leadership and coalition building support by providing program management implementing the doula-friendly hospital model within NYC maternity hospitals and oversight of the New York Coalition for Doula Access (NYCDA).

The Doula Program Manager will be responsible for the following: Lead technical assistance to MHQIN hospitals in collaboration with community-based doula programs in improving doula-friendliness, including coordination and facilitation of technical assistance meetings, and support development and implementation of doula-friendly policies and practices. Design, update, and execute tools to facilitate implementation of doula-friendly strategies and evaluate process improvement. Coordinate Grand Rounds and other technical assistance events with community-based doula vendors. Lead Grand Rounds prep meetings, contribute to presentation content, and create tools to implement model and collect process improvement data. Co-lead NYCDA with Health Leads, providing coordination, project planning, facilitation, and outreach to community members, community-based doulas, and clinical partners to ensure involved membership. Lead doula-friendly hospital designation subcommittee (which includes community and clinical partners) and oversee development and implementation of plan for doula-friendly hospital accreditation within NYCDA, including research and development of relevant reports and tools.

DUTIES WILL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO:

Responsible for program activities that align with and ensure program outcomes are met utilizing evaluation tools.

Conduct research related to the Doula profession, including those related to labor and birth, maternal and child health and breastfeeding.

Develop and maintain supportive, trusting relationships with hospitals, clients and their families to promote maternal and child health and positive birth outcomes.

Participate in data collection, program evaluation, and preparation of events tracking for the departmental reporting pertinent to program (or contract) objectives, or as assigned by the program supervisor.

Co-lead research activities in partnership with evaluator to determine effectiveness of the hospital-community partnerships.

Conduct literature reviews to understand best practices for the development of doula-friendly hospital policies.

Utilize databases for tracking of program activities across several hospitals servicing all 5 boroughs.

Qualifications

1. For Assignment Level I (only physical, biological and environmental sciences and public health) A master's degree from an accredited college or university with a specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological or environmental science or in public health.

To be appointed to Assignment Level II and above, candidates must have:

1. A doctorate degree from an accredited college or university with specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological, environmental or social science and one year of full-time experience in a responsible supervisory, administrative or research capacity in the appropriate field of specialization; or

2. A master's degree from an accredited college or university with specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological, environmental or social science and three years of responsible full-time research experience in the appropriate field of specialization; or

3. Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" or "2" above. However, all candidates must have at least a master's degree in an appropriate field of specialization and at least two years of experience described in "2" above. Two years as a City Research Scientist Level I can be substituted for the experience required in "1" and "2" above.

NOTE:

Probationary Period

Appointments to this position are subject to a minimum probationary period of one year.

Additional Information

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.