Medical Assistant

Medical Assistant – ORCA Program

Three (3) 12‑hour shifts per week, with at least two 30‑minute lunch breaks, from 7:00 am to 7:30 pm. Some weekend shifts required. One additional 12‑hour shift every four weeks.

Full‑time

• Insurance: Dental, Life, Long‑term Disability, Medical (no premiums/payroll deductions for employee coverage)
• Other Benefits: Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Flexible Spending Account (FSA), ORCA card subsidy, Paid Time Off (34 days per year), Retirement Plan
• Union Representation: SEIU Healthcare 1199NW

Supervisor: ORCA RN Supervisor

Cover Letter: A cover letter is required as part of your application.

DESC (Downtown Emergency Service Center) is a nonprofit organization working to help people with the complex needs of homelessness, substance use disorders, and serious mental illness achieve their highest potential for health and well‑being through comprehensive services, treatment, and housing. Our vision is a community where no person is abandoned, ignored, or experiencing homelessness. As the region's leading provider of services to multiply disabled adults who have experienced chronic homelessness, DESC serves almost 3,000 people each day.

Our integrated service model is designed to help people secure and maintain appropriate, safe and affordable housing. DESC is recognized nationally and regionally as an innovator in developing solutions to homelessness.

DESC’s ORCA program provides compassionate, low‑barrier, evidence‑based care to individuals who are recovering from opioid overdose and those seeking treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). The ORCA Center, our brick‑and‑mortar location, offers post‑overdose subacute stabilization services and walk‑in access to medications for OUD (MOUD). The ORCA Patient Outreach Division (POD) delivers field‑based MOUD care – meeting people where they literally are in the community.

• Care to individuals in stable condition who have experienced an opioid overdose, brought to the ORCA Center by first responders or transferred from local emergency departments.
• Rapid initiation of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), including buprenorphine (sublingual and long‑acting injectable) and methadone (under the “72‑hour rule”, or CFR Title 21 1306.07(b)).
• Use of MOUD for people with OUD, regardless of whether an opioid overdose has recently occurred.
• Harm reduction counseling and OUD‑related physical and behavioral health services.
• Follow‑up care for individuals who have started MOUD to ensure support in MOUD continuation.

• Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) sites
• Emergency shelters
• Encampments or unsanctioned sites
• High‑need geographic zones identified in collaboration with DESC and community partners
• Areas without easy access to low‑barrier MOUD services

The Medical Assistant (MA) acts as a member of a multidisciplinary team responsible for providing medical services to adults who have experienced an opioid overdose and/or those with a diagnosis of Opioid Use Disorder. DESC’s ORCA Center sites provide 24‑hour, low‑barrier, enhanced supportive services. The MA will assist with in‑the‑moment, low‑threshold medical access to clients who may otherwise not be present at traditional clinics.

Work is done under the supervision of the ORCA Nurse Supervisor, Senior Nurse Manager, Director of Nursing, and Medical Director.

• Perform initial history and physical of client; documenting any client identified concerns, vital signs, and mental health status exams/AIMs assessments.
• Reconcile medication and medical records with hospitals, other outpatient mental health clinics, and primary care facilities, including collecting appropriate release of information requests (ROIs). Ensure that client spaces and clinical spaces are clean, stocked, and appropriate medical equipment is working.
• Perform client assessments on a walk‑in basis and as needed, utilizing clinic protocols and guidance of nursing supervisor.
• Administer pre‑dosed oral medication, injections (both anti‑psychotic injections and insulin), and wound care within scope of practice and…