The Recovery Specialist provides support and expertise to patients with substance use disorders by facilitating warm handoffs to treatment and utilizing motivational interviewing. They also coordinate care, perform screenings, and provide education to patients and their families regarding recovery resources.
Requirements summary
Candidates must have a high school diploma or GED and be eligible to earn a Certified Recovery Specialist (CRS) or Certified Family Recovery Specialist (CFRS) certification within one year. A valid driver's license and a good driving record are also required for this role.
high schoolbachelor degreeprofessional certificateDocumentationStrength-based approachTreatment planningActive listeningCrisis interventionFamily supportPatient advocacyMotivational interviewingCase managementReferral coordinationBehavioral healthSubstance use counselingASAM criteriaMAT counselingWarm handoff
Job description
St.
Luke's is proud of the skills, experience and compassion of its employees.
The employees of St.
Luke's are our most valuable asset!
Individually and together, our employees are dedicated to satisfying the mission of our organization which is an unwavering commitment to excellence as we care for the sick and injured; educate physicians, nurses and other health care providers; and improve access to care in the communities we serve, regardless of a patient's ability to pay for health care.
The Recovery Specialist has experience with behavioral health services and is willing to use and share their lived experience and first-hand knowledge to hospital patients and their family members to provide expertise around the recovery process, symptom management, and the persistence required by clients/families to have a recovery oriented and satisfying life.
They engage to create warm hand offs between acute inpatient treatment and other levels of care to create rapid access to drug and alcohol or mental health services to improve adherence to treatment recommendations.
The Recovery Specialist helps the patient and family identify opportunities from a strength-based approach about enhancing life domain needs.
JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Engage in brief relationship building and active listening with clients receiving treatment in emergency room and medical inpatient settings who have a substance use disorder.
Utilize best practices such as motivational interviewing, and stages of change to provide supportive coaching and encouragement to clients contemplating or actively seeking help with substance use treatment and recovery.
Ensuring that all interactions are strength-based, recovery oriented and understanding of multiple pathways and definitions of recovery.
Substance use screening, assessment, brief intervention, and referral to treatment and/or other applicable community resources and services.
Interactions can include in person face-to-face, telephonic and telehealth interventions.
Use ASAM or similar criteria to determine most appropriate treatment level based on clinical presentation of the patient.
Coordinate with insurance company to complete pre-certification as appropriate.
Build in depth understanding of MAT options, including methadone, naltrexone, and buprenorphine and ability to objectivity counsel patients on MAT.
Outreach, engage, and provide education to family members, other natural supports, and other professionals regarding substance use disorders and available programs/resources.
Engage in team-based care and work cooperatively with other medical professionals and county-wide personnel involved in the Warm Handoff program.
Complete appropriate documentation, including to document each service-related contact in case note according to program standards.
As well as logging each interaction into tracking spreadsheet(s).
Updating outcomes of cases as appropriate and write narrative outcomes for success stories.
Engage in trainings and education sessions regarding the warm handoff process to medical professionals, and other stakeholders to ensure that mutual benefit of program is well understood, to ensure program utilization.
Coordinate safe transportation for patients to have door-to-door treatment placement.
Participate in rotating on-call schedule.
PHYSICAL AND SENSORY REQUIREMENTS: Sitting for up to 5 hours per day, 2 hours at a time.
Standing for up to 1 hour per day, 1 hour at a time.
Walking for up to 2 hours per day, 20 minutes at a time.
Occasionally uses fingers to turn pages.
Frequently uses hands to write, type, and hold charts.
Rarely uses the hands or fingers for firm grasping or twisting/turning.
Frequently uses upper extremities to lift and carry up to 10 pounds.
Hearing as it relates to normal conversation in person or on telephone.
Seeing as it relates to general vision, near vision, far vision, color vision, and peripheral vision.
EDUCATION: High School Diploma or GED required.
Eligible to earn the Certified Recovery Specialist (CRS) or Certified Family Recovery Specialist (CFRS) certification within 1 year of hire and maintain the certification.
Or A bachelor’s degree TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE: Must have and maintain a valid driver’s license accepted by the Network’s insurance carrier and maintain a good driving record.
Hours
Every other
Saturday/Sunday, 8:00 p.m. - 8:00 a.m. Please complete your application using your full legal name and current home address. Be sure to include employment history for the past seven (7) years, including your present employer. Additionally, you are encouraged to upload a current resume, including all work history, education, and/or certifications and licenses, if applicable. It is highly recommended that you create a profile at the conclusion of submitting your first application. Thank you for your interest in St. Luke's!! St. Luke's University Health Network is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 23,000 employees providing services at 16 campuses and 350+ outpatient sites. With annual net revenue in excess of $4 billion, the
Network’s service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Luke’s hospitals operate the largest network of trauma centers in Pennsylvania, with the Bethlehem Campus being home to St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital. SLUHN is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare’s five-star ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction. It is both a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World’s Best Hospital. The Network’s flagship University Hospital has earned the 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation from Premier 13 times total and eleven years in a row, including in 2023 when it was identified as THE #4 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY. In 2021, St. Luke’s was identified as one of the 15 Top Health Systems nationally. St. Luke’s is the ONLY health care institution in the Lehigh Valley to be named a Top Workplace regionally repeating the exclusive honor for the third year in a row. Also, for the third straight year, St. Luke’s has been a Top Workplaces in the Philadelphia Region by the Philadelphia Inquirer, ranking 9th in the large employer category for 2025 and the only health care system in PA to receive this award. In 2025, St. Luke’s was recognized as a national Top Workplaces by USA Today, three years in a row, including the 3rd best health care system in the nation in 2023 and 2024. Lastly, in 2025, St. Luke’s was named a Top Workplace in New Jersey for the third year in a row. Learn More Here.
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