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Position Description – Director, Surgical Services

Our highly prestigious client, Children’s Hospital & Research Center at Oakland (CHRCO), located in Oakland, California, is the oldest, largest, busiest and most comprehensive children’s hospital between Los Angeles and Seattle. The Hospital is a separately governed, free-standing facility.

Our client has the largest pediatric intensive care unit in Northern California, the only pediatric emergency department and the only designated Level I pediatric trauma center between Los Angeles and Seattle. The 47-bed intensive care nursery is the State-designated regional referral center for high-risk newborns in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

Founded in 1912, Children’s Hospital & Research Center at Oakland meets the medical, developmental, and psychological needs of all children, from premature infants to teenagers, with expertise in 30 pediatric subspecialties from adolescent medicine to urology. With a staff of 2,300+ employees specially trained to care for children, CHRCO serves as both a regional referral center and a medical safety net for East Bay children, with more than 176,000 visits each year from patients from throughout California as well as other states and countries.

Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) is among the nation’s ten pediatric facilities in the US terms of Federal funding, it is ranked 11th in the US for all hospital based research organizations and it is rated first in the US for a non-academic affiliated Research Program. Close collaboration between clinical and research services at Children’s has resulted in advances in the treatment of cancers, sickle cell disease, thalassemia, AIDS/HIV and many other life-threatening diseases. CHORI researchers have contributed significantly to the understanding of the human response to vaccines and to the impact of nutritional deficiencies, drug use, and environmental toxins on birth defects. Ongoing studies into the molecular mechanisms of atherosclerosis, obesity, asthma, and diabetes benefit children worldwide.

The Outpatient Center is the only freestanding pediatric outpatient center in Northern California. The Hospital works closely with community physicians to bring pediatric expertise to outlying areas through satellite offices. The Hospital has a Foundation that raises funds to help support these specialized services and programs.

Our client’s annual revenue is approximately $250 MM, it controls assets of nearly $250 MM and operates on a net margin of 1.2%. The balance sheet and other operating ratios indicate that it is in a strong financial position. The organization’s income is a combination of standard medical reimbursement by the State and Federal Governments, private payors, grants and donations.

Management

The style of management and the organizational culture of excellence are deeply rooted in teamwork and mutual support. The commitment of the management team to the mission, which is “Kids”, is outstanding and highly effective in keeping the management and staff focused on the big picture. To complement the management team an individual must be able to blend their individual success into that of the entire team and share in the commitment and the satisfaction of taking care of very sick kids.

Surgical Services Department - Facilities and Scope:

The Surgical Services Department consists of seven Operating Rooms and ten recovery rooms.
Newly expanded OR provides an environment of leading edge technology and innovative treatment and procedures.
Surgical subspecialties include general pediatric surgery, cardiac surgery, neurosurgery, ENT, urology, orthopedics and plastic surgery.
The hospital is a Level I Trauma Center for Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.
The helistop allows pediatric patients to be flown in from all of the surrounding area for trauma management.
The hospital has just initiated a Bone Marrow Transplant program, the harvests are done in the OR which has lead to the training of personnel.
The hospital has a clinical ladder for RN’s, the RN III in the OR have been trained as RNFA’s (Registered Nurse First Assistant), an expanded role for operating rooms nurses.
The hospital has begun an OR training program for new graduates in association with local schools of nursing.

Position Description

Director of Surgical Services will report to the Chief Operating Officer and is responsible for the overall operation of Surgery Cluster Departments (Operating Room, Post Anesthesia Care Unit, Preoperative Surgical Unit, Anesthesia and the Surgical Units). This position oversees approximately 70 FTE’s through the direct supervision of four management staff members and four non-management staff. This position oversees a $53 MM revenue budget, a $14 MM operating budget and performs approximately 8,000 procedures per year.

Key Responsibilities

This successful candidate will have responsibility for the supervision of Managers, Coordinators, RNs’, ORTs’, CPD Aides, Anesthesia Technologists, Anesthesia Technicians, CTAs, PNPs and Secretary Il/Schedulers.

The responsibilities of the Director of Surgical services include:

Complies with established hospital customer service standards.
Identifies resources and needs; develops, allocates, administers, and evaluates surgical cluster department budgets while directing and delegating appropriate aspects of the budget process to Surgical Services department managers.
Directly supervises in conjunction with the Manager and Coordinator Surgical Services staff via clinical/department rounds, staff meeting participation, and performance appraisal.
Develops individualized leadership development plans for Surgical Services Managers, Coordinators, and other direct reports. Provides developmental opportunities for direct reports through a variety of modalities including: project assignments, committee assignments, formal educational presentations (CHO and external), support professional group affiliations, mentoring relationships, ongoing direct feedback, and standing meetings.
Provides leadership to cluster Managers and Coordinators that ensures consistency in staff management in the areas of: resource utilization/skill-mix, personnel evaluations, competency development/evaluation, staff development, restructuring, and management of labor relations issues.
Determines selection of Managers and Coordinators in conjunction with administration. Participates in evaluation of potential applicants outside cluster, as appropriate.
Reviews and monitors Surgical Services participation in Hospital QI Activities.
Demonstrates working knowledge of CQI principals, tools, and methods in order to resolve issues. Makes program changes based on relevant data.
Participates with the Executive Administrative Team in overall strategic planning for the Surgical Services cluster in concert with hospital direction and strategic Planning.
Plans for, designs, and manages directly and via delegation, systems/programs for meeting Hospital, departmental, and Surgical Services cluster goals.
Plans, implements, monitor, and evaluates in conjunction with Managers and Coordinators the Surgical Services cluster activities according to defined standards that are consistent with the Hospital mission and values. Establishes strong collegial relationships with other cluster directors.
Directs and facilitates communication between Surgical Services cluster departments, as well as, through the Hospital community.
Ensures Surgical Services cluster department’s preparedness for JCAHO and other regulatory inspections. Participates in Hospital-wide preparedness planning.
Demonstrates advanced level of problem-solving skills and decision-making abilities.
Ensures completion of all steps of the disciplinary action process utilizing accuracy and consistency.
Assists with training of clinical staff on knowledge and skills required to perform job roles competently in a high change, high technology environment.
Cooperates, collaborates, and negotiates with Division Chiefs, Chief of Surgery, and Anesthesiology to plan for the provision of safe, quality patient care, and quality care of the families.
Responsible for clinical and administrative call.
Demonstrates knowledge of different developmental stages in the pediatric environment.
Awareness of the religious, ethical, and cultural differences among the various population groups.
Directly manages the daily operations of the Operating Room, Recovery Room, Preoperative Surgical Unit, Anesthesia, Central Processing, and 5 Surgical Unit to ensure staffing is adequate to meet patient volume. Ensures that ample and cost effective supplies, instruments, and equipment are present to support the care of patient.

Experience Required

Previous proven experience and expertise in line management position (minimum of 5 years). Master’s degree in health care administration, clinical management or related field is highly preferred. The successful candidate must possess current CA Register Nurse Licensure. He or she must be able to understand written and verbal communication in English, as well as possessing a thorough knowledge of preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative care, as well as sterile processing and materials management.

Compensation

The compensation plan is based on a competitive base salary commensurate with the experience and the demonstrated accomplishments of the successful candidate, and will reflect the opportunity at the Company. The organization has an excellent employee benefits package, consisting of medical coverage, a dental plan, life insurance, Defined Benefit Retirement Plan and a 403 b program with employer matching.