Position Description: Patient Care Manager, Medical Eating Disorders, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital

 The Opportunity

This is an extraordinary opportunity for a seasoned clinical manager with strong leadership and communication skills to expand their career potential in a leading-edge medical center and one of the most prestigious Children’s Hospitals in the US and the world.

Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH), founded in 1991, is a 256-bed non-profit hospital devoted entirely to the care of babies, children, adolescents and expectant mothers.  Its pediatricians, specialty doctors, nurses, and staff specialize in pediatric, obstetric and neonatal medicine.

LPCH is a state-of-the-art facility built for children and in conjunction with Stanford Hospital & Clinics at Stanford University, completes the package of world-class, compassionate care.  The main facility is located on the Stanford University campus.  Many of its doctors also serve as professors at the Stanford University School of Medicine, particularly for the treatment of rare, complex disorders in areas such as pediatric cardiac care, cancer treatment, neurology, neurosurgery and organ transplants. 

Patients come to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital from all over the Western United States and the world, often for specialized procedures unavailable elsewhere.  In recognition of excellent care, the hospital and physicians consistently rank among the top in the nation in surveys by consumers and health care professionals.

Management

An overview of top management of the hospital shows an exceptional blend of clinical, operational and business expertise in the field of acute and specialty care and services.  Underlying the management team's skill-set is a passionate, deep-seeded and visionary commitment to excellence, innovation and growth.  The style of management and the organizational culture of excellence are deeply rooted in teamwork and mutual support. 

The level of teamwork and support among the management staff is extraordinarily high and remarkably effective.  This group of Managers and Directors, with their collaborative style and complete commitment to the mission, is the heart of the department’s success.  It is readily apparent that the management team consistently emphasizes teamwork, individual achievement and making the job fun.

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 the healthcare needs of the community.

Position Description

The Patient Care Manager, Pediatric Medical Eating Disorders reports to the  Patient Care Director, Medical Patient Services.  This position is responsible for the overall operation of the 15-bed highly specialized unit caring for children and adolescence with medical eating disorders, as well as a 16-bed general medical unit.  There is a staff of fifty FTE’s, twenty-five in the eating disorder program and twenty-five in the general medical unit.

The Pediatric Unit is a satellite operation of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and is located at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, CA.  The unit is staffed by Lucile Packard physicians, nurses and other support personnel on a 24/7 basis.  The unit functions as an extension of the main hospital in Palo Alto and is  independent of El Camino Hospital.

The Pediatric Eating Disorders Service began twenty-five ago years and is one of the only hospital-based programs in California.  The patients average thirteen years of age with an average length of stay of seventeen days.  The families are highly involved in the treatment of their child from the beginning of their stay.  The nursing staff collaborates significantly with medical and psychiatric physicians, social workers, dieticians and counselors.

Eating disorder patients are given a private room that has been painted and decorated by the staff to reflect a cheerful theme.  The unit provides care for infants, young children and adolescents.  Each room also has its own bathroom/shower facilities and includes sleep accommodations for the comfort of the parent or guardian.

The Medical Unit cares for patients who do not require acute or surgical attention and management. The service includes several types of disease management including non-compliant diabetes patients, palliative care, respiratory conditions, sleep disorder studies, sickle cell treatment and chemotherapy patients.  A child is admitted to this unit if their symptoms or illness require hospitalization, but do not require imminent surgery. 

In addition to full-time physicians and nurses, this Pediatric unit also provides chaplaincy services, day school provided by the Mountain View School District, interpreter services, physical and occupational therapy, recreational therapy and child life, respiratory care and social services.

The successful candidate will plan, organize, direct, maintain and evaluate patient care and unit activities according to established policies and procedures to provide high quality, individualized patient care.  He or she will maintain the integrity of the service to meet all accreditation and licensure requirements. 

Responsibilities

The Patient Care Manager is responsible for providing leadership and direction.  He/she oversees the fiscal, technical and patient care activities of the unit to ensure efficient operations, providing input on hospital's strategic initiatives and developing tactical strategies for assigned group of departments and services.  The Director directs plans and organizes all functions and activities within assigned area, ensures compliance with regulatory and governing agencies and established Hospital standards, practices, and procedures.  He/she works cooperatively with other directors and managers to ensure smooth operation of hospital and department and works cooperatively with medical staff in pursuit of quality of care, clinical and operational objectives.  The following duties represent the key responsibilities of the position:

• Direct and manage administrative and clinical functions and patient care activities of assigned departments while staying within budgetary allocations.
• Develop and monitor operational, capital and staffing budgets.
• Encourage effective cost containment practices through management and staff development.
• Ensure satisfactory relationships with medical staff including clear and concise communication regarding hospital issues.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory and governing body’s issues.
• Interact and participate with staff of departments to accomplish the goals of the institution as a whole.
• Work with the Patient Care Director to establish and conform to Operating Budget.
• Responsible for overseeing both short and long term planning in all aspects of management, including personnel.
• Responsible for ensuring completion of personnel evaluations, job descriptions, polices and procedures of assigned departments.
• Keeps appropriate hospital staff informed of changes in department functioning within budgetary allocations.
• Monitor departmental operations to ensure functioning within budgetary allocations.
• Consistently combine ethical judgment and technical skills within policy and legal guidelines of the hospital.
• Provide counsel and guidance to staff on personnel related problems.
• Objectively evaluate the attitude, morale and interpersonal relationships of staff and promote methods to improve these areas when needed.
• Ensure as needed review of all manuals and polices and procedures is done.
• Ensure timely preparation and evaluation of reports, payroll records and other statistical data as required.
• Ensure prompt investigation of complaints regarding service by department and take appropriate actions.
• Maintain professional growth.
• Participate in administrative and other meetings as required.
• Ensure open format, scheduled department staff meetings, and encourage staff participation.
• Effectively provide direction and policy interpretation to staff and other department members in overseeing their areas of responsibility; address special operation concerns and administrative.

Personal Characteristics

The Patient Care Manager, Eating Disorders needs to possess the patience, self-confidence and communication skills necessary to work with the clinical and administrative staff and the physicians.

First and foremost this individual must be a team player.  The individual needs to be a superb communicator and have the style of a diplomat, i.e., be able to work in harmony with other operational entities and to negotiate agreements so each party benefits. It is imperative that he/she be skilled in bringing together the staff functions in a spirit of harmony and with a single-minded purpose.

A hands-on leader who can develop a strategic vision of the department and has the expertise to develop values and goals for a diverse group of constituents will be successful.  The successful candidate will have a proven record of accomplishment of strong leadership skills to ensure that the improvement process within the department continues, that priorities are established and the goals are met.

He/she needs to be a person who possesses a strong work ethic, rejects setbacks and values accomplishments highly.  An action-oriented personality that deals with specifics within a broad conceptual framework will be most effective in this position.  This individual will have an appropriate sense of urgency to react to situations quickly and decisively.

Licensure, Certification and Qualifications

Current California RN license required, BSN in nursing required.  A Graduate education is desirable, not required.  Two years progressive management experience in clinical management.

Compensation

The compensation plan is based on a competitive base salary commensurate with the experience and the demonstrated accomplishments of the successful candidate.  It will reflect the opportunity at the hospital. The hospital 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.

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