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Position Description - Director, Quality - Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland

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.

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.

Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) is among the nation’s top ten pediatric research facilities in the US in 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.

Our client’s annual revenue is approximately $250 MM; it controls assets of nearly $250 MM and is currently taking appropriate actions to ensue on-going positive margins. 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.

Position Description

Provides leadership related to the organization's quality/performance improvement function. Responsible for oversight of a planned, systematic, organization‑wide approach to process design/redesign, and the measurement, assessment and improvement of patient care and organizational performance. The Director, Quality works with the Medical Staff, hospital and outpatient leaders to assure implementation of the Performance Improvement Plan. He/she actively leads and participates in Quality Improvement related activities, including CQI and Root Cause Analysis teams and provides consultation and direction related to organizational compliance with state, federal and JCAHO standards and regulations. This position is responsible for directing and managing Quality Management department operations.

Reporting Relationship

The Director, Quality reports directly to the Medical Director and Senior Vice President.

Required Skills and Responsibilities

Manages the activities of the Quality Management (QM) department and functions, including fiscal management, staffing, human resources management, communication, and staff development
Responsible for the QM department's support of medical staff peer review and quality improvement, as well as preparation of data related to physician reappointment.
Educates organization and medical staff related to Quality/Performance Improvement.
Provides oversight and collaborates with organizational leaders to implement a planned, systematic, organization-wide approach to process design/redesign and the measurement, assessment and improvement of performance of governance, management, clinical and support processes that affect patient and organizational systems, processes and outcomes.
Serves as a resource to Division, organizational and department leaders related to identification of priorities for improvement.
Provides consultation and support related to Quality Council and Board of Director's Quality Committee activities.
Facilitates hospital-wide and ambulatory reporting of Q1 activities to Quality Improvement and other committees.
Co-Chair, CQI Steering Committee. Serves as team leader, facilitator, participant and/or consultant and coach to CQI, process improvement and root cause analysis teams.
Facilitates the utilization of CQ1 statistical and non-statistical tools, graphic display of data, benchmarking and the use of comparative databases.
Responsible for the Quality Management department's function related to Unusual Occurrences and their aggregation, analysis and reporting, including patient/family complaints.
Provides consultation and leadership related to organizational compliance with State, Federal and JCAHO standards and regulations.
Chairs the Organizational Performance Improvement Committee (OPIC). Responsible for the Continuous Survey Readiness Program. Provides direction and consultation related to organizational survey preparation and follow-up, including the Consolidated Licensure and Accreditation Survey (CALS: JCAHO/DHS and IMQ).
Understands, supports, promotes and adheres to customer service philosophy and standards of Children's Hospital and Research Center at Oakland.
Communicates with the Medical Director & Sr. VP, Quality Medical Director, Risk Manager and hospital leaders as appropriate.
Participates in a physician-led quality initiative.
Coordinates patient safety related initiatives, root cause analyses and FMEA activities.

Personal Characteristics and Traits

First and foremost he/she needs to be a team player, be a superb communicator, and have the style of a diplomat, i.e., 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. He/she will have an appropriate sense of urgency to allow him/her to react to situations quickly and decisively.

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 dependant on the financial outcomes of the hospital.