Chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology - Jefferson Abington Hospital - Thomas Jefferson University & Jefferson Health

To fulfill the mission and role of Jefferson Abington Hospital, the Chair, Department of OB/GYN is an employed position with administrative and clinical responsibilities.   This position reports directly to the Chief of Staff, Jefferson Abington Hospital. 

 In addition to fulfilling the requirements outlined in the Jefferson Medical Group physician contract, the Chair of the Department of OB/GYN at Abington-Jefferson Health works in collaboration with Hospital Leadership, the Chief of Staff, and the Medical Executive Committee, and Enterprise service line to provide leadership, strategy, and oversight over OB/GYN Department for Jefferson Abington Hospital.  

Responsibilities are divided equally between clinical work hours and administrative chair duties. It is the expectation of Jefferson Abington Hospital that the OB/GYN Department Chair full time equivalent (FTE) splits time equally between clinical hours (0.5 FTE) and administrative hours (0.5 FTE) fulfilling the responsibilities of the Department chairperson.   

The Chair establishes and evaluates performance expectations, which provide for the highest quality patient care and consistency in clinical care standards, driven by patient safety requirements and clinical outcomes monitoring.  The Chair will be essential to the business development activities of expanding existing and developing new clinical programs, of recruiting and building the necessary work force, and to the setting of policy and protocols to build a higher-volume technically sophisticated and efficient department.  This includes collaboration in the development of the strategic plan, the implementation of the annual operating plan, and the selection of meaningful initiatives and projects that will drive the desired outcomes to achieve safety, organizational growth, service, quality, and cost objectives.  The chair is responsible for department level key performance indicators as defined by the Hospital Leadership

The Chair is responsible for aligning employed and community-based physicians within the department and acts as a visible champion of change initiatives to continue to improve performance.  TheChair, Department of OB/GYN will provide overall leadership of the Department functions and will have responsibility for strategic execution, clinical services,professional performance, business performance, medical education, clinical research and physician practice.  The Chair willestablish a vision for the Department, focusing on increasing referrals and expanding and developing innovativeclinical programs.   The Chair will continue to achieve the highest level of department academic performance in training medical students and residents and develop a stronger commitment to departmental research efforts.

The ideal candidate should have experience as a distinguished leader; foster an academic environment and, record of excellence in clinical practice.  The Chair will lead the Department of OB/GYN in a manner that unifies integration to enhance patient access and achieve delivery of high quality services to our community.   The Chair is a voting member of the Executive Committee of the Medical Staff.

QUALIFICATIONS

The Chair Department of OB/GYN must meet and maintain qualifications set forth in the most recent Bylaws of the Medical Staff of Abington Memorial Hospital (Bylaws).  Currently described as follows.   

Qualifications:  Each Department chairperson and Division chief shall be a member of the Active Staff, shall have demonstrated ability in at least one of the clinical areas covered by the Department or Division, and shall be willing and able to faithfully discharge the functions of his or her office.  The Department chairperson and Division chief shall be certified by an appropriate specialty board; provided, however, that the Executive Committee may recommend that the foregoing requirement be waived in extenuating circumstances.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

As currently defined in the Bylaws:

Duties:  Each Department chairperson shall be responsible for the following:

• All clinically and quality related activities of the Department;
• All administratively related activities of the department, unless otherwise provided for by the  Hospital;
• Continuing surveillance of the professional performance of all individuals in the department who have delineated clinical privileges, including without limitation, the conduct of OPPE and FPPE, as appropriate;
• Recommending to the Medical Staff the criteria for clinical privileges that are relevant to the care provided in the Department;
• Recommending clinical privileges for each member of the Department;
• Assessing and recommending to the relevant Hospital officials off-site sources for needed patient care services not provided by the Department or the Hospital;
• The integration of the Department or service into the primary functions of the Hospital;
• The coordination and integration of interdepartmental and intradepartmental services;
• The development and implementation of policies and procedures that guide and support the provision of care, treatment and services;
• The recommendation for a sufficient number of qualified and competent persons to provide care, treatment and services;
• The determination of the qualifications and competence of Department or service personnel who are not licensed independent practitioners and who provide patient care, treatment and services;
• The continuous assessment and improvement of the quality of care, treatment and services provided;
• The maintenance of performance assessment and quality control programs as appropriate;
• The orientation and continuing education of all persons in the Department; and
• Recommendations for space and other resources needed by the Department or service.

In addition, the Chair of the Department of OB/GYN will

• Provide visionary and innovative leadership to guide the department into the next phase of growth and development.
• Define and lead the Jefferson-Abington OB/GYN department’s academic and clinical strategy in alignment with the Jefferson Health strategy.
• Provide the vision and leadership to achieve superior clinical programs within OB/GYN.    Work with the leadership at Jefferson Abington to build and grow areas of acknowledged clinical excellence. Create innovative, entrepreneurial programs in alignment with the health system’s mission, vision and values. Develop partnerships and foster collaboration with affiliated institutions and new members of the health system.
• Engage employed and community-based physicians in service line initiatives to optimize performance, including enlisting physicians to fill important roles on committees or projects; coach physician colleagues as needed; drive for performance excellence. Foster individual professional growth and advancement in leadership positions to address succession planning.
• Assure that excellent clinical education and advanced training is delivered to learners, including medical students, residents, fellows, APPs and Medical Staff as appropriate by service line.
• Work in collaboration with the Department Chairs and the Division Chiefs to recruit new clinicians in alignment with the strategic plan and budget; oversee orientation of new providers to the department, data, and performance expectations.   Recruit, hire and retain an outstanding diverse clinical staff within the areas of OB/GYN.
• Champion efforts to standardize practice and minimize care variation through order sets, best practice clinical protocols, guidelines, products, and other efforts.
• With the support of Jefferson Health system, Service line and Divisional leadership, engage, design and implement meaningful programs to address healthcare disparities in our market and support Jefferson Health Abington’s community benefit programs.
• An interest in and ability to contribute to the coordination of wellness for the healthcare community
• Supervise, prepare, implement and monitor the department budget that encompasses all funding sources and ensures compliance with grant, legislative and institutional guidelines.
• Champion pay for performance and quality initiatives.
• Encourage ethical medical and financial practice across the department. Support compliance activities proactively and as necessary.

KEY LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES

Collaborating and Influencing

The incoming chair must be able to build strong relationships with others in an environment that thrives on multidisciplinary, diverse and interprofessional partnerships and collaborations and highly values these collaborations as demonstrated by:

• Negotiating with a genuine give-and-take approach, where both sides act as true peers, decisions are shared and win-win opportunities are achieved when possible
• Spending time identifying all stakeholders necessary and meeting/connecting with all of them, neglecting no one to shape a collective consensus
• A reputation as a consummate professional who looks for creative ways to break down barriers; and an ability to see the bigger picture of issues as opposed to taking sides

Driving Results

The incoming chair will possess a record of accomplishment of overseeing the operation in a fiscally prudent manner. This will be accomplished through:

• An ability to surpass goals, seizing opportunities to lead stakeholders to clinical, safety, and operational results.
• Setting continually higher goals that are ambitious but realistic for self and team, geared to organizational objectives
• Experience in philanthropic pursuits to support programmatic development and a record of accomplishment running an operationally strong and financially solid organization.

OTHER PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

• The highest integrity and personal ethics
• A commitment to service within the community

• Outstanding communication, process management and team leadership skills
• High energy coupled with a strong work ethic and a desire to have impact
• An entrepreneurial spirit and strong business orientation
• Leadership gravitas coupled with emotional intelligence

CREDENTIALS:

• Hold current Pennsylvania Physician License and meet all requirements of the Jefferson Abington Medical Staff Bylaws for appointment to medical staff.  
• Board certification in discipline and subspecialty required
• Recognition as an outstanding clinician, an active participant in patient care
• Meet all requirements as outlined in the Physician contract with Jefferson Medical Group

Jefferson includes Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health, a dynamic university and health system with broad reach across the Delaware Valley. Jefferson is the second largest employer in Philadelphia and the largest health system in Philadelphia based on total licensed beds.

Through the merger of Thomas Jefferson University and Philadelphia University in 2017, our University includes ten colleges and four schools. We are an NCAA Division II university and an R2 national doctoral university offering undergraduate and graduate-level programs that provide students with a forward-thinking education in architecture, business, design, engineering, fashion and textiles, health, medicine and social science.

Jefferson Health, the clinical arm of Thomas Jefferson University, has grown from a three-hospital academic health center in 2015, to an 18-hospital health system through mergers and combinations that include hospitals at Abington Health, Aria Health, Kennedy Health, Magee Rehabilitation and Einstein Healthcare Network. We have over 50 outpatient and urgent care centers; ten Magnet®-designated hospitals (recognized by the ANCC for nursing excellence); the NCI-designated Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (one of only 70 in the country and one of only two in the region); and one of the largest faculty-based telehealth networks in the country. In 2021, Jefferson Health became the sole owner of HealthPartners Plan, a not-for-profit health maintenance organization in Southeastern Pennsylvania. We are the first health system regionally to create an aligned payer-provider partnership.

Jefferson’s mission, vision and values create an organization that attracts the best and the brightest students, faculty, staff, and healthcare professionals, as well as the most visionary leaders to drive exceptional results.

• OUR MISSION: We improve lives.
• OUR VISION: Reimagining health, education and discovery to create unparalleled value
• OUR VALUES: Put People First, Be Bold & Think Differently and Do the Right Thing

As an employer, Jefferson maintains a commitment to provide equal access to employment. Jefferson values diversity and encourages applications from women, members of minority groups, LGBTQ individuals, disabled individuals, and veterans.