Medical Director – Emergency Preparedness and Business Continuity at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)

The Medical Director of Emergency Preparedness and Business Continuity (EP/BC) is a systems leader who, in partnership with the Director of Emergency Preparedness and Business Continuity, is responsible for setting and implementing an agenda that advances institutional goals and objectives aimed at maintaining situational awareness, improving systems preparedness, and insuring a highly reliable system response to all threats. The Medical Director has a line of sight that incorporates the objectives of the entire CHOP enterprise and executes Emergency Preparedness and Business Continuity-specific responsibilities from that perspective. As a member of the expanded leadership team in the Office of Preparedness, Prevention and Response (OPPR), they are responsible for maintaining and supporting the enterprise’s operational effectiveness. The Medical Director provides leadership and mentorship to the
Associate Medical Directors of Emergency Preparedness in the execution of institutional initiatives, with a focus on preparedness practices, safety, quality, operational excellence, financial stewardship, and in promoting interdisciplinary collaboration. Reporting to the Associate Vice President (AVP) of OPPR, the
Medical Director participates in and leads institutional projects and initiatives and acts as an institutional physician ambassador internally and externally.

• Key functions of the Medical Director role include:

1. Across all clinical areas, responsible for aligning with CHOP’s strategic objectives related to effective and efficient care, patient-family experience, growth, people, and research & innovation.
2. Active and contributing member of the OPPR leadership team, creating, contributing and advancing a leadership community and culture for a learning health system, as well as promoting diversity and inclusion and addressing issues of health equity.
3. Participate in recruiting, training, supervising, and mentoring associate medical directors, who have matrixed reporting to the Senior Medical Director and their specialty division chief. This will include setting performance goals and periodic/annual evaluation process.

Job Responsibilities:

Across the CHOP health system, partners with the Director to align Emergency Preparedness and Business Continuity with CHOP’s strategic objectives related to effective and efficient care, experience, growth, people, and research & innovation.

• Partners with the Associate Medical Directors to provide leadership and accountability for preparedness, quality, safety, operational excellence, and financial stewardship within the scope of Emergency Preparedness and Business Continuity.
• Provide physician leadership, subject matter expertise, consultation and participation in initiatives and projects (up to enterprise scale) related to preparedness and response.
• Guide implementation of activities and maintain involvement that continuously improve our operational readiness with consideration of the safety and quality of clinical care, business continuity, and operational excellence consistent with institutional priorities and initiatives, as well as regulatory standards.
• Models and promotes safety behaviors, teamwork and communication to create a respectful and resilient work environment that facilitates meaningful open dialogue.
• Leads and attends institutional, departmental, and area-specific preparedness and response meetings (such as IMTs and Taskforces). Participates in development and execution of after-action plans as needed. Responsibility may be delegated to associate medical directors.
• Ensures high risk clinical areas of the health system have designated support by senior or associate medical director for consultation.
• Delegates appropriately to associate medical directors in order to maximize impact and develop future leaders. Supports physicians with coaching around delegated tasks, with ultimate accountability at the level of the senior medical director.
• Provides coaching and mentoring to emergency preparedness staff, including clinical interpretation and leadership skills.
• Active and contributing member of enterprise committees to create, contribute and advance a clinical leadership community and culture for a learning health system, as well as promoting diversity and inclusion and addressing issues of health equity.
• As co-chair of Mass Casualty Incident Committee, ensure health system readiness for Mass Casualty and Multiple Patient Events, including training, education and drills to develop and evaluate preparedness. Provide medical leadership when able in the case of Mass Casualty Events and support after-action report development and implementation in the wake of events. Work with liaisons for highest risk areas to assist them in maintaining internal preparedness for these events
• Assist Director with leadership of Emergency Preparedness Committee ensuring stakeholders are aware of and embedded in all preparedness activities across the enterprise.
• Partners with Associate Medical Director(s) to provide guidance and development of the Emergency Preparedness Fellowship
• Provide subject matter expertise and leadership as Medical Director (or delegated to Associate) during any IMT
• Prioritizes and mobilizes health system initiatives associated with emergency preparedness and business continuity participates and delegates for project teams, improvement task forces, workgroups and committees at local, hospital and enterprise levels.
• Models, defines and promotes effective Associated Medical Director leadership spread throughout key areas in the institution, in the advancement of enterprise goals and objectives. This includes but is not limited to: Patient Safety and Employee Safety; Quality and Quality Improvement; Operational excellence, reliability and efficiency; Financial stewardship and value-based healthcare; Clinical Compliance, Performance Improvement & Effectiveness; Strategic & Enterprise Plan Initiatives.
• Promotes sharing of information, experiences and lessons learned between and among clinical areas across the health system. Acts as a resource to evaluate Emergency Preparedness practices when medical expertise beyond an Emergency Preparedness Planner is required. With the Director, oversees the monitoring of preparedness practices in all areas, including reviewing relevant dashboards and metrics. Supports a Fair and Just Culture that balances institutional learning and personal accountability.
• Acts as a resource for escalation of Emergency Preparedness concerns from clinical staff, collaborates with clinical, operational and support areas to address concerns and is accountable for resolution and/or further escalation to hospital and departmental leadership. Acts as a physician ambassador and spokesperson internally and externally representing Emergency Preparedness.
• Engages in activities to promote diversity and inclusion within CHOP and address health equity for the CHOP patient population.
• Participates in Regional, National, (and potentially International) Emergency Preparedness Organizations, representing CHOP and advancing enterprise goals and interests within these spheres.
• Participates in Regional Healthcare Coalition meetings and work, supporting regional preparedness and CHOP’s position as a stakeholder in this work, as well as championing the needs for children and families in our region.
• Maintains relationships with external stakeholders important for regional preparedness (eg. Philadelphia Department of Public Health, outside hospital preparedness leaders, State organizations involved in pediatric readiness such as PA-EMSC)

• Along with the Associate Medical Directors, build the national presence of CHOP Emergency Preparedness, including identifying and pursuing opportunities for participation in national Disaster Medicine and Emergency preparedness committees and organizations, as well as identifying areas for leadership within emerging disaster-related topic areas as they arise.
• Participate in recruiting, training, supervising, and mentoring associate medical directors, who have matrixed reporting to the Medical Director and their division chief. This will include setting performance goals and periodic/annual evaluation process.
• Supports onboarding of new physician leaders within Emergency Preparedness
• With Division Chief and AVP of OPPR sets annual performance goals for Associate Medical Director work and conducts Annual Evaluations with associate medical directors and supports their matrixed reporting relationship with relevant division chiefs as needed. Solicits feedback from others on performance of associate medical directors.
• Identifies professional development needs and other resources required by self and associate medical directors to ensure individual and program success, including leadership behaviors, service standards, leadership skills and competencies (team-building, communication), influence, accountability, mentorship of fellows committed to Emergency Preparedness, etc. Partner on leadership development, talent management, networking & education to increase Emergency Preparedness capacity, breadth & depth, leadership effectiveness.
• Along with the Associate Medical Directors, build the academic focus of Emergency Preparedness, including supporting current Emergency Preparedness Fellowship education, creating opportunities for education for current CHOP fellows and residents around Disaster Medicine and Emergency Preparedness topics, and planning around possible formal extensions of Disaster Medicine training.
• Along with Associate Medical Directors, explore grant opportunities to further advance the academic mission of Emergency Preparedness at CHOP and assist in grant development where appropriate.

Required Education and Experience

• Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) with seven (7)+ years’ progressive experience with at least 5 years leadership experience

Required Licenses and Certifications

• Medical License - in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania - upon hire - Required and
• Board Certification - Pediatrics or Pediatric Subspecialty- - upon hire - Required and
• Subspecialties with acute care responsibilities preferred.
• Degree in public health, epidemiology or related preferred

Additional Job Description

• Working knowledge of hospital practices and protocols as well as applicable regulations and guidelines.
• Tech savvy, facile with data analysis and interpretation. · Effective even in the face of ambiguity.
• Sound judgment, strong analytical & critical thinking skills; ability to synthesize information from multiple sources and translate that into the development, implementation and evaluation of programs in support of high quality patient care, safety & reliability and sound medical operations.
• Developed influence and interpersonal skills; ability to work with and through others to accomplish work outside span of control.
• Ability to appreciate and collaborate with a wide range of internal & external stakeholders from diverse cultural, professional, organizational and functional backgrounds.

Additional Technical Requirements

• Completion of core FEMA incident command courses required in the first 6 months, as well as any individualized certifications or training courses required based on candidate needs to ensure appropriate expertise for the role.