Chief Medical Officer

Overview
REMSA Health/Care Flight is seeking a highly experienced Chief Medical Officer (CMO) to lead our medical operations, ensure compliance with healthcare standards, and advance clinical excellence across our emergency medical services. The CMO will own the Clinical Quality Improvement program, direct the systems education and training program as they relate to clinical care, and ensure the EMS systems medical practices remain compliant with appropriate regulations.

Responsiblities:

 Executive & Strategic Leadership

• Serve as an advisory member of the Executive Leadership Team, contributing physician-level judgment to strategic planning, clinical and quality care, service-line development, and system growth.
• Assume all responsibilities described in state statute and administrative code as the Medical Director of record for REMSA Health and Care Flight and ensure the same for any designated Associate/Assistant Medical Director(s), if any acting on the CMO's behalf.
• Serve as the system's principal clinical spokesperson and advisor to the executive leadership team, Board of Directors, government oversight authority, and regulatory agencies.
• Represent the organization in contract negotiations, requests for proposal, and franchise/exclusive operating area renewal processes where clinical performance, medical oversight structure, or scope of practice are at issue.
• Lead physician recruitment, credentialing, privileging, and performance evaluation for all medical direction staff.

Medical Oversight & Clinical Governance

• In collaboration with the division medical directors, if any, develop, review, and annually approve all clinical protocols, standing orders, and treatment guidelines using current evidence-based and consensus-guideline practice (e.g., AHA, ACS-COT, national EMS clinical guidelines).
• Authorize and maintain the controlled substance program, including DEA registration used for ordering and secure storage, diversion-prevention auditing, and periodic review of security procedures.
• In collaboration with the division medical directors, if any, review sentinel events, critical incidents, and reported deviations from approved protocols; direct clinical corrective action, remediation, or retraining in coordination with clinical quality and operations leadership.
• In collaboration with the division medical directors, if any, provide direct online (real-time) and offline (retrospective) medical control and ensure a reliable base-station/physician-consultation structure is always available to field crews.
• In collaboration with the division medical directors, if any, approve scope-of-practice expansion, new clinical programs, and equipment/formulary changes for ground and air ambulance operations.

Quality, Safety & System Performance

• Own the Clinical Quality Improvement (CQI) program, establishing a data-driven, non-punitive culture of continuous improvement across all lines of service.
• Define and monitor clinical performance measures aligned with the performance-based agreement and nationally benchmarked outcomes — including cardiac arrest survival with favorable neurologic outcome, STEMI and stroke system time intervals, sepsis and pediatric bundle compliance, airway and pain management success rates, and patient experience.
• Partner with operations and communications center leadership to ensure clinical performance is achieved concurrently with contractual response-time compliance, recognizing that a high-performance system is measured on clinical outcomes, not speed alone.
• Utilize NEMSIS-compliant data, dashboards, and analytics to benchmark performance against peer high-performance/PUM systems and to guide protocol revision and resource allocation.
• Oversee a structured patient safety and risk-mitigation program, including trigger-based chart review, near-miss reporting, and root-cause analysis.
• Report quality and safety performance regularly to the Board, government oversight authority, and Prehospital/Regional Medical Advisory Committee(s).

Education, Training & Workforce Development

• Direct the system's education and training programs as they relate to clinical care, including onboarding, continuing education, and high-risk/low-frequency skills maintenance.
• Where applicable, serve as Medical Director for a CoAEMSP-accredited paramedic education program, including review and approval of curriculum, instructional quality, student progress, and graduate competency across cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains.
• Support and mentor an EMS Fellowship or equivalent physician training program, where present, in coordination with academic/hospital partners.
• Provide direct teaching, simulation, and case-review sessions for clinicians, communications center staff, and base-station physicians.

Regulatory, Legal & Compliance

• Ensure the EMS system's medical practices remain in continuous compliance with state EMS statute, administrative code, licensure/certification requirements, and any federal regulation applicable to controlled substances, HIPAA, and telehealth/telemedicine used in prehospital care.
• Support corporate compliance, risk management, and legal counsel in the investigation, response to, and resolution of clinical complaints, litigation, and regulatory inquiries.
• Ensure medical-legal documentation, informed consent/refusal, and destination/triage protocols comply with applicable trauma, stroke, STEMI, and specialty-care system designations.

Mobile Integrated Health, Community Paramedicine & Innovation

• Provide medical oversight and strategic direction for Mobile Integrated Health/Community Paramedicine programs, alternative destination and treat-in-place/telehealth-enabled care, including protocol development and outcome tracking.
• Evaluate and pilot emerging clinical technologies, therapies, and care models (e.g., extracorporeal resuscitation referral pathways, community-based behavioral health response, value-based/risk-sharing payment arrangements) to advance system performance and patient access.
• Serve on electronic health record and clinical technology selection and governance committees.

Special Operations & Specialty Programs

• Provide medical direction for special operations teams, which may include Tactical EMS, Urban Search and Rescue, Technical Rescue, and wilderness/ski patrol or event medicine programs.
• Oversee medical direction for rotor- and/or fixed-wing air medical operations, including altitude physiology, flight-specific protocols, and crew resource management as applicable.
• Serve as a member of the Incident Management Team during declared mass casualty incidents, disasters, or public health emergencies, and support regional/state disaster medical response planning.

Community & Stakeholder Relations

• Build and maintain productive relationships with receiving hospitals, specialty-care centers, the medical community, public health authorities, and partner public-safety agencies.
• Serve as medical liaison to the news media and community stakeholders on matters of clinical care and system performance.
• Represent the system in state, regional, and national EMS physician organizations (e.g., NAEMSP, ACEP EMS Committee, NASEMSO).

Financial & Operational Stewardship

• Partner with executive leadership on the medical affairs budget, staffing model for medical direction, and capital/equipment planning for clinical care delivery.
• Provide clinical input on equipment, pharmaceutical formulary, and supply standardization to balance clinical efficacy, safety, and cost.

Qualifications/ Experience Requirements

• Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO), unrestricted license to practice medicine in Nevada, with eligibility for licensure in California.
• Board certified (or eligible, with certification required within an agreed timeframe) in Emergency Medicine. A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in EMS medical direction, with prior experience as a system, regional, or agency medical director.
• Demonstrated experience providing medical oversight in a high-performance and/or public utility model EMS system.
• Current provider status or ability to obtain prior to hire in Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) or Prehospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) or Advanced Pediatric Life Support (APLS), and Neonatal Resuscitation course.
• Working knowledge of Federal and State EMS statutes and administrative code (e.g., NRS/NAC 450B or equivalent) and the regulatory relationship between the EMS authority, the medical director, and the Prehospital/Regional Medical Advisory Committee(s).
• Valid Driver’s license required with a clean driving record.

Preferred Qualifications

• Completion of, or enrollment in, an ACGME-accredited EMS Fellowship.
• Graduate-level training or equivalent experience in healthcare management, business, or public health (e.g., MBA, MPH, MMM) supporting executive-level budget, contract, and strategic responsibilities.
• Experience serving as Program Medical Director for a CoAEMSP-accredited paramedic education program.
• Experience serving as Program Medical Director for a CAMTS-accredited air medical program.
• Peer-reviewed publication, research, or grant experience in EMS systems of care, resuscitation science, or mobile integrated healthcare.
• Prior experience with dispatch medical oversight (Emergency Medical Dispatch/ProQA or equivalent) and Accredited Center of Excellence dispatch accreditation.

Company & Location Overview
REMSA is a dedicated regional emergency medical services organization committed to delivering exceptional air and ground advanced life support (ALS) and critical care ambulance services within Washoe County, Nevada. As a non-profit public utility, REMSA fosters a dynamic environment and excellence in emergency healthcare delivery. Live in one of America's greatest outdoor playgrounds! Reno/Sparks is nestled between the Great Basin and Sierra Nevada mountain range, adjacent to Lake Tahoe. REMSA/Care Flight employees enjoy outdoor recreation year-round.