Director of Admissions Acute

Overview

At Southwood Children’s Behavioral Healthcare, we are dedicated to providing specialized behavioral health treatment for children and adolescents facing emotional, behavioral, and psychiatric challenges. Located in the Pittsburgh area, Southwood offers a comprehensive continuum of care designed to meet the unique needs of youth and their families, including inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization, and educational services. As the Director of Admissions, you will play a vital leadership role in connecting patients to life-changing care, overseeing admissions operations, strengthening referral partnerships, and ensuring seamless access to treatment while supporting the hospital's growth and mission.

This is an opportunity to join a passionate team focused on improving the lives of young people through compassionate, evidence-based care. The Director of Admissions will lead a high-performing admissions department, collaborate closely with clinical and business development teams, and drive census growth while ensuring an exceptional experience for patients, families, referral sources, and community partners. With a strong reputation for serving children and adolescents with complex behavioral health needs, Southwood offers a meaningful environment where leadership directly impacts access to care and patient outcomes.

PURPOSE STATEMENT:

Direct the facility admissions activities by driving the admissions process, developing, implementing, and maintaining revenue-generating strategies.

Responsibilities

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Provide leadership to the Admissions Department and cultivate the function of the department as an integrated team.
• Implement the strategic plan of the business development and marketing department as it pertains to admission to the facility and direct potential clients to treatment.
• Provide leadership in addressing quality management issues related to crisis triage, evaluation, intake, and admission to the facility.
• Assign/distribute scheduled evaluations, intakes, or admissions as dictated by request and hospital census.
• Conduct quality assurance and quality improvement programs for all crisis triage, evaluation, intake, and admission services.
• Perform follow-up communication functions and generate recommendations for organization leadership.
• Develop and implement program policies and procedures that guide the provision of services.
• Responsible for the hiring decisions for Admissions Department personnel, providing orientation, in-service, and continuing education programs for department staff and other internal positions responsible for crisis triage and/or evaluation services.
• Serve as a clinical liaison with referral sources.
• Work to improve efficiency and quality in delivering services within the department, responsible for developing and meeting departmental goals and objectives.
• Ensure that the department is up to date on and compliant with new laws and regulations.
• Recruit, train, and supervise staff.
• Manage the finances of the department, and prepare and monitor budgets and spending to ensure the department operates within allocated funds.
• Determine and implement admissions best practices, promote the hospital, and maintain a satisfied patient base.

OTHER FUNCTIONS:

• Perform other functions and tasks as assigned.

Qualifications

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE/SKILL REQUIREMENTS:

• Master’s Degree in Human Services Field or RN nursing license required.
• Three plus years’ experience in healthcare-related admissions preferred.
• Three years of work experience as a Director of Admissions in a Behavioral health facility preferred.

LICENSES/DESIGNATIONS/CERTIFICATIONS:

• May require licensure by the state for this position.
• CPR and de-escalation/restraint certification required (training available upon hire and offered by facility).
• First aid may be required based on state or facility.

ADDITIONAL REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS:

While this job description is intended to be an accurate reflection of the requirements of the job, management reserves the right to add or remove duties from particular jobs when circumstances (e.g. emergencies, changes in workload, rush jobs or technological developments) dictate.

We are committed to providing equal  employment opportunities to all applicants for employment regardless of an individual’s characteristics protected by applicable state, federal and local laws.

AHCORP

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