Regional Medical Director, Renal

Job Summary

Come work as a Regional Medical Director, Renal with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH)!

Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) is looking for a Regional Medical Director, Renal. This role is expected to have a time commitment of 5 hours per week.

Reporting jointly through the Vice President, Medical and Academic Affairs to the Senior Executive Team and through the Executive Director to BC Renal, the Regional Medical Director, Renal provides strategic senior medical leadership, and evaluates the planning and delivery of the regional renal services. This is done in accordance with the vision, mission, values, and goals of the organizations involved in delivering care, and in alignment with VCH Strategic Plans, Ministry of Health (MoH) mandated deliverables, PHSA, and best practice quality standards.

This role is responsible for providing an integrated, organization-wide system that will result in better outcomes and improved quality of patient care for VCH continuum across acute kidney disease and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Additionally, it will maintain a high-functioning partnership among internal and provincial partners to achieve regional goals, implement regional policies and procedures, optimize resources, align services, evaluate quality improvement initiatives, and standardize protocols and guidelines across VCH.

The Regional Medical Director, Renal will ensure awareness and consultation relating to BC Renal policy, population planning, resource allocation, service, capital planning and direction on treatment modalities.  The Regional Medical Director ensures close collaboration with Communities of Care (CoC) leadership and other partners responsible for delivering health care services, achieving service quality, and meeting volume and metrics standards. The Regional Medical Director, Renal ensures consultation with academic leadership to support research and innovation.

Guided by a population health approach, the Regional Medical Director, Renal in partnership with BC Renal, designs and evaluates kidney services to meet the diverse needs of the VCH population across life stages, securing a high-quality, safe, and integrated continuum of care. This work aligns with VCH’s commitment to Indigenous Cultural Safety, Anti-Racism, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and Planetary Health.

Key Accountabilities

With direction from the Vice President, Medical and Academic Affairs, this role is accountable for the following:

Ensure Equitable and Timely Access to Culturally Safe Care Across VCH

• In close collaboration with the Indigenous Health teams and other key partners such as the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), continue to build and enhance culturally safe and trauma-informed care across the continuum of care.
• Create an overview of the services provided across the regional, clinics, hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis for chronic kidney disease and acute kidney injury services, summarizing key patient/client/resident services, physical infrastructure, and provider resources for all sites.
• Engage communities, populations, patients/clients/residents, and the public to reflect their needs in the development of regional plans, particularly where significant change is anticipated.
• Identify, prioritize, and implement opportunities to improve efficiency, coordination, access and integration of services along the continuum of care across the region with special attention to equitable access to care, populations with higher CKD incidence, rural and remote populations and the need for a comprehensive planning and program approach for acute kidney injury within acute care facilities.
• Review and implement the tiers of service across the region in partnership with PHSA and BC Renal.
• Where gaps exist, advocate for VCH population needs within BC Renal’s provincial planning, resource allocation and contracting framework.

Ensure Consistent, Low-Carbon, and High-Quality Standards of Care

• Co-lead key strategic projects and initiatives including:

o          Inter-regional capacity management in partnership with PHSA.

o          Leading cross-regional quality improvement initiatives.

o          Facilitating regional safety event reviews.

o          Facilitating equity through team-based models of care, outreach, and virtual care across the region, including rural and remote communities.

• Consistently identify opportunities to improve health outcomes and quality standards, matching services against needs.
• Work closely with Academic Leadership to facilitate discussions on developing innovative strategies for teaching, learning, and research opportunities.

Coordinate and Align Local, Regional, and Provincial Strategies and Policies

• Collaborate strategically with the Division Heads, VCH & PHC, relevant site leads, senior medical directors, and others to ensure their perspectives are represented across BC Renal’s committees and working groups. As applicable, conduct onsite visits across Communities of Care.
• Co-lead regional strategic planning for the region within the context of the MoH, VCH strategic plan, ensuring recognition and alignment with these and the CoC strategies, including all clinical and academic components.
• Influence and persuade partners to align efforts and achieve regional goals through communication and engagement.
• Oversee strategic investments in consultation with the Vice President, Medical and Academic Affairs and the Senior Executive Team.
• Establish regional processes and outcome targets, developing key indicators for monitoring and reporting to support meeting strategic goals and objectives, while providing status updates to the CoCs and senior leadership.
• Direct and monitor the activities of working groups and subcommittees.
• Coordinate and chair the Regional Committee meetings to discuss relevant regional issues and ensure communication among the parties participating in the delivery of services within the region.

Ensure comprehensive VCH representation on provincial BC Renal Governance tables for Each Service Within the Health Authority

• Represent VCH interests to inter-regional, provincial, and national interest groups as lead representative, and ensure appropriate VCH representation for each of BC Renal’s provincial and service committees.
• Act as a spokesperson for VCH as required and participate in relevant committees and boards.
• Perform all other related responsibilities as required.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• A Medical Degree with specialty in adult Nephrology and licensed as a practicing Nephrologist for a minimum of five years and certification or licensure with the appropriate regulatory colleges as required for Eligibility for medical staff privileges or CMP within VCH.
• A member in good standing with the VCH Renal team.
• A minimum of 5 years recent medical leadership experience in leadership roles in a health authority or comparable setting, preferably in an academic health science center.
• Advanced degree in medical education, healthcare administration or a related field is favored.
• Eligibility for a faculty appointment with the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine or the Simon Fraser University School of Medicine is required.

Closing Statement

At Vancouver Coastal Health, our vision of healthy lives in healthy communities inspires us and our values and pillars guide us. We support equitable practices, diverse teams, and inclusive environments, which are integral to creating welcoming spaces where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and feel supported. We encourage applications from equity-deserving communities, including Indigenous Peoples and members of racialized groups, people with disabilities and people of all gender identities and expressions and sexual orientation.

Interested applicants please submit a resume and covering letter, including alignment to VCH values and pillars, by 23 November, to:

Olivia Todd

Manager, Talent Acquisition, Medical Staff

medstaffcareers@vch.ca