Chief of Emergency Medicine and Program Medical Director

Position Profile, Chief of Emergency Medicine and Program Medical Director

The Position

The Chief and Program Medical Director will be responsible for the leadership of the Charlotte and Lewis Steinberg Emergency Department (ED) in partnership with the Program Director, Emergency Services. This innovative, high-functioning ED is one of the busiest in the province. This position jointly reports to the Vice President, Medical and Academic Affairs and the Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee (MAC), and to the Vice President, Clinical Programs, Quality, Long Term Care and Chief Nursing Executive, with accountability for a budget of $14 M. The Chief works closely with other clinicians and leaders at North York General Hospital, regional partners, and patients and families, to provide exceptional health services to our diverse communities.

The NYGH ED is recognized as a leader in Emergency Medicine. The Department has a culture of collegiality and is committed to clinical and academic excellence. NYGH ED physicians are national leaders in undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing medical education. The Department trains approximately 150 residents and over 50 medical students per year. This includes clinical supervision and a comprehensive curriculum of over 50 sessions per year. Additionally, the NYGH ED coordinates Canada’s largest Emergency Medicine Conference (Emergency Medicine Update). Ongoing advancement of our academic mission is one of our strengths.

This role is currently being filled by an Interim Chief and is available as soon as the successful candidate is able start. The position is comprised of two major roles, Chief, Department of Emergency Medicine and Program Medical Director. Recognizing the complex nature of the program, its interface with almost every area of the hospital, its size and need for ongoing development and evolution, the Search Committee would be open to ideas around structure, leadership partnerships and other ways of making the position attractive to those who might otherwise consider it too comprehensive.

Equity, diversity and inclusion are a core part of the culture at NYGH. In keeping with our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Framework we encourage applications from people of diverse backgrounds.

The Chief works in partnership with:

• Board of Governors
• Medical Advisory Committee
• Senior Leadership Team
• Program Directors
• Other Departmental Chiefs and Medical Directors
• Physicians, Staff and Volunteers
• Patients and Family Advisors
• Learners
• Hospital Foundation
• Other external partners and stakeholders:
  • Ministry of Health and Ontario Health
  • Chair of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
  • Partner Hospitals
  • Professional Associations
  • Education and Training Institutions
  • Other community partners

Key Leadership initiatives for the new Chief/Program Medical Director will be to:

• Advance the Program’s strategic vision, aligned with NYGH’s mandate, continuing to build on the Department’s strengths with a focus on education, research and clinical excellence.
• Identify, develop and implement key program initiatives to further enhance quality of care and patient satisfaction, in the context of increasing patient volumes and complexity.
• Strengthen and enhance excellent relationships with academic partners and collaborators.
• Enhance the Quality Improvement (QI) Program for the Department.
• Continue to develop an equity-informed strategy for the recruitment and retention of highly skilled professional staff.
• Continue to evolve a culture of collegiality and collaboration by partnering with internal and external clinicians, teams, stakeholders and leaders to ensure optimal team performance and the provision of the highest quality and safest care to patients and families.
• Continue to foster a culture that supports the principles of Choosing Wisely Canada
• Contribute to effective master planning for the Emergency Department, including plans for the new patient care tower.
• Lead the Department’s expansion as our new facilities are completed including the Patient Tower and our new Long Term Care Building.  Take advantage of these expansions to innovate in our clinical, teaching and research roles.
• Continue to champion work with Primary Care and our OHT – North York Toronto Health Partners (NYTHP).

Program Medical Director:

Various components include:

Clinical Care

• Oversee the quality of care provided by the clinicians in the Department.
• Participate as an active staff member in the Department, including a clinical case load and on-call services as part of the regular rotation/schedule.
• Ensure the implementation of best practices and maintain currency in skills required by staff to ensure optimal outcomes for patients and families.

Administrative / Oversight

• Review the credentials and recommend privileges for Departmental members.
• Manage physician scheduling.
• Ensure compliance with by-laws, policies, objectives and rules.
• Effectively manage any performance or professionalism issues that may arise among the credentialed medical staff.
• Represent the Department on the Medical Advisory Committee and the Program Leadership Committees.
• Oversee the clinical and non-clinical practices of the non-physician professional staff in the Program and give input to the appropriate oversight leaders.

Education & Academic Development

• Coordinate the academic program and establish a process for continuing medical education within the Department.
• Ensure staff participation in hospital initiatives such as professional development, physician engagement, and other projects and programs.
• Be actively involved in the University Department and encourage and support academic promotion and advancement of members of the Department.
• Encourage and support teaching, education and research initiatives in keeping with NYGH’s strategic plan.

Health Human Resources

• Recruit physicians as appropriate.
• Conduct regular performance reviews of the members of the Department with regard to their activities, goals and advancement.
• Provide career development coaching for the members of the Department.

Leadership & Community Engagement

• Understand the needs of the North Toronto community and support programs to create health equitably across the community.
• Foster collegial and constructive relationships with other leaders at NYGH and in the broader health care system.
• Facilitate effective communication within the Program and with other programs and services in the hospital, other Chiefs, the foundation, external stakeholders, and with the broader healthcare system.
• Foster a culture of safety, teamwork and learning at NYGH.

Experience/Competencies

• Possess a high level of professional competency both clinical and leadership experience.
• Champion service excellence and patient safety.
• Have excellent analytical skills.
• Have the ability to adapt to continually changing priorities.
• Be aware of program planning and evaluation.
• Demonstrate the ability to achieve goals and objectives within specified time frames.

The Person

Required attributes of the candidate fall into the following categories:

Management

• Demonstrate ability to balance patient & provider priorities.
• Be highly strategic in setting objectives and goals in the context of and contribution to the strategic plan for the organization.
• Understand the broader issues in health care systems and incorporate and adjust for relevant issues.
• Demonstrate ability to manage complexity and associated logistics.
• Be committed to strong Nurse –Physician collaboration.
• Demonstrate the values of fiscal responsibility.

Medical

• As an outstanding role model for a practising Physician, have strong clinical expertise and clinical leadership skills, including the ability to recruit physicians.
• Have the ability to:
  • Mentor clinicians and future medical leaders.
  • Commit to Physician Wellness as a high priority.
  • Demonstrate expertise in quality and safety improvement.
  • Dedicate the Department to the academic mission in teaching and research with an emphasis on professionalism and promotion.
  • Embrace new innovative approaches to care.

Communication & Leadership

Be a:

• Visionary, visible and forward thinking leader with the goals of developing a unified Departmental vision and strategy that fosters intra-divisional collaboration and teamwork.
• Strong communicator with passion, commitment, transparency, positivity and competency.
• Leader that enables Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
• Leader with courage and integrity to navigate difficult conversations.
• Leader that embraces complexity.

Education/Professional Credentials

The new Chief and Medical Director will be an experienced, inclusive and visionary leader with experience in leadership, clinical practice, strategy and operations. Recognized as an effective change leader, you have demonstrated your commitment to improving service and operations in a clinical setting, as well as participating in broader systems-level change.  The new Chief will be willing to advance the organization’s Mission and Vision, through academic excellence and a demonstrated commitment to patient- and family-centred care.

• Licensed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, or eligible for licensure.
• Certified in Emergency Medicine through either the College of Family Physicians of Canada or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (or equivalent).
• Eligible for an academic appointment at the University of Toronto.

The Organization

North York General Hospital (NYGH) is a community academic hospital affiliated with the University of Toronto. In 2022, NYGH was named #1 community academic hospital in Canada by Newsweek Magazine for the fourth year in a row and named one of Canada’s Best Employers by Forbes Magazine. NYGH was most recently recognized as one of the World’s Best Smart Hospitals for adopting advanced technologies for patient care. Through partnerships, collaboration and academic endeavours, NYGH fulfills its purpose of Making a World of Difference. With a strong financial track record over the last 10+ years, NYGH continues to advance excellence in care while ensuring fiscal accountability and efficiency.

NYGH serves a local population of approximately half a million people in North Central Toronto. The 2021-22 services included:

• 107,070 Emergency visits
• 27,050 inpatient visits
• 446 acute care beds
• 4,663 live births
• 192 long-term care beds
• 29,744 surgical procedures
• 95,056 diagnostic/lab tests
• 331,711 outpatient and virtual care visits

In 2021-22, we had 4010 staff, 839 active physicians, 251 volunteers, and 40 patient and family advisors. North Central Toronto is one of the city’s most diverse and rapidly growing areas. Our catchment area is comprised of a growing seniors’ population, with more than 50% of people being immigrants to Canada. Additionally, 53% of our catchment population identify as visible minorities and 20% are considered low-income.

North York General’s 2020-2025 Strategic Plan, Thinking Beyond

NYGH is guided by a transformational five-year Strategic Plan, Thinking Beyond.  This Plan will place NYGH at the forefront of quality, equity and safety, enabling exciting new partnerships to drive improvements in population and community health. Integrated care is central to our Plan, with an ambitious Clinical Services Plan, Digital Health agenda, and NYGH’s leadership in North York Toronto Health Partners, one of the province’s first and largest Ontario Health Teams (OHTs). The Plan enables NYGH to shape the health system of tomorrow through a commitment to exceptional learning and world-class, applied health research. Over the next five to 10 years, we will embark on the most significant expansion and modernization in the organization’s 50 plus history.  Here are our four Strategic Directions:

People come first in everything we do. At NYGH, we view people in the broadest sense – patients, families, caregivers, community members, physicians, staff, learners and volunteers. We are proud to have a comprehensive framework for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion to guide our actions. Our Wellness framework, based on international best practices, cultivates the health and wellbeing of our team. We seek empowerment for all in an environment of discovery and development.

Driving the future of integrated care. Partnerships and collaboration are vital to our work and to our pursuit of continuous improvements for our people and patients. We are part of the Central Region, and our broad partners include North York Toronto Health Partners, our local Ontario Health Team; Ontario Health;  the Ministry of Health of Ontario; and City of Toronto. We partner with Sinai Health through the Schwartz/Weisman Emergency Medicine Institute, a not-for-profit research, education and health policy institute. We have expanded our digital platforms and virtual care to help achieve health and wellness throughout our communities.

Being an exceptional learning community. With a passion for learning and teaching, we provided clinical placements for 1349 learners in 2021-22. We have five on-site Research Chairs guiding us to leverage data and analytics and carry out applied community health research on a provincial, national, and international scale. The University of Toronto is a significant partner in our scholarly endeavours.

Investing in a better tomorrow. We are undergoing the largest expansion in our history, with a new, advanced inpatient care tower and a new long-term care home and integrated seniors’ campus of care, across the road from the hospital. These are being designed with the guidance of our Patient Experience Partners and our Environmental Sustainability Committee.

For more information about NYGH, please visit our website at: http://www.nygh.on.ca.

Qualified applicants are encouraged to respond in confidence to Dr. Kimberly Wintemute – Chair of the ED Chief Search Committee, c/o Sarah Tagieva via email to [email protected]