Medical Director – Integrated Treatment Program

The Neighborhood Center, Inc.’s human service roots date back to 1905, when it began as a settlement house assisting immigrants. Today, the agency provides a full range of outreach, preventative, developmental and therapeutic human services for over 20,000 individuals in the local and surrounding communities.

CULTURE OF SUPPORT
The Neighborhood Center, Inc. recognizes that providing community mental health care is more difficult and complex than ever. Several levels of the clinic management team are licensed clinicians and understand the importance of providing a high degree of support. We seek to value staff by offering continuing education opportunities, schedule flexibility, scheduled paperwork time, and self care opportunities for high performers. Therapists have continuous access to program management and excellent administrative and clinical support in regards to credentialing, caseload management, scheduling, and billing. Clinicians have direct access to crisis support and Care Management for high needs cases.

Our agency’s focus on enhancing Evidence Based Practices has led to training opportunities in advanced clinical interventions for therapists that are not commonly available in community mental health settings including EMDR, DBT, and PCIT.

Join a dedicated and supportive team providing crucial services to our communities.

The Utica & Rome Area Communities/ Quality of Life ~These central New York communities are vibrant with close proximity to the beautiful Adirondack Mountains. Opportunities for activities such as hiking, kayaking, boating and snowmobiling, skiing and snowboarding abound. A wide variety of fine or casual dining experiences, artistic pursuits and concerts/theaters are available.

JOB DESCRIPTION: The Medical Director is responsible for leadership, quality assurance, oversight and overall medical management of the facility within the boundaries of state and federal regulations and accreditation standards. Responsibilities include planning, organizing medical and clinical practice; providing direct patient care and assisting other departments with direct interactions with physicians or medical staff both employed and contracted. The Medical Director establishes and promotes the professional, clinical and ethical value and standards to which all staff are expected to adhere.

Part Time without benefits: Flexible Schedule: max of 18.5 hours per pay period

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE:

• Defines protocols and assists in decision making pertaining to the medical care of patients that is consistent with current medical practice
• Acts as liaison between the agency and the medical community.
• Medical/Behavioral Health Education – provides psychoeducational resources and information to families, staff and the community.
• Assists key administrative staff of the Behavioral Healthcare Clinic(s) with development of reporting procedures designed to outline the specific tasks to be performed by medical staff.
• Assists key administrative staff of the substance use treatment facility services in defining service needs, policy priorities; operationalizes and executes an evaluating process (quality control).
• Performs performance assessments of medical staff, including peer reviews. Advises on appropriate assessment measures which relate to patient care and agency policy.
• Serves as a liaison between the medical staff, other clinic staff, division or corporate staff and organizational leadership.
• Provides linkage to professional and academic communities; accrediting and monitoring bodies and agencies; primary care health system and behavioral healthcare systems.
• Provides supervision of medical staff (may delegate supervision of administrative tasks such as time and attendance, scheduling of call, etc. to someone in administration but clinical supervision is done by the medical director)
• Functions as part of the treatment team, providing a leadership role or deferring when appropriate to the other experts on the team
• Ensures that all treatment is within best practices and meets established clinical standards.
• Provides leadership, along with other professionals in establishing treatment and standards of care within the institution.
• Provides consultation to staff regarding medical issues and medications
• Ensures that admission work, lab work, ongoing care is timely and appropriate. Provides and/or supervises all medical care that patients receive
• Prescribes and/or approves medications that are given to patients within the facility. Again, this approval/prescription is done within best practices and is individualized for each patient. The process may be done through other prescribers such as physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants, but the Medical Director ensures that standards and philosophy are consistent and appropriate.
• Consults with other specialists and refers as indicated
• Is involved in the hiring process of medical staff and approves of the clinical expertise of these new hires or develops a plan to ensure that standards clinical expertise is upheld
• Assists staff in developing plans of ongoing professional development
• Serves in a teaching capacity for training and development of other personnel
• Consults regarding difficult/controversial individual cases or situations
• Along with other clinical and administrative staff, ensures to the best of her or his ability that all discharges are within minimum standards of safety, even if they are not recommended such as AFA or administrative discharges
• Contributes to the Quality Improvement Committee through participation and recommendations.
• Provides indirect supervision of a multi-disciplinary team including but not limited to: Master’s level Social Workers and Mental Health Counselors, Psychologists, Community Mental Health Nurses, and support staff.
• Ensures compliance of certification regulations and other state, local and federal regulations in cooperation with the Assistant Executive Director and Compliance Officer.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Board Certified internal or family medicine with one or more of the following: certification by a) the American Society of Addiction Medicine, b) boarded by the American Board of Addiction Medicine and/or c) board certification in Psychiatry with added qualification of certification in Addiction Psychiatry.
• Training in empirically based treatment strategies, particularly newer generation psychopharmacologic interventions and medication management.
• Experience with cognitive, behavioral and short-term therapy, as well as demonstrated skills in intervening with life-threatening and psychotic clients.
• A demonstrated ability to work in an interdisciplinary setting.
• A broad knowledge of drafting clinical documents (evaluation, service plans, etc.) and an ability to write legibly.
• Skill in and ability to communicate effectively with staff, families and the community.
• A demonstrated ability to collaborate closely with clinical and non-clinical staff.
• Waiver to prescribe buprenorphine (or obtains waiver to do so within 4 months of hire)

AND

• A license to practice medicine in New York State and three (3) years’ experience working with the target populations and their families.

At The Neighborhood Center, Inc, we are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetics, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other legally protected status.

We believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential to the success of our organization and are dedicated to creating a workplace that welcomes and values all individuals. We strive to create a culture that fosters respect, openness, and understanding, and we encourage people from all backgrounds to apply for open positions.

Our commitment to equal opportunity employment applies to all aspects of employment, including recruitment, hiring, promotion, transfer, compensation, benefits, training, and termination. We are committed to creating a work environment that is free from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, and we expect all employees to share in this commitment.

If you are passionate about our mission and believe that you would be a good fit for our organization, we encourage you to apply for any open positions that match your qualifications and experience. We look forward to reviewing your application and getting to know you better.