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Job Description

Mary Greeley Medical Center
Vice President, Quality Improvement Officer
Ames, IA

Mary Greeley Medical Center (MGMC), a regional referral center licensed for 220 beds based in Ames, Iowa, has engaged Witt/Kieffer in its search for a Vice President/Quality Improvement Officer (VP/CIO). The Medical Center is an unusually sophisticated and progressive hospital, given its size and location. That sophistication is due to a strong multi-specialty medical staff of nearly 200 members, and a strong partnership with McFarland Clinic, a 185-physician multi-specialty clinic with more than 30 mid-level providers and 22 locations. The main McFarland Clinic campus, with the majority of the physician members, is physically attached to the hospital via a walkway. Other affiliated physician practices include the Doran Clinic for Women, the Iowa Heart Center, and the Wolfe Clinic specializing in eye care with more than 20 clinics throughout Iowa.

The hospital CEO and Board share a strong commitment to patient safety and quality improvement, and believe that a senior management role dedicated to quality improvement and a focus on these issues will be a critical factor in competing with other local and regional healthcare facilities. In addition, the hospital is planning to convert its patient information systems to Epic, creating an excellent opportunity to redesign the patient care experience, and the hospital has already been working with the Studer Group to embed a culture of caring and accountability throughout the hospital. It is a natural extension of this program to develop a "balanced scorecard" of sorts to measure both effectiveness and efficiency, and to enforce the use of formal process improvement techniques such as Lean, Six Sigma, IHI collaborative, etc. to yield improved performance metrics.

The Vice President/Quality Improvement Officer (VP/QIO) will report to the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the Medical Center, and will establish a culture of quality measurement, transparency, and accountability. The VP/QIO will provide leadership, strategic guidance and management direction to send a strong message regarding value improvement, with a focus on quality outcomes that will encompass patient care delivery, hospital facility operations, and patient/physician/employee satisfaction. The VP/QIO will be a key member of the hospital's executive management team, and will also have a formal liaison responsibility with the medical staff, and particularly McFarland Clinic. The VP/QIO will develop quality improvement standards and will be the organization's conscience to ensure that such standards are met with the discipline needed to follow through and fully implement the resulting necessary changes to meet such standards.

The ideal candidate will have an advanced degree and clinical training and credentials, a strong knowledge of and experience with performance improvement processes, tools, and techniques, and successful experience implementing a performance management program, quality improvement program, or related outcomes measurement program in a healthcare setting.

We would appreciate receiving recommendations or nominations of qualified candidates. You may be assured that all nominations will be handled with the utmost of professional courtesy and confidentiality. For more information please contact Janet Guptill at 630-575-6126 or send resumes to the attention of Janet Guptill or Karen Otto at marygreeleyqio@wittkieffer.com .