Overview: Wellspan Health has initiated a national search to identify and recruit top-notch candidates to compete to become its Vice President & Chief Medical Officer – Behavioral Health. Reporting to Wellspan Health’s Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer - Wellspan Medical Group, the VP & CMO – Behavioral Health will lead the transformation, development and growth of this unique specialty service array that includes ambulatory, outpatient, and community based behavioral health care for children and adults.  

 

As Vice President & Chief Medical Officer – Behavioral Health (CMO-BH), you will collaborate with your dyad partner, the Vice President of Operations, to be responsible for the leadership, direction and operational oversight for Wellspan’s Behavioral Health Service Line that includes more than 40 programs delivered from 20 outpatient sites across central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland.  Your direct reports include the current 56 Physicians and 61 Advanced Practice Providers (APP). Your leadership team includes the Medical Directors within the Service Line including both mental health and addictions.

 

As CMO-BH, you will provide leadership for strategic and operational clinical planning for Behavioral Health in collaboration with your dyad partner, key internal and external stakeholders, as well as community organizations serving the behavioral health population. You will serve as the clinical leader for the Behavioral Health Service Line to ensure that care is of high quality and is aligned and integrated across the system.  You will lead the service line’s clinical improvement efforts to ensure the widespread deployment of evidence-based practice for safe, effective, equitable, patient-centered and efficient care.  As the physician service line leader, you will promote reliable and standard processes; encourage positive and collaborative relationships with providers and assure Physician/Advance Practice Provider (APP) alignment.  As an organizational leader, you will promote service and employee engagement; meet financial expectations (both in terms of cost and operating income); and develop new programs and services in response to community need. Importantly, you will serve as a system resource on matters relating to behavioral health services and will contribute creative ideas and problem-solving to assure effective utilization of service line and system resources. Consistent with Wellspan’s commitment to leadership that is fully engaged in state-of-the-art, patient-centered care, you will maintain an active clinical practice within the Behavioral Health Service Line.  

 

Wellspan Behavioral Health is emerging as a dynamic service line that is challenged to meet the burgeoning demand for behavioral health services in the communities across the region.  As its CMO, your initial focus must be internal – setting/re-framing performance expectations; coalescing & developing your team; developing operations and improvement plans with clear objectives and steps for achievement; reinforcing a commitment to quality through structures and priorities; improving basic workflows; establishing and supporting clear lines of authority and accountability for performance. 

 

Wellspan Behavioral Health’s current strategic areas of focus include:

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• Developing appropriate community-based care alternatives to emergency room care

• Expanding child – adolescent services and infrastructure to support the demand for care

• Assuring Outpatient access at the right place, via the right intervention at the right time – leveraging technology and other newer solutions

• Integrating behavioral health with all services lines

 

You will be expected to have immediate impact on the performance of the behavioral health service line and play a strategic role in improving the health of the region.

 

The Organization: WellSpan is a not-for-profit, community-based integrated health care system serving South Central Pennsylvania and Northern Maryland. The System has moved to a regional model and is comprised of three regions: East, Central and West including eight hospitals respectively; WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital, WellSpan Good Samaritan, WellSpan Philhaven, WellSpan Surgery & Rehabilitation Hospital, WellSpan York Hospital, WellSpan Gettysburg Hospital WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital and WellSpan Waynesboro Hospital. The System also encompasses 20,000 employees, 1,860 employed physicians and APPs.

 

WellSpan has more than 200 patient care locations that offer services such as diagnostic imaging, laboratory, rehabilitation, primary care, retail pharmacy, walk-in health care, durable medical equipment and other essential services. York Hospital, the system's flagship 585-bed hospital is the region's only accredited Level 1 Trauma Center and is also recognized as a Comprehensive Stroke Center with an accompanying endovascular neurosurgery program. WellSpan is fiscally sound, has revenues of $3.3 billion and experienced operations gains (excluding financial stimulus funds) of approximately $225 million through June 2021. WellSpan provided more than $187.9 million in combined charitable, uncompensated care (2021). The pursuit of more coordinated, convenient, comprehensive and community focused health care services remain the paramount objective for the System.

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Throughout its history, WellSpan has pursued exceptional quality and financial stability, which has enabled it to fulfill its mission of "Working as One." With a mature and innovative physician organization quality management process, the move to a single EHR/revenue cycle platform (EPIC), and deep experience in care management, WellSpan is strategically well positioned in this marketplace. WellSpan also has strong academic relationships with Johns Hopkins Medicine, Penn State Health, University of Maryland and Drexel University College of Medicine. Partnerships with respected organizations also include Hanover Hospital and Hospice & Community Care (formerly Hospice of Lancaster County), as well as hundreds of private-practice community physicians.

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There have been significant commitments to enhance behavioral health. For more than 65 years, WellSpan has focused on treating the whole person – mind, body and spirit. They offer services for all ages and various levels of care, including hospitalization, day programs, outpatient counseling and services in the home, school and community. To adequately address the community need for behavioral health services, WellSpan will need to enhance the behavioral health service line’s strategic priorities, making adjustments that improve agility and innovative solutions, enhance cultural alignment and establish process rigor toward operational performance.

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To adequately address the community need for behavioral health services, WellSpan will need to enhance the behavioral health service line’s strategic priorities, making adjustments that improve agility and innovative solutions, enhance cultural alignment, and establish process rigor toward operational performance. Tracking performance indicators around quality, safety and productivity will be crucial. The strategic plan calls for a systemness and a requirement to innovate quickly and effectively in the delivery of behavioral health services, which will demand greater thought leadership, including broad perspectives and experience working in complex integrated delivery and finance systems.

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WellSpan 2025 and the vision to lead in value has created a pull to deeper systemness, integration and operating company approach.