Job Description

About NYC Health + Hospitals

NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation. We are a network of 11 hospitals, trauma centers, neighborhood health centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, and correctional health services. We are a home care agency and a health plan, MetroPlus. Our health system provides essential services to 1.4 million New Yorkers every year in more than 70 locations across the city's five boroughs. Our diverse workforce of more than 42,000 employees are uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers.

NYC Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health Services is one of the nation’s leading correctional health care systems in quality of and innovations to care, and access from pre-arraignment through compassionate release. In-jail services include medical, nursing, mental health, substance use treatment, social work, dental and vision care, discharge planning, and reentry support. In addition to providing direct patient care in the jails, CHS leverages the resources of the nation’s largest municipal health care system to help discharged patients successfully return to their communities. CHS is also a pivotal partner in New York City’s criminal justice reform efforts.

Duties & Responsibilities

Approximately 25% of new admissions per year to the NYC jail system will receive care on the mental health service. The service strives to provide safe, holistic and evidence-based therapeutic interventions for the diverse range of mental health issues that face the population, from serious mental illness to the natural struggles that accompany incarceration. The service provides some of the most comprehensive and unique treatment modalities in the country, including specialty housing units for individuals with serious mental illness, a 24-hour on-call psychiatric service, robust creative arts programming, a strong DBT training program, clinics in each of the facilities, substance use treatment, integrated re-entry services, and relationships with multiple training institutions throughout the city.

The Unit Chief is the mental health administrative lead in each facility or designated area, including general population and therapeutic housing units. Under the direction of the Director of Mental Health Administration, this full-time position coordinates, and helps manage, mental healthcare delivery in one or several of the jail facilities in New York City. This includes ensuring provision of services within the timeframes and quality benchmarks outlines by CHS MH policies, providing administrative support to staff who are assigned to their clinical area, maintenance of patient records and compliance with monitoring requirements. S/he will act as the principle administrative liaison between mental health disciplines, as well as pharmacy, medical and nursing. As a member of the facility management team, the Unit Chief will collaborate closely with the Department of Correction (DOC) leadership and CHS Operations in order to ensure service delivery and meet patient needs. A major component of this position will be providing effective, inspiring, and clinically-informed administrative leadership and organization.

Responsibilities Include:

• Manage the daily operations of the program and site; ensure that patient and program goals are met in accordance with established H+H policies and procedures
• Ensure adequate multi-disciplinary mental health staffing in the facility
• Coordinate therapeutic services; oversee the referral, intake and assignment of cases
• Participate in relevant quality improvement initiatives; assure completion and accuracy of all data completion, report progress and plan of action in monthly QI meeting
• Provide orientation and training to all new hires
• Provide administrative and clinical support to mental health staff; proactively identify and resolve performance issues and manage personnel issues with discipline supervisors
• Support staff development; teach and ensure completion of departmental trainings designed to enhance the skills of staff relevant to their position
• 10% of time must be devoted to direct clinical care, some of which may include intake evaluation, suicide watch assessment, and clinical follow up’s as needed.
• Organize and facilitate monthly mental health staff meetings with other MH discipline leadership
• Attend and actively participate in multiple interdisciplinary meetings per week, both within the mental health department and with other services, including DOC
• Supervise the collection and appropriate dissemination of statistical reports, staffing patterns, bed utilization, timesheets, payroll activities and HR paperwork.
• Maintain on-call availability for urgent or emergent administrative issues that arise off-hours
• Other duties as assigned by the Director of Mental Health Administration or her/his designee

Minimum Qualifications

1. Possession of a valid license and current registration to practice in a mental health discipline issued by the New York State Education Department (NYSED); and

2. Three (3) years of progressively responsible experience in a health care setting or regulatory agency administration, with an emphasis on development and evaluation of mental health delivery services; one (1) year of which must have been in an administrative, managerial or supervisory capacity.

Department Preferences

• Excellent interpersonal communication skills and ability to work collaboratively with other disciplines
• Experience with quality improvement practices in health care settings
• Strong leadership skills with ability to identify staff needs and provide mentorship and education to suit those needs
• Excellent organizational skills, including working knowledge of database and spreadsheet design and maintenance
• Strong clinical skills working with individuals with mental illness

Benefits

NYC Health and Hospitals offers a competitive benefits package that includes:

• Comprehensive Health Benefits for employees hired to work 20+ hrs. per week
• Retirement Savings and Pension Plans
• Paid Holidays and Vacation in accordance with employees' Collectively bargained contracts
• Loan Forgiveness Programs for eligible employees
• College tuition discounts and professional development opportunities
• College Savings Program
• Union Benefits for eligible titles
• Multiple employee discounts programs
• Commuter Benefits Programs

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