Assistant Medical Director – ODR

Assistant Medical Director – Office of Diversion & Reentry

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS) Office of Diversion Reentry (ODR) is hiring an Assistant Medical Director to help oversee psychiatric services, including community-based treatment, acute and subacute psychiatric care delivered by ODR partners, and forensic psychiatry engagement with Mental Health and Criminal Courts. The Assistant Medical Director will also oversee a team of medical providers delivering primary care and enhanced care management.

The position, at the level of Senior Physician, Health Services, offers a challenging and exciting mix of responsibilities that drive the largest Mental Health Diversion program in the country and an innovative, integrated care delivery model.

ODR is a leading-edge program that diverts people with serious mental, physical and/or behavioral health needs away from the LA County Jail and into community-based care. Since it began in 2015, ODR has launched many successful programs and helped safely remove thousands of individuals from jail. Through a harm reduction and public health approach, ODR also has run successful community-based diversion programs to keep both adults and youth from being arrested and incarcerated.

ODR is a critical part of the County’s plan to decarcerate and address mass incarceration and achieve Care First goals. The assistant medical director will work in close partnership with DHS adult Correctional Health Services (CHS), the Olive View Medical Center (inpatient psychiatric unit), Justice Partners (Courts, Public Defender, Alternative Public Defender, District Attorney), and numerous contracted community-based providers and partner organizations. This role reports to the Director of the Office of Diversion and Reentry – currently Dr. Clemens Hong, Director of Community Programs and Interim Director of the Office of Diversion and Reentry.

The salary range for Psychiatrists is: $22,750 – $30,501 Monthly / $273,000 – $366,012 Annually with a generous County Megaflex benefits package.

JOB DESCRIPTION:

Provide Clinical Leadership for ODR

• Serve on the ODR leadership team and provide clinical leadership for ODR in support of ODR programs.
• Serve as clinical liaison to internal (e.g., Correctional Health Services, Olive View Medical Center inpatient psychiatric unit, other DHS hospitals and emergency departments) and external (e.g., community-based providers, the Department of Mental Health, Department of Public Health Substance Abuse Prevention and Control, Department of State Hospitals) ODR partners.
• Represent ODR in County and non-County stakeholder meetings, as necessary, including Board engagements, with CEO or other County Departments, justice and community stakeholder groups.
• Support program development, implementation, and maintenance, with a focus on clinical components. In particular, work with ODR leadership to support activities to optimize clinical operations and outcomes and develop and manage clinical key performance indicators and clinical quality improvement.

Oversee Forensic Psychiatry

• Provide oversight of ODR’s court-based work, including coordinating with justice partners (e.g., judges, District Attorney, Public Defenders) to support the division of ODR clients from LA County Jail.
  • Provide or oversee provision of medical forensic opinion on candidacy and ongoing client participation in ODR programs.
  • Provide or oversee provision of competency to stand trial evaluations, including off-ramp evaluations.
• Oversee a team of forensic psychiatrist and psychologist to establish candidates and content of conditional release requests and affidavits.
• Testify and train staff in court work, testimony and forensic report-writing. May also oversee forensic specialists in these activities.
• Collaborate with justice partners to address operations, policies and protocols.
• Provide or oversee provision of services as the Community Program Director designee for persons found felony incompetent to stand trial.
• Maintain current understanding and capacity to utilize (to achieve ODR’s mission) California mental health law.

Oversee General Psychiatric Care

• Oversee psychiatric services, including community-based treatment, acute and subacute psychiatric care delivered by ODR partners, including community-based partners, County and over 40 County and contracted (e.g., part-time, moonlighting) psychiatrists, and the Olive View Medical Center Inpatient psychiatric unit, and Correctional Health Services.
• Oversee and supervise ODR’s County and contracted psychiatrists in delivery of psychiatric care or psychiatric care recommendations in the community, court, and jail settings; address complex treatment and care coordination/management issues including crisis general psychiatric treatment issues directly and working with over 40 County and contracted (e.g., part-time) psychiatrists working in ODR community, Court, and jail settings.
• Oversee psychiatric hand-off and reentry from the jail to community, including ensuring care coordination, stabilization at their new community-site of care, and connection to appropriate medical and psychiatric care teams upon release. Support ODR provider communication with jail and community-based providers to ensure seamless transition of care upon reentry and ensure documentation in appropriate clinical record systems to ensure.
• Oversee provision of ODR long-acting injectable antipsychotics in jail and community.
• Serve as the signatory for specialty mental health services certification.
• Via UCLA faculty appointment, supervise residents moonlighting directly with ODR and rotating from al LA are residency programs (Harbor-UCLA, Olive View-UCLA, LAC+USC, UCLA NPI, UCLA VA, UCLA Kern).
• Manage ODR’s MedCall – medication tracking system – release medication system and community pharmacy relationships supporting for ODR clients diverted from jail and in the community setting.
• Ensure high quality of care and fidelity to the ODR clinical delivery model, including overseeing/supporting quality assurance and quality improvement activities.
• Oversee General Medical Care with support from ODR Physical Health Providers.
• Provide clinical support and leadership to CalAIM Enhanced Care Management, Community Supports, Specialty Mental Health, CalAIM Incentive and PATH programs.
• Oversee a primary care medical team, including physicians, nurse practitioners and medical care.
• Oversee a team of nurses, including registered nurses and Licensed vocational nurses and support management of their scope of work.
• Oversee medical hand-off and reentry from the jail to community for ODR participants, including ensuring care coordination, stabilization at their new community-site of care, and connection to appropriate medical and psychiatric care teams upon release. Support ODR provider communication with jail and community-based providers to ensure seamless transition of care upon reentry and ensure documentation in appropriate clinical record systems to ensure.
• Oversee and support management of communicable diseases in congregate care settings (e.g., COVID, flu, monkey pox) including working with public health partners on surveillance and outbreak management, as necessary, and supporting vaccination efforts.
• Partner with CHS primary care on projects, workflows, patient handoff issues.
• Act as Assistant Medical Director for the Ambulatory Care Network and attending/Assistant Medical Director for all ORCHID (electronic medical record) functions, including working with the ORCHID team and medical informatics on build and enhancements to optimize documentation and the opportunity to claim Medi-Cal services, including specialty mental health, drug Medi-Cal, fee-for-service Medi-Cal and managed care Medi-Cal claiming, as appropriate.
• Partner with DHS Ambulance Services on ODR transports.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

• Performs administrative duties such as preparing budgets for the section, determining equipment and supply needs, addressing personnel-related issues, developing and revising work procedures for expediting workload or improving levels of service, and screening work.
• Formulates policies and plans and directs the programs and medical work of the section or assists in such activities for a division of a medical department.
• Examines, diagnoses, and prescribes treatment for patients and reviews the care prescribed by staff physicians, resident physicians, and interns.
• Participates in the training of interns and resident physicians.
• Coordinates the work of the section with that of other medical and paramedical services.
• Confers with consultants regarding care of patients and medical and diagnostic work performed and coordinates the work of consulting physicians with the work of the section.
• Supervises the maintenance of records and the compilation and preparation of reports.

QUALIFICATIONS:

We are looking for:

• A facilitative leader with experience leading clinical programs or operations.
• An experienced, licensed psychiatrist with significant experience working with or overseeing programs that serve justice involved populations and significant experience supervising or leading clinical teams, including less experienced psychiatrists (e.g., residents) and other mental health professionals.
• Experience coordinating care with physical health and substance use disorder treatment providers.

ADDITIONAL DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS INCLUDE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING: 

• Board certification by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology with added or special qualifications in forensic psychiatry.
• Completion of a fellowship in forensic psychiatry.
• Membership on the Los Angeles Superior Court Approved Panel of Psychiatrists and Neuropsychologists.
• Experience developing and implementing clinical programs in large public systems, especially experience in LA County.
• Experience working with Medicaid Managed Care Plan and/or Medicaid Behavioral Health Programs.
• Experience working with adult correctional health services providers.
• Experience supporting or managing clinical quality improvement.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS: 

• Completion of a residency approved by an American Specialty Board in one or more designated specialties* or equivalent training** -AND- One year of experience in medical practice, post graduate training, teaching or investigative work.
• California State Physician and Surgeon’s Certificate authorized by the Board of Medical Examiners of the State of California.
• A valid California Class C Driver License or the ability to utilize an alternative method of transportation when needed to carry out job-related essential functions.

PHYSICAL CLASS III:

Moderate: Includes standing or walking most of the time, with bending, stooping, squatting, twisting, and reaching; includes working on irregular surfaces, occasionally lifting objects weighting over 25 pounds, and frequent lifting of 10-25 pounds.

TO APPLY:

Interested candidates should attach your CV & a letter of interest below.

You must also apply for the Senior Physician Exam. If you meet the minimum requirements and are scored in the top tier, you will be placed on a list. We will be using that list to select individuals for consideration to the role. Apply here.

If you have any questions, please contact Rose Sunderland at rliu@dhs.lacounty.gov.