Kitchener Downtown Community Health Centre -- Executive Director

KITCHENER DOWNTOWN COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRE

Executive Director

The Kitchener Downtown Community Health Centre (KDCHC) is an interdisciplinary primary health care centre dedicated to working with diverse cultural groups, people who are homeless, newcomers and refugees, youth, seniors and others with a focus on the downtown area of Kitchener. We work with a wide range of clients and specifically with clients who experience barriers to access, be that economic, educational, language, sexuality, mental health and substance use.

 

KDCHC is a not for profit organization primarily funded by the Waterloo Wellington LHIN. It has a community based volunteer Board of Directors that is responsible for oversight of the whole organization. CHC Staff are all salaried, including Physicians.

 

KDCHC has the most complex client population being served in primary health care in the Region. Having a hub of services supports both clients and providers to serve the people rostered with KDCHC, including clients coming from outreach services in the Downtown core. The team works in a collaborative manner across disciplines and with community partners and community services to provide client centred and assets based care.

 

Mission

Act as an agent of change to build community capacity and deliver client-centred primary health care, with emphasis on people experiencing barriers to access.

 

Vision

A healthy community where Every One Matters

 

Guiding Principles

Client Centred Collaborative Care – A journey as defined by the individuals, groups and community (client) in partnership with KDCHC towards goals.

 

Health Equity – Addresses the distribution of health opportunities and resources within KDCHC and the community to reduce inequities in health status.

 

Anti-Oppression – Reviews and evaluates KDCHC operations to identify and remove any practices that perpetuate oppression on an individual or systemic basis.

 

KEY PRIORITIES

• Work closely with the KDCHC Board of Directors to fulfill key strategic goals
• Lead the CHC through the development of an agency alliance for outreach services in the KW4 Sub-Lhin region.
• Manage and support the staff through leadership transition
• Strengthen and sustain relationships with government agencies, in particular the WWLHIN, as well as, community partners.
• Build and strengthen the senior management team through an alignment of its organizational structure.
• Build capacity and responsiveness through staff engagement, innovation and partnership development.
• Address increased program administration requirements and the need for additional clinical support to ensure KDCHC can effectively build capacity to meet client complexity and panel size requirements

ACCOUNTABILITY

Reports to:

• The Board of Directors

Direct Reports: 

• Director of Community Programs and Engagement
• Director of Human Resources and Special Projects
• Digital Communications Administrator
• Finance Manager
• Office Services Administrator
• Program Manager Primary Care

Indirect Reports:

• Approximately 50 full-time and part-time staff

Key Working Relationships:

• Management Team (Directors and Managers)
• Board and Board Committees
• Community partners and organizations
• WWLHIN and other Government contacts and funders such as Public Health
• Colleagues in related social service and community health organizations

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

Executive Leadership

• Provides assistance to the Board as it develops the KDCHC’s vision, mission, values and strategic goals
• Provides assistance to the Board as it monitors performance indicators set out in accountability agreements with government Ministries e.g. MSAA
• Working with the management team and other staff, establishes short-and long-term goals to direct the continual growth and development of the health centre in services, programs, staff, facilities and budget allocation
• Establishes and implements the Strategic Plan in the daily operations of the organization through sound and progressive operational plans. Oversees the evaluation of the Plan implementation and management
• Ensures that the KDCHC’s mission and vision are communicated both internally and externally
• Provides inspirational and strategic leadership to the management team and ensures communication to and engagement of the entire organization
• Monitors changing trends and conditions in the community as well as government priorities and policies and assists the Board in making changes to health centre mission and vision, as well as board policies and plans
• Oversees program and service evaluation and development of continuous quality improvement systems
• Ensures a culture of excellence and best practices in all aspects of the KDCHC programsand operations
• Working closely with the management team to identify, analyse, and problem solve situations that impact or may affect the organization’s ability to achieve its goals

Operational Planning and Management

• Ensures that operations and activities are carried out in compliance with government laws and Board policies while meeting organizational goals and objectives
• Ensures that operations meet accreditation standards established by the Canadian Centre for Accreditation
• Maintains an efficient and effective operation of the organization through the management team, ensuring responsibility, accountability and functional coverage of all major aspects of the organization
• Ensures systems are developed and refined to meet organizational needs and functions that are person-centred
• Ensures the Board is apprised of all risk management issues and other key issues that may impact the organization
• Reports regularly to the Board, ensuring that it has all necessary information to meet their governance responsibilities
• Oversees the development of data collection and retrieval systems and ensures regular reports are provided to internal and external users and funders for program evaluation
• Oversees the systematic maintenance and confidentiality of records and files
• Ensures the safety, security and good condition of buildings owned and/or rented by the KDCHC
• Ensures the proper policies, procedures, control documentation and reports are in place for staff, clients, volunteers and tenants

Financial Management

• With the management team, sets budgets and ensures budgetary controls, ongoing monitoring and analysis are completed
• Oversees policy recommendations and ensures timely decisions regarding the budget
• Provides financial statements and analysis to the Board on a monthly/quarterly basis
• Ensures statements and reports are prepared for auditing purposes
• Ensures that the Board receives regular financial reports and updates

Risk Management

• Ensures that the Board is advised of all risk management issues and other key issues that may impact the organization
• Evaluates, in broad terms, the potential costs and benefits of a project, proposal, or strategy
• Ensures that risks and opportunities have been identified and evaluated
• Provides regular, reliable and comparable reports to the Board of Directors on risks which include:  reputation/image; financial security, sustainability and growth; advocacy activities and service provision.
• Ensures is a strong focus on health and safety of staff and client safety

Communications and Public Relations

• Ensures a strong public image is maintained. Promotes the organization and its programs to external stakeholders to keep them informed of the work being done by the organization
• Serves as spokesperson and KDCHC ambassador representing the organization in the community and with the media
• Represents the organization on various community/city-wide committees
• Actively maintains and fosters positive community relations, responds to concerns and complaints, and provides information and support to community organizations, government and media
• Ensures systems are in place for timely and appropriate flow of information from the community to the management team, related staff and Board (community engagement)

Human Resources and Board and Volunteer Management

• Oversees organization wide human resource planning in order to meet operational needs
• Oversees the development and implementation of all HR policies, procedures and programs, ensuring equity, cost effectiveness and compliance with applicable legislation are in place
• Supports the maintenance of participatory management and positive employee relations and quality of working life at the KDCHC
• Supports motivation of employees through establishment of measurable goals and key performance indicators
• Hires, oversees, and ensures the accountability of all Directors (management) and provides performance evaluations based on established goals and objectives
• Provides indirect supervision of all staff
• Recommends professional development for management
•  Organizes appropriate Board and committee training, development and orientation (largely delegated)

Advocacy         

• Provides advocacy and advocacy leadership to the management team and Board
• Participates in relevant meetings, presentations and related activities in the community
• Oversees the preparation of briefs and correspondence to government and other relevant constituencies on major issues of concern

Health and Safety       

• Oversees and ensures compliance with all aspects of the Occupational Health and Safety Act
• Ensure the physical structure and equipment of KDCHC is sound and safety is maintained
• Ensures that initiatives are in place that support employees' psychological health and safety
• Ensures that efforts are made to meet standards set out in the Accessibility for Ontarions with Disabiliities Act (AODA)

Partnership Development/Community Engagement

• Provides leadership to the management team and Board in establishing the partnerships, alliances and networks necessary to successfully deliver on expected results
• Engages key community stakeholders to build support for plans and actions focused on the social determinants of health in a manner consistent with the centre's mission, vision and values

POSITION COMPETENCIES

• Values and Ethics: Models, promotes and demonstrates support for the core values of KDCHC through words and actions. 
• Leadership: Motivates and leads others in achieving the long-term vision and strategic directions of KDCHC, linking KDCHC principles with strategic focus.
• Strategic Thinking:  Integrates vision and strategic directions into realistic plans for programs and services.
• Engagement of key organizational stakeholders:  Involves relevant people, organizations and partners in developing shared goals, executing plans and delivering results.
• Management Excellence: Delivers results by maximizing organizational effectiveness and sustainability.  Develops systems and practices to ensure a healthy, productive workplace.
• Communication: Uses a variety of tools and skills to effectively communicate with all stakeholders.Client Service: Understands and anticipate the diversity of client needs (e.g. diverse cultures and socio-economic backgrounds and lived experience) and integrates services from a health equity perspective.

Professional Competencies

• Masters degree in Health Administration, Business or Public Administration or the equivalent
• Ideally eight (8) years of progressive management experience, preferably in the community health/social service sector
• Knowledge of the community health centre model of care
• Experience working with people who experience barriers to service including those from diverse cultures and socio-economic backgrounds.
• Sound knowledge of the social determinants of health
• Experience working in a values-based organization
• Experience leading a combined interdisciplinary professional and community-based services team
• Experience leading a management team

Technical Competencies

• Ability to facilitate participatory decision making
• Ability to determine and direct the organization towards organizational priorities
• Provide inspirational and strategic leadership to staff
• Motivates management, staff and Board to work in a team-oriented environment
• Assesses systems and develop structures to accomplish goals
• Experience working with a policy governance Board, preferably one that follows the Carver model
• Has a clear understanding of trends and issues impacting organizational goals
• Sound knowledge of change management
• Knowledge of best business practices in operations, finance, and human resource management
• Experience in strategic and operational planning
• Experience in program monitoring and evaluation
• Promotes the organization to external stakeholders at the executive level
• Demonstrated leadership and advocacy skills in working with government departments
• Ability to build mutually beneficial relationships and networks between internal staff teams and external partners and funders to support organization’s goals
• Capacity to lead the management team to plan, implement and evaluate strategy
• Demonstrated knowledge of legislation affecting community health services

Behavioural Competencies and Working Style

• Ability to provide motivational, enthusiastic leadership
• Demonstrated ability to lead inclusive, participatory teams
• Demonstrated experience responding to and working with external stakeholders
• Ability to impact and influence change
• A strategic and visionary thinker
• Natural relationship builder and networker
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills
• Demonstrates diplomacy and tact and respect when working with others
• Demonstrates initiative and identifies opportunities for improvement
• High level of organizational ability
• Passionate believer in community health care and the role of the social determinants of health
• Ability to multitask and manage shifting priorities

APPLICATION INFORMATION