Chair, Department of Family Medicine

THE ORGANIZATION

Headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, IL, NorthShore University HealthSystem is ranked among the Best Hospitals in Chicago (U.S. News & World Report) and is also consistently named annually as one of the “Top 100” Hospitals in the country (IBM Watson Health).  NorthShore is a comprehensive, fully integrated healthcare delivery system with a large employed multispecialty group practice, numerous ambulatory facilities, as well as six hospitals.  Through strong organic growth as well as with recent acquisitions, NorthShore has nearly $3B in net revenues and employs approximately 17,000 people.  The system has over 3,000 affiliated physicians, including a multispecialty group practice of approximately 1,500 employed physicians, serving in over 150 sites of care.

As the primary teaching affiliate of the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, NorthShore is dedicated to excellence in its academic mission and supports teaching and research. Some 300 residents, fellows and medical students are at NorthShore facilities as part of the University of Chicago training program.  Medical research is supported by the NorthShore Research Institute, one of the top programs among multi-specialty independent research hospitals in the United States.

The integrated health system has significant capabilities in a wide spectrum of leading clinical programs, including: NorthShore Cardiovascular Institute, Kellogg Cancer Center, NorthShore Neurological Institute, NorthShore Orthopaedic & Spine Institute, Neaman Center for Personalized Medicine, High-Risk Maternity, and the NorthShore-Advocate Pediatric Partnership. NorthShore’s talented and dedicated teams, compassionate clinical care, advanced information technology and commitment to innovation enable it to execute on its vision of becoming “the most trusted and indispensable health partner throughout the communities we serve.”

NorthShore Hospitals by the Numbers:

• 61,000 Admissions
• 126,000 ED Visits
• 37,000 surgeries (IP, OP)
• 789 Beds
• 1.6 million physician office visits

Furthermore, at NorthShore University HealthSystem, diversity, equity and inclusion are at the core of our mission to support our teams to meet the health care needs of all the communities we serve - irrespective of race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status. We believe that by recognizing and embracing our differences we create an organization grounded in understanding that welcomes all to fully contribute.

DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY MEDICINE:  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The NorthShore Department of Family Medicine plays a central role in the organizations’ mission to “Preserve and Improve Human Life” and in the execution of NorthShore’s vision.  The Department of Family Medicine at NorthShore University HealthSystem provides superior primary care services to meet the preventive, acute, and chronic medical needs of patients, via a collaborative network of physicians and hospitals. Primary Care at NorthShore is delivered through the Primary Care Practice Network, an organized unit of Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, General Pediatrics, and General Obstetrics and Gynecology practitioners.  This group promotes collaborative workflows, clinical practice, and professional growth and development of the entire clinical team. The Department of Family Medicine cares for all NorthShore patients providing care for over 175,000 preventive, acute, chronic, and procedural encounters annually. 

Other specialty areas covered in the practice include:

• Primary Care Sports Medicine – through Orthopaedic Immediate Care and Orthopaedic clinics.
• Immediate Care – 20 locations throughout the Chicago and northern suburbs.
• Integrative Primary Care Medicine – incorporated into family medicine primary care practice.
• Obstetrics – providing training at NorthShore hospitals: at Evanston and Highland Park.

The Department of Family Medicine has experienced considerable growth over the past ten years.  Currently, there are 82 Family Medicine employed physicians in Faculty Practice Associates (NorthShore Medical Group), 32 Advanced Practice Nurses, two Physician Assistants, and 41 additional Family Medicine Physicians in the department. Members of the Faculty Practice Associates generate over $26 million self-generated funds per year.

Furthermore, the educational mission of NorthShore is supported through its academic affiliation with the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine.  As their primary teaching affiliate, NorthShore supports a Family Medicine residency, including an Integrative Medicine program, and Primary Care Sports Medicine fellowship. Minimally, the Department of Family Medicine has 18 residents and one fellow at any given time. The department also helps to advance the latest in research and education with our physicians and staff. Active research programs are an important part of the Department’s mission, resulting in several outstanding scientists conducting research in a number of Family Medicine subspecialty areas.

In summary, the Department of Family Medicine is an integral part of NorthShore University HealthSystem and will play a vital role in its continued growth and success.

POSITION OVERVIEW AND KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

The Chair, Department of Family Medicine reports to the President and Chief Executive Officer, NorthShore University HealthSystem.  The Chair is responsible for the effective administration as well as the strategic growth and development of the department. The Chair will be someone with great passion and enthusiasm for delivering the highest quality of care and will work tirelessly to advance the Department of Family Medicine as well as NorthShore as a whole, to the next level of excellence. This inspirational leader will be a part of an organization that encourages its employees to achieve career goals and maximize their professional potential.

This leader will cultivate strong trusting relationships within the department and more broadly throughout the NorthShore Medical Group, as well as with NorthShore’s many independent affiliated physicians. The Chair will recruit and retain world class clinicians and will help develop/mentor future physician leaders. Continually striving for high quality and expertise, by recognizing the incredible value brought to our organization, our patients, and our community by inviting diverse candidates to be a part of our team.

Further, the Chair fully supports the mission, vision, values, strategies and goals of the NorthShore University HealthSystem. The successful candidate will:

• Be a master clinician with an impeccable clinical reputation (the Chair will continue to practice on a limited basis).
• Be an experienced physician executive, ideally as a Chair, Vice Chair, or a Division Chief of a division of significant size with proven success in management of operations and effective administrative leadership.
• Have a proven track record of program growth / development of clinical services.
• Have demonstrated supervision of, or independent success of research activity.
• Be well-respected in the academic/teaching community.
• Be highly collaborative and team-oriented.
• Outstanding leadership skills – someone who can build consensus and esprit de corps, but also someone who can hold people accountable and have crucial conversations when needed in order to advance department and system-wide goals.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE / QUALIFICATIONS / TRAITS

• Unwavering integrity.
• Commitment to delivery of high-quality and compassionate care to all members of the community.
• Consistently demonstrate a proactive approach to leadership, including an open communication style, the ability to be direct, transparent and honest while exercising strong decisiveness and results orientation.
• Experience in advancing an inclusive culture that draws strength from our similarities while celebrating our differences.
• Champion ongoing and new initiatives to continue to build and support a more inclusive culture and embrace a widely diverse workforce.
• Effectively incorporate knowledge of the business side of medicine and experience providing a growth mentality and financial oversight to all relevant department responsibilities.
• Demonstrated comfort with transformation to achieve sustainable improvements in quality and business performance metrics.
• Outstanding interpersonal, communication and influence skills, enabling effective relationships with community physicians, nursing and other medical / surgical services, and hospital administration.
• Able to function in both an academic and community setting.
• Possesses strong clinical, teaching and research acumen.
• Strategic and innovative leader able to formulate philosophy, goals and ability to grow and develop clinical programs aligned with the system objectives.
• Monitors and acts to continuously improve the quality, efficiency and productivity of the department and fosters creative, innovative problem solving.
• Strong business acumen, understands the financial aspects of running a complex department and has experience in budget control and other management techniques.
• Ability to work and manage successfully in a complex matrixed organization.
• Demonstrated skill in recruiting, retaining and developing physician leaders, including setting performance expectations, safe workplace practices and development of programs that promote, shared responsibility, accountability, engagement and resiliency.
• Acts on behalf of customers, both internal and external, and takes personal responsibility for customer loyalty.
• Demonstrates behaviors consistent with the mission, vision and values of NorthShore University HealthSystem.

EDUCATION

The Chair, Department of Family Medicine will possess the following qualifications and attributes: 

• Graduate of nationally accredited and recognized medical school
• Board certification in area of expertise
• Eligible for medical licensing in the State of Illinois
• Minimum five (5) years of administrative experience as a Chair, Vice Chair, or Division Chief or comparable leadership position
• MBA or other similar advanced degree preferred

For consideration, please send a CV along with a cover letter to:

Susan Streeter, Managing Associate, Korn Ferry at

Susan.streeter@kornferry.com