Responsibilities- A central responsibility of the COO is to identify and resolve operational barriers that cross traditional departmental or service-line boundaries.
- The COO ensures that enterprise standards are consistently implemented while maintaining the flexibility necessary to address the unique clinical and operational needs of the facility.
- The COO serves as the senior facility operations leader and is accountable for integrated execution across the hospital.
- CEO-Adult Hospitals establishes overall strategy, organizational priorities, executive accountability, and performance expectations across University Hospital and Providence Hospital.
- Enterprise Executive Directors establish functional/service-line strategy, standards, performance expectations, workforce principles, and improvement priorities across both adult hospitals.
- Facility COO ensures those strategies and standards are successfully implemented within the facility, coordinates activities across functions, resolves operational barriers, and holds local leaders accountable for execution.
- The Chief Operating Officer is accountable for integrated operational performance and execution within the assigned hospital.
- Enterprise Executive Directors maintain functional leadership responsibility for their assigned service lines or functions across University Hospital and Providence Hospital, including strategy, standards, performance expectations, and enterprise priorities.
- The COO and Executive Directors operate through shared accountability: Executive Directors define and advance enterprise functional strategy, while the COO ensures effective implementation, cross-functional coordination, and operational performance at the facility level.
- Matters involving competing priorities or unresolved accountability are escalated to the CEO - Adult Hospitals.
- Key Relationships: CEO - Adult Hospitals, facility nursing executive, facility medical staff and physician leadership, Executive Director - Emergency Services, Executive Director-Digestive Health, Executive Director-Heart & Vascular Services, Executive Director - Imaging Services, Executive Director-Support Services, Executive Director-Finance, Executive Director-Bed Capacity Management & Patient Flow, Quality, safety, regulatory, HR, IT, facilities, and other system leaders
- Provide executive oversight of daily hospital operations and ensure reliable execution across clinical, ancillary, and support functions.
- Maintain continuous awareness of hospital operating conditions, including census, capacity, ED demand, procedural activity, staffing, patient flow, and operational constraints.
- Identify and resolve operational barriers requiring coordination across multiple departments or service lines.
- Ensure effective escalation of significant operational, safety, staffing, capacity, or service concerns.
- Establish disciplined operating routines and accountability mechanisms across the facility.
- Ensure hospital resources are aligned with patient demand and organizational priorities.
- Translate adult hospital enterprise strategy into actionable facility operating plans.
- Partner with enterprise Executive Directors to implement standardized processes, performance expectations, and strategic initiatives.
- Ensure appropriate adoption of enterprise standards while identifying legitimate facility-specific operational requirements.
- Identify variation in performance or practice and work collaboratively with enterprise leaders to address underlying causes.
- Serve as the principal link between enterprise functional strategy and facility-level execution.
- Provide executive leadership for facility throughput and capacity performance.
- Partner closely with the Executive Director of Bed Capacity Management & Patient Flow to reduce avoidable delays and optimize inpatient capacity.
- Drive multidisciplinary accountability for ED boarding, admission flow, bed turnover, discharge progression, and length of stay.
- Lead facility response to capacity constraints and surge conditions.
- Ensure barriers to patient progression are escalated and resolved quickly.
- Support coordinated patient movement between University Hospital and Providence Hospital when clinically and operationally appropriate.
- Partner with the CEO and finance leadership to achieve facility operating and financial objectives.
- Monitor labor, productivity, supplies, purchased services, and other major operating expenses.
- Hold leaders accountable for budget performance and operational productivity.
- Identify opportunities to improve efficiency while maintaining quality, safety, and patient experience.
- Support annual operating and capital planning.
- Evaluate operational and financial implications of new programs, services, and investments.
- Ensure leaders understand the relationship between operational decisions and financial performance.
- Promote a culture in which safety is an operational priority and leaders proactively identify and address risks.
- Partner with nursing, physician, quality, and safety leadership to improve clinical and operational outcomes.
- Ensure timely response to significant patient safety and operational concerns.
- Advance high reliability and continuous improvement principles.
- Drive accountability for patient experience and service excellence.
- Conduct regular leadership rounding and maintain visible executive presence throughout the facility.
- Develop a high-performing facility leadership team.
- Establish clear expectations and accountability for operational leaders.
- Coach and develop directors and other facility leaders.
- Partner with enterprise Executive Directors regarding performance and development of leaders within their respective functions.
- Promote employee engagement, retention, recognition, and professional development.
- Foster a culture of collaboration rather than departmental silos.
- Ensure succession planning for critical operational leadership positions.
- Develop strong working relationships with medical staff leadership and key physician stakeholders.
- Partner with physicians to identify and address operational barriers affecting patient care.
- Support physician recruitment, program development, and strategic growth initiatives.
- Improve operational processes affecting physician efficiency and satisfaction.
- Partner with physician leaders on patient flow, procedural capacity, quality, and service-line performance.
- Support implementation of strategic growth initiatives at the facility.
- Identify operational capabilities necessary to support new programs and increased volumes.
- Participate in facility master planning and capital prioritization.
- Partner with enterprise service-line leaders to develop and operationalize growth strategies.
- Evaluate capacity, infrastructure, workforce, and support-service requirements associated with program expansion
- Completes all mandatory department, educational and hospital requirements
- Adheres to current Infection Control and Safety Standards
- Regular and prompt attendance
- Ability to work schedule as defined and overtime as required
- Related duties as assigned
Additional InformationEmployees must be in a regular position, working 20 hours or more per week (.50 FTE or greater) to qualify for benefits.
Qualifications- Bachelor's Degree in healthcare administration, business administration, nursing, public health, or related field from an accredited institution as approved and accepted by the University of South Alabama and 10+ years of progressively responsible healthcare leadership experience, including substantial operational leadership responsibility within a complex hospital or health system. Required
- Demonstrated experience leading complex hospital operations, managing multidisciplinary teams, improving operational performance, and partnering effectively with physicians and clinical leaders. Required
- Master's Degree in healthcare administration, business administration, nursing, public health, or related field. Preferred
- Experience within a tertiary, academic, high-acuity, or multi-hospital environment. Preferred
- Comparable combination of education and experience may substitute for the above requirements.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities- Key Performance Measures: Key Performance Measures:
- Hospital quality and safety performance • Hospital quality and safety performance
- Patient experience • Patient experience
- Observed and risk-adjusted length of stay • Observed and risk-adjusted length of stay
- ED boarding and patient flow • ED boarding and patient flow
- Discharge efficiency • Discharge efficiency
- Hospital capacity/utilization • Hospital capacity/utilization
- Workforce productivity • Workforce productivity
- Employee turnover and engagement • Employee turnover and engagement
- Premium labor utilization • Premium labor utilization
- Operating margin/EBITDA performance • Operating margin/EBITDA performance
- Budget performance • Budget performance
- Procedural and service-line growth • Procedural and service-line growth
- Operational reliability • Operational reliability
- Regulatory readiness • Regulatory readiness
- The COO is accountable for the performance of the facility as an integrated operating system rather than direct ownership of every individual service-line metric. The COO is accountable for the performance of the facility as an integrated operating system rather than direct ownership of every individual service-line metric.
- Leadership Competencies: Leadership Competencies:
- Enterprise thinking combined with strong facility-level execution • Enterprise thinking combined with strong facility-level execution
- Ability to lead through influence and shared accountability • Ability to lead through influence and shared accountability
- Exceptional operational judgment • Exceptional operational judgment
- Strong financial and business acumen • Strong financial and business acumen
- Ability to manage complex and competing priorities • Ability to manage complex and competing priorities
- Data-driven decision making • Data-driven decision making
- Strong physician and nursing partnerships • Strong physician and nursing partnerships
- Ability to lead organizational change • Ability to lead organizational change
- High degree of executive presence and visibility • High degree of executive presence and visibility
- Talent development and succession planning • Talent development and succession planning
- Collaborative problem solving • Collaborative problem solving
- Accountability for measurable results • Accountability for measurable results
- Ability to operate effectively during periods of significant organizational change • Ability to operate effectively during periods of significant organizational change
- Commitment to safety, quality, patient experience, and workforce culture • Commitment to safety, quality, patient experience, and workforce culture
