MEDICAL DIRECTOR POSITION DESCRIPTION

The Medical Director is a senior physician leader and integral member of the Emergency Medicine leadership team at Waterloo Regional Health Network (WRHN). Reporting to the Vice President, Medical & Academic Affairs, the Medical Director provides clinical leadership within the Emergency Department, advancing high-quality, patient-centred care while supporting organizational priorities, academic excellence, and system integration.

In dyad partnership with the Clinical Director, the Medical Director is jointly accountable for:

·        Delivering safe, high-quality, patient-centred care aligned with evidence-based standards and evolving clinical practice

·        Achieving and reporting on quality indicators, key performance metrics, and program outcomes

·        Ensuring efficient, effective, and sustainable clinical operations, including appropriate resource utilization

·        Advancing continuous quality improvement and maintaining alignment with Accreditation Canada standards, provincial and national guidelines and corporate quality priorities.

·        Supporting timely access to care and optimizing patient flow

·        Fostering a culture of accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement

Organizational Leadership and Professional Accountability

The Medical Director is expected to uphold the highest standards of confidentiality, professionalism, and organizational stewardship in all aspects of their role, including:

·        Collaborating across departments, programs, and sites to support integrated care delivery

·        Building and maintaining relationships with community partners, regional programs, and external stakeholders

·        Supporting participation in regional and provincial initiatives

·        Promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and team-based care

·        Maintaining strict confidentiality of patient information in accordance with applicable privacy legislation, including Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA), and adhering to all hospital policies regarding the protection of personal information

·        Respecting corporate confidentiality requirements, including sensitive organizational information such as embargoed announcements, Ministry directives, strategic initiatives, and internal decision-making processes. The Medical Director will adhere to organizational guidance regarding the timing, content, and release of communications, ensuring alignment with corporate direction

·        Collaborating with Communications on public-facing messaging, media engagement, or external communications to ensure accuracy, consistency, and alignment with WRHN’s strategic priorities and reputation

·        Demonstrating professionalism in all interactions, fostering a culture of respect, alignment, and constructive dialogue and supports public trust

Engagement and Collaboration

The Medical Director shall:

•     Foster physician engagement and promote teamwork within their Department and across related Departments and Programs.

•     Maintain and foster awareness of hospital wellness programming for credentialed staff.

•     Collaborate with Administrative and Clinical leaders in development and furtherance of the Hospital’s strategic plan.

Program Service, Quality, and Delivery

In partnership with the Clinical Director, the Medical Director will:

·        Champion patient-centred care, ensuring care delivery reflects patient needs, experience, equity, and cultural safety

·        Ensure adherence to evidence-based standards and clinical best practices and evolving professional guidelines

·        Lead quality improvement initiatives, including implementation, monitoring, and reporting of key performance indicators (KPIs) and program outcomes

·        Promote a culture of patient safety through participation in safety reviews, incident learning, and system improvement

·        Ensure the program meets and, where possible, exceeds Accreditation Canada standards, with clear accountability for quality, safety, and performance outcomes aligned with Required Safety Practices (RSPs)

·        Actively contribute to and model WRHN’s Accreditation “Everyday Readiness” approach, embedding accreditation standards into daily clinical and operational practice, supporting team preparedness, and ensuring continuous compliance across all sites

•     Identify areas of risk; resolve, and manage issues that impact or may impact clinical operations

·        Foster a “learning organization” culture, encouraging continuous learning, reflective practice, and openness to feedback, including:

•     Supporting structured learning from clinical outcomes, adverse events, and near-misses

•     Promoting data-informed decision-making and transparency of results

•     Encouraging innovation, knowledge sharing, and adoption of leading practices

•     Creating an environment where teams feel psychologically safe to identify opportunities for improvement and contribute to system learning

Overall Program Effectiveness

In partnership with the Clinical Director, the Medical Director is accountable for:

·        Ensuring the Department meets, across all sites, the population-based needs of patients within its mandate

·        Strategic planning, including program goals, priorities, and resource allocation (fiscal, human and material resources)

·        Aligning departmental activities with organizational strategic initiatives

·        Identifying opportunities for clinical integration, innovation, and community partnerships

·        Building effective internal and external relationships to support coordinated care delivery

·        Creating a healthy work environment that promotes collaboration, engagement, and wellbeing

·        Supporting standardized, evidence-based practices across the continuum of care

·        Establishing networks and building relationships to ensure integration and coordination of Department and related Program activities, both internally and externally including support for participation in strategic provincial and regional meetings and committees.

·        Co-Chair the Department or Program’s leadership team meetings with the Clinical Director.

·        Member of the Organization’s clinical leadership team.

Medical Education, Research, and Innovation

In alignment with WRHN’s academic mission, the Medical Director will:

·        Advance medical education and academic partnerships, including active engagement with university partners and affiliated training programs

·        Support and promote high-quality undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, ensuring that teaching environments meet required standards for learner experience, supervision, and assessment

·        Participate in accreditation processes for medical education programs and ensure ongoing compliance and readiness

·        Foster continuous learning and professional development through reflective practice, coaching, and participation in leadership development opportunities

·        Support interprofessional education and team-based learning environments

·        Encourage research, innovation, and scholarly activity, including applied research and quality improvement

·        Mentor and support the development of future physician leaders

·        Align academic activities with organizational priorities to enhance patient outcomes and system performance

•     Leverage the inter-professional team model, the Hospital’s relationships with University partners and applied research to lead and innovation.

Corporate and System Leadership

The Medical Director will actively participate in WRHN’s broader leadership structure, including:

·        Medical Director meetings, leadership forums, and development activities

·        Department/Program leadership meetings (co-chaired with the Clinical Director)

·        Participation on hospital-wide committees as a physician leader

·        Engagement in corporate initiatives, quality priorities, and system transformation efforts

·        Representation of the Hospital or Program at regional and provincial forums as required

Redevelopment and Strategic Initiatives

The Medical Director will contribute to the planning and execution of WRHN’s hospital redevelopment and expansion, including:

·        Participation in clinical planning and functional programming

·        Ensuring clinical perspectives inform facility design, patient flow, and service models

·        Aligning infrastructure planning with clinical and academic priorities

Qualifications

·        Member in good standing of the Active or Associate Medical Staff

·        Demonstrated clinical excellence and credibility among peers

·        Proven leadership experience in quality improvement, program development, or administration

·        Strong understanding of healthcare systems, governance, and physician leadership structures

·        Commitment to patient-centred care, quality, and continuous improvement

·        Ability to work collaboratively in a dyad leadership model

Term of Office

The Medical Director shall be appointed for an initial term of three (3) to five (5) years as identified in the service agreement. Subject to satisfactory performance, ongoing organizational need, and upon the recommendation of the Vice President of Medical & Academic Affairs and approval in accordance with Hospital governance processes (including the Medical Advisory Committee and Board, as applicable), the appointment may be renewed for one additional term of up to three (3) to five (5) years.

In exceptional circumstances, where continuity of leadership and organizational priorities warrant, the appointment may be extended beyond a second term, subject to formal review, recommendation, and approval through the Hospital’s established governance and appointment processes.

Performance Evaluation

The Medical Director of a Department will meet with the Vice President, Medical and Academic Affairs to establish performance goals and key deliverables for the role based on the specific needs of the Department. They will continue to meet on an ongoing basis at mutually agreed upon times to discuss ongoing needs, concerns and progress in achieving performance goals and key deliverables.

Position Commitment

2 days/week