Senior Medical Lead, Operational Stress Injury Clinic

The Royal Ottawa Health Care Group (The Royal) is one of Canada’s foremost mental health care, teaching, and research hospitals. As a specialized academic health sciences centre, The Royal is committed to helping people living with mental illness and addiction into recovery faster. With over 500 beds and 19,000 outpatients served annually, The Royal delivers innovative, evidence-informed care across inpatient, outpatient, and community settings including forensic psychiatry, geriatric mental health, operational stress injuries, schizophrenia, mood disorders and substance use disorders. Its campuses span Ottawa and Brockville, with strong partnerships across the region and province. 

The Position

The Senior Medical Lead of The Royal’s Operational Stress Injury (OSI) Clinic provides clinical leadership oversight through effective collaboration and communication to ensure the optimal functioning of the clinical program and teams. The role supports the delivery of interdisciplinary, specialized mental health services to Veterans, Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members, RCMP members, and their families, aligned with the mandates of The Royal and Veterans Affairs Canada OSI National Network.

The OSI Clinic provides interdisciplinary, specialized mental health services, including comprehensive assessment, treatment recommendations, and treatment services for OSI-related mental health conditions. Services are evidence-informed, focused on mental health needs, and delivered in collaboration with external partners where required.

The Senior Medical Lead is responsible for providing clinical leadership to ensure care is guided by evidence-based practices, clinical standards, and ongoing evaluation of outcomes and service quality.

Reporting to the Medical Director, General Psychiatry Department, the Senior Medical Lead directs medical operations and contribute to strategic directions for the clinical services of the OSI Clinic. They ensure high standards of care for patients living with mental health disorders in alignment with Veterans Affairs Canada OSI National Network and The Royal’s mission and vision.  

The Senior Medical Lead is responsible for developing and implementing evidence based clinical procedures promoting collaboration across multidisciplinary teams, supporting physicians and clinical staff in setting standards.

This role also includes ensuring compliance with regulatory standards and fostering a culture of clinical excellence. This position is integral in advancing the hospital’s objectives, enhancing patient care, improving access to services, and promoting a patient-centered approach in all aspects of service delivery.

Key Accountabilities:

Medical Leadership & Service Integration

·        With the Director of Patient Care Services, plan and maintain programming and service delivery aligned with organizational and Veterans Affairs Canada mandates.

·        Provide leadership: plan and maintain clinical services across the OSI Clinic, ensuring alignment with VAC deliverables, organizational goals, values, and patient care standards.

·        With the Director of Patient Care Services, develop, implement, and maintain clinical policies, guidelines, protocols, and standard operating procedures for mental health and addiction services, integrating and utilizing evidence-based practices to enhance patient care while leading a collaborative multidisciplinary team.

·        Attend regular scheduled management meetings including the Medical Advisory Committee (MAC) as a voting member, the Medical Leadership Team (MLT), and the Clinical Leadership Team (CLT). They also organize and lead a meeting with all the physicians of the OSI Clinic.

·        Participates in the planning and implementation of new information technology to improve patient care and clinical workflows.

·        Participate in the recruitment and selection process for physicians and other healthcare staff within the OSI Clinic, ensuring the recruitment and development of qualified professionals to meet organizational and VAC needs.

Collaboration and Communication:

·        Foster and participate in relevant partnerships within the Royal, and throughout the region to better meet the needs of veterans, DND members, and RCMP members.

·        Facilitate collaboration between physicians and healthcare providers within and outside divisions in the Royal to create integrated care plans, supporting a holistic approach to patient care and ensuring positive outcomes for patients and their families throughout their mental health and addiction journey.

·        Foster a positive, inclusive work environment, promoting open communication and respect for diverse perspectives within the medical team.

·        With the Director of Patient Care Services, ensure that a process is in place for disciplinary action as necessary: Provide a process for resolution of clinical disputes, including liaison with the Manager, Client and Family Relations when necessary.

·        Be part of the reporting and investigation process for critical incidents.

·        Follow up on physician complaints and ensure appropriate action and resolution as appropriate, including timely communication with the Medical Director, Senior Medical Officer, and Chief of Staff.

·        Ensuring, usually via communications and regularly scheduled meetings, that the Physicians in the Clinic: (i) are adequately aware of the activities of The Board, Senior Management Team, and the MAC: and (ii) provide input and share their concerns about the role and activities of the Clinic.

Compliance and Quality Assurance Leadership:

·        Ensure that clinical care is determined by:

·        Evidence-based approaches, best practices, and clinical practice guidelines where they exist, or in the spirit of discovery and innovation, encourage the safe delivery/development of novel approaches where they do not.

·        Support the standardization of clinical services, where appropriate, and the utilization of CROMIS (Client-Reported Outcomes Monitoring Information System) to inform clinical decision making, monitor outcomes and drive quality improvement initiatives.

·        Outcome, service evaluations and quality of care/critical incident reviews.

·        Ensuring that all physicians within the Clinic are compliant with the expectations of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.

·        Ensuring that clinical coverage of all patients receiving care within the Clinic is continuous, including matters relating to coverage (vacations, leaves of absence, retirements or deaths), as well as cooperation with the on call and after-hours medicine groups.

Budgeting and Resource Optimization:

·        Actively participates in resource allocation decisions within the allocated VAC budget.

·        With the Chief of Staff/Medical Director, ensures that all physician fees are administered according to the allocated VAC budget.

·        With the Director of Patient Care Services, ensure a mechanism is in place to regularly monitor resource allocation and utilization and jointly determine corrective action, when required.

Medical Human Resources:

·        Anticipate the Clinic’s requirements for input into the hospital’s overall physician resource plan. This includes assisting the Medical Director, Senior Medical Officer, and Chief of Staff with physician recruitment to meet the Clinic’s physician staffing needs.

·        Ensure physician job descriptions are developed and kept up-to-date for each physician within the Clinic.

·        Monitor medical staff clinical performance and provide feedback as necessary.

·        Complete the annual performance reviews of each physician in the Clinic (with the assistance of the Medical Director, Senior Medical Officer, and Chief of Staff). Where physicians work across more than one division, the annual performance review is the responsibility of the SML (or ML) of the division where the physician works the most, in consultation with the SMLs or MLs of the other divisions.

All leadership roles at The Royal are expected to:

·        Actively demonstrate The Royal’s iCARE values: innovation, collaboration, accountability, and respect by seeking improvements, working collaboratively with colleagues and clients, taking ownership of their actions, and promoting a respectful and inclusive workplace culture.

·        Work in a manner that complies with staff and patient/client safety practices, policies and procedures of The Royal.

·        Ensure a work environment that is conducive to the Royal’s Anti-Racism, Harassment, Discrimination-Free workplace and work safety policies and practices.

·        Demonstrate commitment to health equity, values diversity and contributes to an inclusive working environment.

·        Support the department/unit by performing other duties as necessary to uphold organizational standards and contribute to both clinical and administrative functions, where applicable.

The Candidate

You are a physician licensed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons with 4-8 years of clinical experience in the mental health field, including at least 3 years in a leadership role within mental health services. You have in-depth knowledge of modern psychiatric practices, evidence-based therapies, and mental health clinical care standards, including those specific to inpatient and outpatient settings. 

You bring a systems mindset to clinical leadership, with the ability to navigate complex organizational dynamics while maintaining a focus on patient and family needs. Your leadership experience reflects not only operational oversight, but also the ability to influence culture, strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration, and improve clinical outcomes at scale. You understand the importance of physician engagement and are committed to building strong, accountable teams that thrive in a culture of trust, performance, and shared purpose.

Education/Professional Credentials:

·        Licensed physician in good standing with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.

·        Master’s Degree in a relevant discipline; or a suitable combination of education and experience.

·        Strong track record of academic/quality assurance activities; must be eligible for an academic appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor or higher.

·        Experience working with veterans and RCMP members is an asset.

Appendix 1

The Royal’s OSI Clinic is part of a 10 clinic country wide network funded by Veterans Affairs Canada.

The clinic provides bilingual evidence-based multidisciplinary assessments and treatment to veterans, CAF members, and RCMP members suffering from operational stress injury. Family members may also be eligible to receive services through the clinic.

The multidisciplinary team consists of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, mental health nurses and mental health NP.

The clinic runs out of 3 physical locations including Ottawa, Kingston, and Arnprior, providing both virtual and in person assessments for individuals in Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec and Nunavut.