System VP Operations, Surgical Specialties

Description

Job Description

PeaceHealth is seeking a System VP Operations, Surgical Specialties in Vancouver, WA…

The System VP Operations, Surgical Specialties serves as the enterprise executive leader responsible for advancing the strategic direction, integration, and performance of PeaceHealth's surgical specialty access and care delivery model, with a primary focus on ambulatory services and their connection across the broader continuum of care. This role is accountable for designing and executing an integrated, systemwide access and capacity strategy that begins in ambulatory specialty clinics and extends across diagnostic, procedural, and surgical pathways. In partnership with perioperative, acute care, and regional leadership, this position ensures that access, throughput, and growth strategies are aligned across settings to support seamless patient progression from consult through intervention, while preserving local operational accountability for inpatient and perioperative services. Position establishes guiding frameworks and enterprise standards that connect clinic access, procedural readiness, and surgical capacity, enabling a coordinated approach to demand management and site-of-service optimization. This role does not replace local or perioperative leadership accountability for operating room or inpatient operations, but instead collaborates to ensure that ambulatory demand planning, referral management, and scheduling practices effectively support downstream surgical access, quality, and efficiency. Working in close partnership with surgical medical directors, perioperative leaders, regional operators, and system executives, this role supports improvements in time to consult, time to procedure, surgical conversion, and overall access to care. Position focuses on aligning ambulatory workflows, specialty growth strategies, and capacity planning with system-level goals for procedural access, patient experience, and sustainable growth across both outpatient and inpatient environments. Additionally, this role helps define and advance site-of-service strategies, including appropriate utilization of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), in coordination with perioperative and acute care leaders, ensuring decisions reflect shared system priorities and local market needs. Ensures that performance improvement activities are aligned with enterprise goals and that all applicable regulatory, accreditation, and quality standards are consistently met across the continuum, in collaboration with responsible operational leaders.

Essential Functions

• Translates PeaceHealth’s system strategy into a clear surgical specialty and access operating roadmap, spanning ambulatory clinics, procedural access, and OR environments, aligned to long‑term growth, access, quality, and financial objectives.
• Integrates ambulatory surgical clinics, perioperative services, operating rooms, and ASCs into a cohesive end‑to‑end access and capacity model across the continuum of care.
• Designs and implements a systemwide surgical specialty operating model that aligns clinic access, procedural readiness, OR capacity, and post‑acute pathways.
• Anticipates future procedural volume, OR demand, and specialty access needs, empowering leaders to drive coordinated strategic and operational change.
• Models PeaceHealth’s mission, values, and leadership behaviors.
• Ensures sustained improvement in access and throughput KPIs across ambulatory surgical clinics and procedural / OR settings, including time‑to‑consult, time‑to‑procedure, time‑to‑surgery, block utilization, clinic room utilization, cancellation rates, and surgical conversion.
• Develops, recommends, and implements enterprise access and capacity policies that optimize alignment between clinic access, procedural access, and OR capacity.
• Drives standardization of: Surgical referral and intake pathways, Specialty clinic scheduling and template design, and Case prioritization and site‑of‑service strategies across inpatient, outpatient, and ASC settings.
• Partners with perioperative leadership to ensure clinic access decisions translate into executable procedural and OR capacity plans.
• Champions centralized intake, scheduling optimization, and digital access tools supporting both ambulatory surgical clinics and procedural services.
• Develops operational goals and objectives for surgical specialty clinics, procedural services, and OR‑aligned ambulatory operations, implementing strategies that improve access, throughput, quality, and financial performance.
• Analyzes and monitors performance through integrated ambulatory, procedural, and perioperative dashboards, ensuring visibility across the full surgical access continuum.
• In partnership with surgical service line leaders, surgical dyads, and perioperative teams, leads enterprise surgical operations, performance improvement initiatives, and access optimization efforts.
• Leads enterprise performance review cadences and holds regional leaders accountable for ambulatory access, procedural throughput, quality outcomes, and financial results.
• Maintains accountability for the financial performance of surgical specialties across ambulatory, procedural, and OR settings, including margin, cost per case, staffing efficiency, supply utilization, and capital productivity.
• Partners with finance, strategy, and operations leaders on surgical growth and capacity planning, OR and ASC capital prioritization, and Site‑of‑service optimization and procedural migration strategies.
• Ensures resources are deployed to maximize patient access, procedural growth and return on invested capital.
• Oversees recruitment, development, and retention of surgical operations, access, and perioperative‑aligned leadership teams within Ambulatory Care.
• Establishes clear accountability for leaders spanning ambulatory, procedural, and OR operations.
• Provides timely feedback and performance management to sustain strong execution across complex, interdependent environments.
• Performs other duties as assigned.
  
  

Qualifications

REQUIRED EDUCATION

• Master's Degree: Hospital Administration, Business Administration or Healthcare.
  
  

Required Experience

• Minimum of 10 years healthcare leadership experience in a large group practice, integrated health system, or managed care organization, with extensive experience preferred leading in a primary care and/or urgent care environment.
• Significant experience in healthcare systems with acute and ambulatory delivery models.
• Proven track record in strategic planning, financial management, and achieving operational excellence.
• Experience with proven positive outcomes regarding financial sustainability initiatives and demonstrated successful completion of quality improvement projects with desired outcomes.
• Experience with managing complex programs and projects, specifically with a focus on customer service, service excellence and patient experience activities.
• Experience driving change and innovation within a complex healthcare environment.
  
  

Required Skills

• Must understand the use of evidence in decision making within acute and ambulatory care environments.
• Business acumen and negotiating skills in a highly complex, matrixed environment.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, negotiation skills, high integrity, and ability to develop relationships with key stakeholders.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, understanding the needs of different audiences and stakeholders.
• Collaborative leader with a demonstrated track record in working with all levels of management and skilled in managing team dynamics.
• Competencies in team building, conflict management, problem solving, and critical thinking.
• Ability to manage complex functions and activities and deal with highly sensitive and confidential matters.
• Ability to engage multiple constituencies with dignity and respect.
• Understanding, commitment, and role model to PeaceHealth’s mission, values, and leadership model.
• Extensive knowledge of ambulatory regulatory compliance relating to both state and federal healthcare guidelines and requirements.
  
  

The salary range for this job opening at PeaceHealth is $271,600 – $363,200 . The hiring rate is dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to education, training, work experience, seniority, etc.

PeaceHealth is committed to the overall wellbeing of our caregivers: physical, emotional, financial, social, and spiritual. We offer a strong total rewards package. Benefits include 403b retirement plans with employer base and matching contributions, 457 plans, medical/dental/vision coverage, unlimited time off, employer-paid life and disability with buy-up options, wellness benefits and expanded EAP and mental health programs.

See How PeaceHealth Is Committed To

For full consideration of your skills and abilities, please attach a current resume with your application. EEO Affirmative Action Employer/Vets/Disabled in accordance with applicable local, state, or federal laws.

WORKING CONDITIONS

Lifting

• Consistently operates computer and other office equipment.
• Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects.
• Sedentary work.
  
  

Environmental Conditions

• Predominantly operates in an office environment.
• Some time spent on site in medical/hospital setting.
  
  

Mental/Visual

• Ability to communicate and exchange accurate information.
• The worker is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading.