Chief Operating Officer

Community Health Center of Fort Dodge, Inc•Fort Dodge, IA

21d

About The Position

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) is responsible for transforming CHCFD from a reactive, site-variable organization into a standardized, data-driven, high-accountability health system. The role drives operational excellence across all locations by implementing consistent workflows, enforcing performance expectations, and developing leaders who own outcomes. The COO ensures that operational functions—including front desk, referral management, and outreach—operate with clarity, consistency, and measurable results aligned with CHCFD’s mission, HRSA/FQHC requirements, and financial sustainability. This is an execution-focused leadership role responsible for turning strategy into daily operational reality. The COO reports to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Potential direct reports include Office Managers at all sites, Front Office Supervisors, the Outreach Coordinator, the Director of Technology / IT, the Referral Coordinator, the Recruitment & Benefits Specialist, and additional operational leaders as assigned. The role oversees standardized operations across sites; front office and patient access; leadership development and accountability; data-driven performance management; recruitment, benefits, workforce planning, and staffing alignment; care coordination support; referral processes; technology and workflow optimization; outreach; compliance and FQHC operational readiness; and continuous improvement and change management. Success requires improving operational performance, building accountability, and delivering measurable results rather than merely maintaining existing processes.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Healthcare Administration, Operations Management, or a related field.
Minimum 7–10 years of progressive leadership experience in healthcare operations, multi-site operations, or a similarly complex service environment.
Minimum 3–5 years in a senior leadership role at Director level or above, with direct accountability for operational performance.
Demonstrated experience leading multi-site operations or large, cross-functional teams.
Proven success standardizing inconsistent workflows, developing and implementing SOPs across locations or departments, reducing variation, and improving efficiency at scale.
Experience holding leaders and staff accountable to measurable expectations, addressing underperformance, implementing performance improvement plans, and driving results.
Experience building and using dashboards, translating data into operational changes, and managing KPIs tied to access, productivity, and financial outcomes.
Deep understanding of patient registration accuracy, insurance verification, scheduling optimization, and work queue management.
Demonstrated impact reducing denials, improving access, and increasing utilization.
Experience overseeing or partnering closely with recruitment teams, reducing time-to-fill, building hiring pipelines, aligning staffing with operational demand, and addressing shortages in critical roles.
Experience building high-performing leadership teams, coaching supervisors into accountable, outcome-driven leaders, and managing through other leaders rather than only direct staff.
Track record of improving operational performance, building accountability, and driving measurable results.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree (MBA, MHA, MPH, or similar), with emphasis in operations management, healthcare administration, business strategy, or organizational leadership.
Formal training or certification in Lean, Six Sigma, process improvement, healthcare operations, practice management, or project management (PMP or equivalent).
Experience in an FQHC or similar mission-driven healthcare organization.
Knowledge of HRSA requirements, UDS reporting, and access and quality metrics.
Experience implementing or optimizing Epic or similar EHR systems.
Experience working in rapid-growth or turnaround environments.
Experience integrating care management programs (TCM/CCM) into operations.

Responsibilities

Develop and implement standardized workflows across all CHCFD sites, eliminate process variation, maintain playbooks and SOPs, conduct routine audits, and take corrective action when processes break down.
Oversee front office operations across sites, including registration, insurance capture, eligibility verification, scheduling, preregistration, work queues, patient throughput, and patient experience.
Improve booking rates, reduce no-shows, increase same-day utilization, optimize appointment schedules, and support MyChart utilization and patient engagement.
Develop clinic supervisors and front office leaders, set performance and behavioral expectations, hold leaders accountable for team outcomes, and address performance issues consistently.
Build and maintain operational dashboards, monitor KPIs across departments and sites, lead weekly operational reviews, identify trends, and use data to drive decisions and proactive solutions.
Oversee recruitment functions and develop a proactive workforce strategy aligned with growth and access goals; forecast staffing needs with leadership and improve time-to-fill, hiring pipelines, hiring consistency, and decision timeliness.
Oversee benefits administration and strategy, ensure benefits support recruitment and retention, improve staff understanding and utilization, and standardize onboarding and enrollment processes.
Align staffing models with operational demand, ensure appropriate staffing levels, identify over- or understaffing, and adjust proactively based on volume, productivity, expansion, and seasonal trends.
Partner with the CCMO to operationalize TCM/CCM workflows and ensure front-end processes support care management through accurate patient data, scheduling alignment, and referral coordination.
Oversee referral coordination, ensure timely referral completion and tracking, reduce referral leakage and delays, and standardize workflows across sites.
Partner with IT to ensure Epic and supporting systems improve efficiency, provide operational input into system builds and enhancements, promote consistent system use, and eliminate inefficient or inaccurate workarounds.
Oversee outreach strategy and execution, align events with patient acquisition and access goals, track return on investment and effectiveness, and coordinate outreach with operational capacity.
Ensure operations align with HRSA requirements and OSV expectations, maintain audit and review readiness, and ensure documentation and workflows support compliance in partnership with Quality and Risk leadership.
Lead organizational change initiatives, identify inefficiencies, implement solutions, and build a culture of continuous improvement, standardization, proactive operations, and outcome-driven work.