Director of Quality & Safety - Great Bend

The University of Kansas Health System•Great Bend, KS

About The Position

The Director of Quality & Safety provides strategic and operational leadership for quality, patient safety, and performance improvement at the Great Bend campus. Reporting to the Senior Director of Quality & Safety, with a dotted line partnership to campus leadership, this role is accountable for translating system quality and safety priorities into effective local execution that improves outcomes, reduces harm, and strengthens a culture of safety and continuous learning. This leader serves as the primary campus authority for quality and safety execution, working in close partnership with nursing leadership, medical staff, and operational leaders to embed quality, safety, and reliability into daily operations. While enterprise Risk Management, Patient Relations, and Accreditation & Regulatory Compliance programs are centrally led, this role functions as the campus integrator, ensuring strong local analysis, action planning, implementation, and follow through in alignment with system standards and expectations. The Director is expected to exercise sound judgment, influence without direct authority, and lead through collaboration, data, and accountability to drive sustained improvement at the campus level. The Core Portfolio for this position is: Quality and Safety Leadership Performance Improvement and High Reliability Patient Safety Analytics and Event Review Publicly Reported Outcomes and Data Integrity Culture of Safety and Leader Engagement Project and Change Management Professional Development and Capability Building

Requirements

Bachelors Degree in Nursing, Health Services Administration, or a related healthcare field
5 or more years of progressive experience in healthcare quality, safety, or performance improvement
Demonstrated experience using data to drive improvement, influence leaders, and sustain results
Shows accountability and ownership for outcomes
Demonstrates strong patient and customer focus
Data informed decision making
Effective communication and relationship management
Ability to influence and lead change without direct authority
Commitment to professional development and continuous learning

Nice To Haves

Master's Degree in Nursing, Healthcare Administration, or a related field
Experience working within a system based or multi campus quality model
Lean or structured performance improvement training
Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) - National Association of Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) OR Certified Professional in Patient Safety - Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety (CPPS)

Responsibilities

Provides campus level leadership and subject matter expertise in quality, safety, outcomes measurement, and performance improvement, aligned with system priorities and standards.
Serves as the primary campus leader for quality and safety execution, partnering with nursing, medical staff, and operational leaders to integrate quality and safety into routine operations and decision making.
Acts as a trusted advisor to campus leadership on quality and safety risks, performance trends, and improvement strategies.
Participates in leadership rounding for Great Bend campus locations.
Takes administrative call per the Great Bend leadership Admin On Call schedule/rotation.
Leads and facilitates performance improvement initiatives using structured methodologies such as PDCA, root cause analysis, and Lean principles.
Analyzes, trends, and interprets quality, safety, and outcome data to identify risks, performance gaps, and improvement opportunities.
Oversees campus level coordination of quality programs and publicly reported measures, ensuring data accuracy, integrity, and timely submission in partnership with system teams.
Supports patient safety event review, analysis, and action planning in collaboration with centralized Risk Management, with a focus on learning, accountability, and harm reduction.
Ensures local implementation and monitoring of action plans resulting from safety events, audits, and reviews.
Partners with centralized accreditation and compliance teams to support campus readiness, survey preparation, and sustained compliance with regulatory and accreditation standards.
Supports local follow through on findings, action plans, and improvement activities.
Advances a culture of safety, psychological safety, and high reliability through education, coaching, leader engagement, and visible presence.
Oversees and coordinates campus Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI) activities to drive sustained performance improvement and regulatory compliance.
Coaches and mentors leaders and staff in quality, safety, and performance improvement competencies to build local capability and ownership.
Fosters strong, collaborative partnerships across departments and with system Quality and Safety teams to ensure alignment, continuity, and shared accountability.
Participates in hiring, onboarding, and performance management activities as applicable, in alignment with system expectations.
Leads or supports special projects related to quality and safety as assigned.
While enterprise Risk Management, Patient Relations, Ambulatory Quality, and Accreditation & Regulatory Compliance programs are centrally led, this role functions as the campus integrator, ensuring strong local analysis, action planning, implementation, and follow through in alignment with system standards and expectations.
Must be able to perform the professional, clinical and or technical competencies of the assigned unit or department.
Other duties may be assigned as required.