Director - PACE Center

Neighborhood Healthcare • Escondido, CA

3d • $135,400 - $211,200 • Onsite

About The Position

Community health is about more than just vaccines and checkups. It’s about giving people the resources they need to live their best lives. At Neighborhood, this is our vision: a community where everyone is healthy and happy. We’re with you every step of the way, with the care you need for each of life’s chapters. At Neighborhood, we are Better Together.

As a private, non-profit 501(C) (3) community health organization, we serve over 500k medical, dental, and behavioral health visits from more than 100k people annually. We do this in pursuit of our mission to improve the health and happiness of the communities we serve by providing quality care to all, regardless of situation or circumstance.

Since 1969, our employees have been making this mission a reality. Regardless of the role, our team focuses on being compassionate, having integrity, being professional, always collaborating, and consistently going above and beyond. If this sounds like an organization you would like to be a part of, we would love to meet you.

ROLE OVERVIEW and PURPOSE
The PACE Center Director serves as the site-level leader for the assigned PACE Center and Alternative Care Settings (ACS), reporting to the PACE Program Director. This role has full accountability for operational performance, supporting strategic direction, and ensuring regulatory compliance across all service areas, including clinic, social work, rehabilitation, recreation, dietary, transportation, day center, and home care services.

The Center Director provides direct supervision to discipline managers and supervisors, ensuring each department meets organizational standards for quality, compliance, participant satisfaction, and operational efficiency. The role integrates clinical and non-clinical operations to deliver seamless, participant-centered care and leads continuous process improvement initiatives.

In the absence of the PACE Program Director, the Center Director assumes their responsibilities to ensure continuity of operations.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Health Administration, Rehabilitative Therapy, Nursing, Social Work, Recreational Therapy, or related health or human services field required
• 5 years of progressive leadership experience in healthcare or aging services is required
• 3 years of experience working with frail or elderly populations is required
• Valid California Driver’s License required
• Current Basic Life Support (BLS) certification required upon hire and must be maintained as a condition of employment
• Current CPR and First Aid certification are required for all PACE employees in accordance with CMS and DHCS requirements
• Comprehensive knowledge of health care delivery systems, PACE program regulations, quality improvement, and the medical and non-medical needs of the elderly
• Expertise in regulatory compliance, audit readiness, and interdisciplinary team coordination
• Demonstrated ability to lead and mentor managers and supervisors across multiple disciplines
• Proven ability to implement and sustain standardized processes across multiple sites while addressing variability
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including superior composition, typing, and proofreading skills
• Ability to interpret a variety of instructions in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form
• Ability to successfully manage multiple tasks and priorities simultaneously
• Excellent planning, organizational, and strategic problem-solving ability
• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a leadership team as well as independently
• Ability to work with highly confidential information in a professional and ethical manner
• Ability to lift/carry 15 lbs
• Ability to sit/stand for long periods of time
• Follows all safety procedures as outlined in Neighborhood Healthcare’s Illness and Injury Prevention Plan (IIPP) and report any injuries and/or unsafe conditions immediately
• Maintains current knowledge of policies and procedures as they relate to safe work practices
• Uses appropriate body mechanics to ensure an injury free environment
• Familiarity with location of nearest fire extinguisher and emergency exits
• Follows all infection control procedures including blood-borne pathogen protocols
• Maintains privacy of all patients, employee and volunteer information and access such information only on a need-to-know basis for business purposes
• Complies with all regulations regarding corporate integrity and security obligations

Nice To Haves

• Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Healthcare Administration, Public Health, or related discipline is strongly preferred
• Proven experience in PACE program operations or a comparable integrated care model strongly preferred
• Professional licensure in a relevant discipline preferred

Responsibilities

• Owns overall center performance, including operational efficiency, participant experience, quality outcomes, and capacity management
• Leads site-level operational decision-making, problem-solving, and resource allocation to address complex participant, staffing, and workflow challenges
• Provides leadership to all aspects of the Center/ACS operations
• Monitors Alternative Care Settings (ACS) services and care coordination to ensure quality, operational effectiveness, and regulatory compliance
• Directly supervises next level discipline managers/supervisors for clinic, social work, day center, rehabilitation services, dietary, and transportation and home care
• Oversee and hold department leaders accountable for execution of day-to-day operations, ensuring alignment with program standards and performance expectations
• Ensures IDT meetings are effectively facilitated and that designated leaders and trained designees maintain compliance with interdisciplinary care planning standards
• Provides competency training for designees who can facilitate IDT meetings to required standards
• Oversees participant utilization and resource allocation in coordination with the PACE Medical Director to ensure appropriate and efficient care delivery
• Ensures job responsibilities, authorities, and accountability of all direct reports are clearly defined and understood
• Oversee hiring, orientation, training, and ongoing development of center-based discipline managers, holding them accountable for department performance
• Reviews staffing levels, enrollment, and center capacity to address and resolve operational issues
• Ensures adherence to established program workflows, policies, and operational standards across all service areas within the center, and addresses variances to maintain alignment with program expectations.
• Ensure department leaders effectively manage contract employees and service providers in collaboration with Quality & Compliance
• Participates in onboarding and oversight of key contracted vendors and providers utilized by the Center
• Holds department leaders accountable for effective IDT workflows, including timely development, documentation, and communication of participant care plans
• Ensure department leaders maintain compliance with documentation standards, service delivery timelines, and regulatory requirements
• Ensures effective Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) care coordination and integration with IDT processes
• Ensures department leaders implement orientation, in-service training, and ongoing staff development in alignment with regulatory and organizational standards
• Serves as a liaison between NHC PACE and other community service providers
• Participates in the NHC PACE leadership team and serves as liaison between administration and staff
• Works with Quality and Compliance on participant enrollment and disenrollment processes in alignment with regulatory requirements
• Reviews participant rights issues, grievances, and appeals with the Program Director and Quality & Compliance, ensuring proper documentation, investigation, and resolution
• Participates in NHC PACE committees and relevant sub-committees to support program operations, quality, and compliance
• Leads center-wide quality improvement initiatives and ensure performance outcomes align with established targets
• Ensures compliance with policies regarding physical and chemical restraints
• Ensures compliance with applicable federal, state, and local regulatory and licensing requirements and maintains continuous audit readiness across all service areas
• Serves as the center operational lead for internal, CMS, and state regulatory audits, including preparation, coordination, corrective action planning, and ongoing compliance monitoring
• Maintains continuous audit readiness for all center operations
• Leads implementation of operational and site-level changes required by updates or revisions to NHC PACE policies and procedures and applicable federal and state PACE regulations
• Serves as the primary site lead for HPMS calls and regulatory inquiries related to center operations
• Supports marketing and outreach efforts in collaboration with the Enrollments & Outreach Leadership to help meet census goals
• Participates in the development and delivery of staff education programs
• Holds department leaders accountable for environment-of-care readiness, participant and staff safety, infection control, and emergency preparedness protocols
• Participates in program and policy development and refinement as part of the management team
• Leads site-level strategic planning, capacity building, and resource allocation to meet current and future enrollment goals
• Contributes to, and manages annual operational and capital budgets for departments of accountability, ensuring services meet financial benchmarks
• Consistently meets or exceeds NHC PACE’s targets for productivity, quality, and customer service expectations
• Identifies opportunities for improvement and brings forward best practices and solutions to support program-wide consistency and performance
• Promotes and protects participant rights, including dignity, independence, privacy, and self-determination
• Represents NHC PACE in community activities that promote program visibility and strengthen community relationships
• Collaborates effectively with peers, contractors, and interdisciplinary partners to achieve organizational goals
• Complies with all policies and procedures of NHC PACE
• Demonstrates proficiency in delivering age-specific care
• Consistently meets or exceeds NHC PACE quality assessment and performance improvement targets
• Leads with Neighborhood Healthcare's Values in Action, aligning decisions, behaviors, and team priorities with the organization's mission and strategic goals
• Builds, develops, and retains a high-performing team by recruiting, ensuring appropriate staffing levels and ratios to support organizational goals and operational excellence
• Establishes clear goals, priorities, and performance expectations, through mentoring, and fostering a compassionate, collaborative, and inclusive work environment while ensuring employees have the resources and support needed to succeed
• Demonstrates integrity through ethical decision-making, transparent communication, accountability, and consistent application of organizational policies and standards
• Provides ongoing coaching, recognition, and performance feedback, addressing performance concerns promptly while supporting employee growth and development
• Ensures accurate administration of employee timecards by reviewing and approving records within established deadlines, resolving discrepancies, and holding employees accountable for prompt and accurate reporting of hours worked
• Serves as a steward of organizational communication by proactively cascading enterprise-wide initiatives, strategic priorities, site, or department changes through multiple communication channels (Teams, email, in-person meetings, etc.), fostering alignment, engagement and understanding within the site, department, or area of responsibility
• Champions collaboration and continuous improvement by building strong partnerships, encouraging innovation, and going above and beyond to achieve exceptional outcomes for our employees, patients, and communities

Benefits

• Compensation Disclosure: The posted salary range reflects the designated pay grade for this position. While this range represents the broader classification of the role, actual compensation will be based on several factors, including but not limited to: the candidate’s overall knowledge, skills, and experience, market data and industry benchmarks, internal equity within the organization, Budgetary considerations and organizational needs. As a result, placement within the range is not guaranteed, and the full pay grade range may not be utilized.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director