Director, System Infection Prevention & Control

Beth Israel Lahey Health

1d•$176,800 - $229,008

About The Position

When you join the growing BILH team, you're not just taking a job, you’re making a difference in people’s lives. This position is responsible for overseeing the Community Hospital, Behavioral Health and Continuing Care Infection Prevention Programs and assisting in the expansion of the system-wide Infection Prevention program under the direction of the Executive Director and Chief Infection Prevention Officer. The position reports to the Executive Director, System Infection Prevention. This position will provide support and direction to the Regional Managers, Infection Preventionists and Medical Directors within the community hospitals across BILH and lead the development of a comprehensive infection prevention program in the growing behavioral health setting across the system. In addition, the Director will provide expert advice for Continuing Care program needs (assisted living, home care). The position will require flexibility in covering different clinical areas and projects as the BILH Infection Prevention program continues to evolve.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required.
Certification in Infection Control required
5-8 years related work experience in infection prevention required
Understanding CDC NHSN (National Healthcare Safety Network) surveillance definitions and applications, including SAMS. Knowledge of TJC requirements and state and local DPH and DMH regulations related to reporting of infectious diseases and infection prevention.
Familiarity with metrics related to infection prevention in Vizient, Leapfrog, CMS and third party payers. Knowledge of automated infection control systems.
Knowledge and ability to educate staff at all levels, particularly on topics of infection prevention or other related topics
Experience with computer systems required, including web-based applications and some Microsoft Office applications which may include Outlook, Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Infection Control, Public Health epidemiology or statistics, or Education preferred.
Registered Nursing License preferred.
health system or tertiary care experience preferred.
Experience working in infection prevention programs in a variety of healthcare settings, including tertiary care and community environments.
Experience in leadership or oversight of infection preventionists.
Experience and/or training in creating medical education materials in a variety of formats (e.g., in-person training, online training, videos).

Responsibilities

Develop and maintain a standardized in-house training program for novice infection preventionists on the basic knowledge and skills of infection prevention and control including, but not limited to, topics related to surveillance, outbreak management, cleaning and disinfection, and state and national regulatory requirements/reporting. Develop a plan to advance from novice to expert and monitor the progress of infection preventionist through the program.
Drive the assessment of infection prevention education needs for staff and clinicians across the organization. Lead individuals and teams at the system and business unit level to standardize infection prevention education and ensure minimum standards are met.
Under the direction of the Exec Dir Sys Infection Prevention, develop and maintain infection prevention educational materials for staff and clinicians at all business units and provide template materials to local infection prevention programs as needed. Collaborate with other system leaders, as needed, in the development of educational materials for frontline staff.
Assist the Exec Dir Sys Infection Prevention in the evaluation of infection prevention programmatic needs in non-acute care settings. Provide direction for outbreak management, surveillance and general infection prevention for business units in these areas currently without infection prevention expertise.
Establish and maintain working relationships with BILH Infection preventionists, hospital epidemiologists and key system and local leaders to provide infection prevention support, direction and content expertise, as needed.
Provide administrative direction and expertise on matters related to environmental contamination (e.g., water damage), equipment disinfection and sterilization, environmental cleaning, and construction/renovation in collaboration with other departments across BILH.
Participate in additional infection prevention activities as needed, at the direction of the Executive Director, Infection Prevention.