Orthopedic Hand Surgeon

SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC)•Sitka, AK

About The Position

The Orthopedic Hand Surgeon provides a broad range of orthopedic services with an emphasis on hand and upper-extremity conditions for adult and pediatric patients and serves as a consultant for providers and patients throughout the consortium. This role requires advanced clinical judgment and technical expertise in orthopedic surgery, including determining which patients require surgery, appropriate timing, and selection of operative and non-operative treatments, as well as providing preoperative, perioperative, and postoperative care. The provider supports SEARHC in its mission by providing the highest quality orthopedic care to all SEARHC patients, including care of patients covered by the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act. SEARHC is a non-profit health consortium which serves the health interests of the residents of Southeast Alaska. We see our employees as our strongest assets. It is our priority to further their development and our organization by aiding in their professional advancement. Working at SEARHC is more than a job, it’s a fulfilling career. We offer generous benefits, including retirement, paid time off, paid parental leave, health insurance, dental, and vision benefits, life insurance and long and short-term disability, and more.

Requirements

Education: MD or DO.
Training: Successful completion of an accredited Orthopedic Surgery residency.
Licensure: Pending or active licensure by the Alaska State Medical Board (may practice under any active state license as a direct-hire employee pending AK licensure).
Board Certification: American Board of Orthopedic Surgery (or equivalent board as applicable).
Certifications: BLS required.
Skills & abilities: Demonstrated surgical skills across orthopedic practice (including emergency/trauma care), ability to work independently with critically ill patients, coordinate care across the surgical team, provide smooth transitions to Hospitalist teams for medically complex patients, and communicate effectively with patients, staff, and referring providers.

Nice To Haves

ATLS, ACLS, and PALS preferred.
Experience: 5+ years of orthopedic surgery practice desired.
Fellowship training in Hand/Upper Extremity Surgery preferred.
Additional certification (preferred): CAQ/board subspecialty certification in Surgery of the Hand, if applicable.

Responsibilities

Provide comprehensive orthopedic services to inpatients and outpatients at Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital &Juneau Procedure center, including consultative evaluations, clinical analysis, and recommendations regarding complex surgical and non-surgical treatments, with specialty focus in hand and upper-extremity care.
Participate in multidisciplinary pre-operative evaluation of surgical candidates, including patients with significant medical co-morbidities.
Serve as an orthopedic consultant for SEARHC clinicians throughout Southeast Alaska, including field visits to the Ethel Lund Medical Center (Juneau) and sub-regional clinics (e.g., Klawock, Haines, Wrangell) as directed.
Ensure an appropriate surgical environment for orthopedic patients by providing recommendations on equipment, staffing, and training; provide effective leadership of the operative team.
Provide orthopedic consultations in the Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital emergency room as requested; perform unscheduled and urgent surgeries when appropriate, particularly orthopedic trauma care.
Coordinate orthopedic patient care and follow-up for patients having surgery at Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC) and facilitate referrals to tertiary centers when care is not appropriate locally; participate in medical staff functions (including quality assurance reviews and meetings), serve on committees as requested, supervise the Orthopedic PA-C per HR guidelines, and comply with Medical Staff Bylaws, Rules & Regulations, and clinical policies/procedures.
In addition to clinical duties, the Orthopedic Hand Surgeon may be assigned leadership responsibilities that are compensated at a different hourly rate than clinical services. Leadership work may include planning, development, and implementation activities to establish and advance an Orthopedic Center of Excellence, and providing interim coverage for other Medical Directors as needed. Specific leadership scope, expected hours, and applicable hourly rate will be defined in a separate written agreement/addendum.
Develop and execute a roadmap for an Orthopedic Center of Excellence, including care model design, service line scope, clinical pathways, quality and safety metrics, and patient access standards.
Partner with executive leadership, medical staff, nursing, therapy, perioperative services, and revenue cycle to optimize orthopedic operations (clinic flow, OR utilization, instrumentation/implant standardization, referral management, and patient experience).
Lead or support recruitment, onboarding, and clinical integration of orthopedic providers and allied health staff (e.g., PA-C, therapy) to support program growth and coverage.
Provide Medical Director coverage for other services as assigned, including participation in leadership meetings, operational decision-making, policy/procedure review, and issue escalation/triage.
Support compliance and continuous improvement activities, including quality assurance reviews, peer review processes as applicable, and performance improvement initiatives related to orthopedic services.