Sr Director - Patient Safety & High Reliability Organization

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare•Memphis, TN

5d•Onsite

About The Position

Responsible for the development, execution, and continuous advancement of a system-wide patient safety and High Reliability Organization (HRO) strategy across the care continuum of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare. Leads both proactive and reactive safety programs to reduce preventable harm, strengthen safety culture, and ensure consistent adoption of high reliability principles across the organization. Accountable for system-wide safety performance, event reporting and learning systems, and integration of safety practices into daily operations. Partners with physician, nursing, and operational leaders to translate safety strategy into measurable outcomes, ensuring alignment with MLH's clinical governance model and strategic priorities. Model appropriate behavior as exemplified in MLH Mission, Vision and Values.

Requirements

Master's Degree Nursing
Minimum 5-7 years of progressive leadership experience in patient safety, quality, or clinical operations
Demonstrated experience leading system-level safety or HRO initiatives
Deep expertise in patient safety science, human factors, and high reliability principles
Demonstrated ability to lead enterprise-wide change and culture transformation
Strong analytical capability in safety data interpretation and performance improvement
Ability to influence physician, nursing, and executive leadership without direct authority
Excellent communication and presentation skills (Board, ELT, and frontline engagement)
Strong program management, facilitation, and team leadership capabilities
Knowledge of regulatory and accreditation requirements (DNV, CMS, or equivalents)
Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS)
Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) or ability to obtain within one (1) year of employment

Nice To Haves

Master's Degree Business Administration
Master's Degree Healthcare Administration
Master's Degree Public Health
Clinical degree (MD, RN, PharmD, or equivalent)
Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality-CPHQ
National Association for Healthcare Quality
Six Sigma Black Belt
Authorized Six Sigma Certification Issuer

Responsibilities

Leads development and execution of MLH’s system-wide patient safety strategy
Establishes system priorities to reduce Serious Safety Events (SSEs) and preventable harm across the continuum
Ensures consistent safety practices across the care continuum.
Designs, implements, and sustains MLH’s High Reliability framework
Oversees system-wide deployment of safety behaviors and tools (e.g., speak up, stop-the-line) and simulation-based safety training programs
Ensures integration of HRO principles into daily operations, tiered huddles, and leadership practices
Oversee the MLH Patient Safety Event (PSE) reporting system
Leads standardized system-wide processes for Root Cause Analysis (RCA), Apparent Cause Analysis (ACA) and Event classification and prioritization
Ensures timely, high-quality investigation and system-level learning dissemination
Establishes feedback loops to frontline staff to improve transparency and reporting culture
Implements proactive safety programs, including risk assessments and hazard identification and thematic analysis of safety events and near misses
Identifies and mitigates high-risk failure points before harm occurs
Develops leading indicators and early warning signals for safety risks
Leads system-wide initiatives to reduce serious safety events and never events
Ensures consistent response to serious events, including event review process, patient and family communication (in collaboration with Corporate Risk Management) and care for the caregiver programs
Drives advancement of a Just Culture across MLH
Leads system-wide safety culture measurement and improvement initiatives
Promotes psychological safety and a culture of open reporting and continuous learning
Ensures alignment between safety culture and leadership behaviors
Oversees integrity, analysis, and reporting of system safety data
Develops standardized dashboards for care sites, system and board reporting
Leads interpretation and communication of safety performance trends
Serves as a key leader within the System Safety & High Reliability governance structure
Partners with both clinical and operational leaders to ensure accountability for safety performance across all levels of the organization
Partners closely with Risk Management to align event management and claims and risk mitigation strategies
Integrates health equity, inclusion, and disparity reduction into patient safety programs
Collaborates with equity leadership to identify and eliminate disparities in safety outcomes
Leads development of system-wide patient safety and HRO curriculum
Ensures integration of safety training into new employee onboarding, ongoing associate education and leadership development programs
Mentors and develops patient safety leaders across the system
Represents MLH in regional and national patient safety forums
Establishes partnerships with external organizations and benchmarking collaboratives
Brings innovative practices and emerging trends into MLH’s safety strategy