Vice Chair of Clinical Operations

The Department of Medicine (DOM) at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine seek an accomplished, innovative, and mission-driven physician leader to serve as Vice Chair of Clinical Operations.

This senior leadership role offers a unique opportunity to advance operational performance across one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers. The Vice Chair will shape and execute strategies that enhance clinical efficiency, quality, access, patient and clinician experience, innovation, and financial sustainability across both inpatient and ambulatory domains.

Reporting directly to the Chair of the Department of Medicine, and partnering closely with the Vice President of Medicine at BMC, Section Chiefs, Medical Directors, Nursing, and hospital operations leadership, the Vice Chair will be responsible for aligning clinical operations with BMC’s overarching mission of exceptional care without exception, ensuring that the Department’s systems and structures enable both clinical excellence and health equity.

Strategic Context and Mission Alignment

Boston Medical Center is a nationally recognized leader in health equity, integrated care delivery, and innovation in academic medicine. The Department of Medicine spans ten clinical sections and four research sections, encompassing general internal medicine, hospital medicine, and a wide range of medical subspecialties. Its faculty deliver care across hospital, outpatient, and community settings while training future generations of clinicians and conducting groundbreaking research.

The Vice Chair for Clinical Operations will play a transformative role in driving operational alignment and excellence across this complex ecosystem—linking clinical care with BMC’s academic, educational, and clinical missions. This position requires a strategic, data-driven, and collaborative physician executive capable of translating institutional vision into measurable performance and meaningful improvement in care delivery.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Leadership and Vision

• Develop and lead a comprehensive operational strategy for the Department of Medicine, aligning with institutional goals in clinical delivery, efficiency, quality, and patient and clinician experience.
• Represent the Department in hospital and system-level operational committees, partnering with senior hospital leadership to improve capacity management, throughput, and patient flow.
• Translate institutional priorities into actionable departmental initiatives, ensuring alignment across all sections.
• Drive innovation in care models that optimize resources, enhance provider well-being, and promote sustainable, high-value care.
• Champion a culture of continuous improvement and accountability, integrating data and analytics into decision-making and operational planning.

2. Inpatient Clinical Operations Leadership

• Provide executive oversight/mentorship of all inpatient medical services, consultation services, and subspecialty co-management models.
• Partner with hospital operations teams to improve throughput, discharge planning, and transitions of care, reducing avoidable delays and optimizing capacity utilization.
• Lead multidisciplinary efforts to reduce length of stay and readmission rates while maintaining or improving quality, patient and clinician experience.
• Support standardization of inpatient workflows, rounding models, and communication practices across services to enhance efficiency and coordination.
• Evaluate staffing models and provider deployment to ensure optimal coverage, safety, and team effectiveness.

3. Ambulatory Integration and Transitions of Care

• Collaborate with a newly developed role, the Associate Vice Chair for Ambulatory Operations, and Primary Care leadership to enhance continuity of care between inpatient and outpatient settings.
• Develop and oversee systems to improve post-discharge follow-up, ambulatory access, and communication between care teams.
• Support integration of population health strategies, leveraging care management and digital tools to reduce readmissions and close care gaps.
• Align inpatient and outpatient operations to ensure seamless coordination across the continuum of care.

4. Operational Excellence and Performance Management

• Define and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) for inpatient and ambulatory operations in collaboration with analytics, quality, and finance teams.
• Lead data-informed initiatives to improve care efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and resource utilization