System Vice Chair Clinical Operations - Physician - Mount Sinai Hospital - Manhattan, NY

The Department of Medicine within our 7-hospital health system—which includes a significant inpatient presence as well as a broad ambulatory network—seeks a seasoned and strategic physician leader to serve as System Vice Chair of Clinical Operations. This leadership role is primarily focused on improving operational performance and alignment within the inpatient settings and across divisions, especially Hospital Medicine and the subspecialties, while also supporting integration with ambulatory care delivery. 

The Vice Chair will serve as the Chair of Medicine’s primary delegate for clinical operations, representing the Department in health system initiatives that target inpatient throughput, discharge efficiency, length of stay, transitions of care, patient flow, and inpatient care team performance. The Vice Chair will take strategic direction from health system leadership and work closely with Departmental leaders—including Vice Chairs, Division Chiefs, Medical Directors, and site-based teams—to drive measurable improvements across hospitals. 

While important work is already underway, the Vice Chair is expected to critically evaluate existing operational efforts—identifying what is effective, what requires refinement, and where transformative change is needed. The role includes authority and accountability to surface new opportunities, lead bold initiatives, and, when necessary, reimagine or overturn existing systems in ways that advance the goals of the Department and the health system’s One Mount Sinai initiative.

Strategic Inpatient Operations Leadership 

• Provide operational leadership across the Department’s inpatient clinical services.
• Represent the Department of Medicine in system-level hospital operations and performance forums. 
• Translate institutional priorities into department-specific inpatient strategies focused on quality, throughput, and efficiency. 
• Collaborate with hospital-based operations teams to improve bed utilization, reduce length of stay, streamline transitions of care, and enhance discharge planning.

Collaborative Review of Existing Initiatives

•  Conduct a strategic review of current inpatient operational initiatives, committees, and workflows to assess effectiveness and alignment with system goals. 
• Engage with departmental and system leaders to identify immediate operational priorities and long-term transformation opportunities. 
• Build upon effective existing efforts while also driving new strategies to close gaps and improve care delivery. 

Inpatient Program Optimization 

• Partner with Division Chiefs and hospital leaders to optimize hospital medicine, consultative services, and team-based inpatient care delivery models. Ensure clinical standardization across specialties. 
• Support staffing, workflow, and interdisciplinary coordination to improve safety, efficiency, and provider experience. 
• Identify and address operational barriers impacting inpatient flow, patient outcomes, and throughput. 

Ambulatory Integration for Transitions of Care 

- Collaborate with the Vice Chair for Ambulatory Services and Primary Care leaders to improve discharge transitions, follow-up, and care continuity. 

- Align inpatient and outpatient teams to minimize readmissions and close gaps in post-discharge care coordination. 

Performance Management & Cost Optimization 

• Define and monitor key inpatient performance metrics in collaboration with analytics, finance, and quality teams. 
• Use data to drive initiatives that improve inpatient care efficiency, discharge processes, and bed utilization.
• Ensure that inpatient operational strategies are financially sustainable and aligned with institutional value goals. 

Leadership Collaboration & Governance

• Work closely with: 
• Vice Chair for Quality & Safety – to align inpatient operations with safety, compliance, and quality improvement goals. Also, Vice Chairs of other departments and service line/institute leaders. 
• Division Chiefs for Hospital Medicine and relevant inpatient specialties – to co-lead care delivery improvements. 
• Vice Chairs for Ambulatory Services, Education, and Faculty Affairs – to ensure inpatient operations support continuity of care, teaching missions, and faculty success. 
• Maintain strong communication with health system hospital operations leadership.

Initial Priorities (First 12–18 Months)

• Conduct a department-wide review of inpatient operational initiatives across all hospitals. 
• Build upon and enhance existing inpatient throughput initiatives by introducing new strategies to improve length of stay,