Director-Digital Practice & Chief Clinical Informatics Officer

Position: Director, Digital Practice & Chief Clinical Informatics Officer (CCIO)

Position Vacancy: PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE - DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Location: WRHN @ Midtown (formerly Grand River Hospital, KW Campus)

Work Type: Full Time

Shift: Non Union; Monday to Friday; Days

Home to seven regional programs and comprehensive health-care services, Waterloo Regional Health Network (WRHN, pronounced wren) is committed to meeting the current and emerging needs in Waterloo-Wellington and beyond.

WRHN is redefining the health-care experience through collaboration and innovation, addressing barriers to access, advancing care delivery, and setting new standards in compassionate, empowered community-driven health care.

At WRHN, every patient is at the centre of everything we do as we strive to improve lives, inspire healing, and build healthier, stronger communities. By listening to patients and partners, we strive to connect communities to the right care, at the right place, and at the right time.

Position Summary: Reporting to the Vice President, Patient Care, KW Lead & Chief Nursing Executive, the Director, Digital Practice & Chief Clinical Informatics Officer (CCIO) will provide strategic leadership in the development, optimization, and continuous enhancement of the organization’s health information systems, ensuring alignment with both clinical and operational goals. In collaboration with the Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO), Chief Innovation Officer, Director, Clinical and Corporate Applications, Director, Professional Practice and Senior Leadership, the Director, Digital Practice & CCIO will ensure that digital health strategies align with clinical and operational objectives to improve patient care. The Director, Digital Practice & CCIO will oversee the Digital Practice Leads, supporting nursing, health disciplines, pharmacy, laboratory, radiology, and other support services. Additionally, they will work closely with the CMIO to support physician informatics priorities, ensuring that physician-related hospital information system needs are well coordinated and effectively addressed. Serving as a liaison between clinical leadership and IT departments, the Director, Digital Practice & CCIO must have a deep understanding of how clinical workflows and hospital systems integrate to ensure that informatics solutions are clinically relevant, operationally feasible, and aligned with best practices. This role requires expertise in clinical informatics, strategic planning, change management, and leading multidisciplinary teams to facilitate the adoption and integration of healthcare technologies.

Responsibilities:

Chair meetings with clinical program dyads, executive leaders, and informatics teams to gather and prioritize system needs, ensuring high- quality patient care.

• Work with clinical leaders to ensure seamless integration of workflows and that digital transformation aligns with clinical objectives and operational needs.
• Develop and implement change management strategies to facilitate smooth adoption and ensure the successful integration of electronic health records and other digital tools.
• Working with clinical and operational leadership to evaluate the effectiveness of technology and workflows in supporting positive patient outcomes.
• In collaboration with CMIO, support physicians to implement and optimize digital workflows, clinical documentation, and decision support tools.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with clinical leadership, informatics teams, and key stakeholders to ensure alignment between digital strategies, clinical practice and operational needs.
• Act as a key change agent in order to facilitate clinical adoption and implementation of new processes and/or clinical standards.
• Liaise with counterparts at other organizations (public and private) at the regional, provincial, national, and international levels to share best practices and industry trends and to establish regional strategies, e.g., regional partner hospitals, Ontario Health, etc.
• Lead continuous improvement efforts, working with clinical leaders and staff to resolve system usability challenges, standardize clinical workflows, and identify inefficiencies using data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
• Participate in, and if required oversee, the development of strategic plans, goals, and outcomes related to health IT procurement, implementation, and optimization.
• Foster a culture of evidence-informed practice, knowledge transfer, and continuous improvement, and support working groups focused on clinical and business process redesign.
• Advocate for the advantages of effective health information technologies, promoting their use to improve patient care and streamline clinical operations.
• Design changes in clinical processes that improve outcomes, increase efficiencies, and reduce costs, using informatics tools to drive better clinical decision-making and patient outcomes.
• Facilitate the adoption of new processes and clinical standards, ensuring clinical staff have the tools and training required to transition to new technologies.
• Provide ongoing support and serve as a key contact for clinical staff with concerns or proposals for change.
• Pursue research and development initiatives aimed at supporting quality improvement and patient safety efforts.
• Graduate degree in Health Informatics, health discipline or related field.
• Member in good standing of a regulated health profession.

Position Requirements:

Minimum 5-7 years’ clinical practice, clinical informatics, or health information systems

• 5-7 years of recent, related experience in a complex corporate applications environment, including progressive experience in leadership roles of influence.
• Experience in the implementation of large-scale clinical information systems, with strong working or expert knowledge in clinician change management and system optimization.
• Experience in commonly used healthcare applications and technologies (e.g. Oracle Cerner, Web technologies including Microsoft SharePoint, BizTalk Integration Engine, Meditech, Sunrise Clinical Manager, PACS/RIS, SIS).
• Demonstrated knowledge and/or experience in redesigning clinical processes to improve efficiency and patient care.
• In-depth understanding of healthcare systems, clinical programs, and hospital operations, with the ability to integrate informatics solutions that improve patient care and operational efficiency.
• Knowledge of regulatory requirements and best practices in healthcare informatics, ensuring compliance with relevant laws and standards.
• Demonstrated stakeholder engagement and management experience in a complex environment.
• Skilled in diagnosing and solving complex clinical process problems and providing detailed analysis.
• Highly flexible, adaptable, strategic leader who enjoys and functions well in a complex and ambiguous environment.
• Systems thinker with an orientation for business process engineering.
• Exceptional leadership and team development skills that reflect in positive networks, partnerships, strong teams and alliances.
• Highly focused and values-based leader who is able to influence people and teams to achieve new visions, missions and results.
• Strong strategic and analytical skills balanced with a pragmatic, results-oriented approach.
• Ability to solve complex problems, manage risks, and support competing and, sometimes, conflicting stakeholder interests.
• Excellent organization and time management skills, with demonstrated ability to meet deadlines.
• Excellent collaborator and relationship builder.
• Viewed as a creative champion of change and as an innovative and resilient IT leader. Demonstrated ability to lead change, build capacity and improve organizational resilience by reinforcing the vision, engaging the people and managing resistance to change.
• Proven transformational leadership ability combined with a collaborative and relational style with all stakeholders.
• Experience working with project management methodologies and clinical process analysis.
• Excellent critical thinking and decision-making skills.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills and the ability to build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders.

Application Instructions:

EMPLOYEES OF LEGACY GRAND RIVER HOSPITAL ARE REQUIRED TO SUBMIT THEIR APPLICATION ELECTRONICALLY USING THE EMPATH SYSTEM.

Please include a resume with your application in order to ensure that your qualifications are appropriately considered in the hiring process.

If applicable, as per the collective agreement, the internal recruitment process will be completed prior to the consideration of external applications.

WRHN is committed to fair and equitable employment and in our recruitment and selection practices. We strongly believe in inclusion and diversity within our organization, and welcome all applicants including, but not limited to racialized communities, all religions and ethnicities, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ2S+ persons, Indigenous people, and all others who may contribute to the further diversification of our Hospital community. We are committed to providing and fostering a respectful workplace for all employees, free from violence and harassment. Accommodations are available during all stages of the recruitment process in accordance with the Human Rights Code.

WRHN is committed to complying with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) to provide an inclusive, barrier free workplace. We will accommodate the accessibility needs of individuals with disabilities to support participation in all aspects of the recruitment process. Should you require this accommodation, please contact Human Resources.

If you are seeking employment on a temporary work or study permit we recommend reviewing work permit restrictions as it applies to healthcare organizations in Canada. Individuals holding a work or study permit seeking employment in the healthcare sector may be required to complete additional steps in the process. This may also apply to current employees seeking renewal of their work permits. It is the accountability of the applicant and/or employee to ensure they are adhering to their specific work permit restrictions.