Physician, Vice Chair for System Integration, Anesthesiology

Vice Chair For System Integration

West Virginia University School of Medicine and the Department of Anesthesiology seek a Vice Chair for System Integration qualified for appointment at the Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor rank. The successful candidate will be expected to practice in Morgantown, WV.

The Vice Chair for System Integration is a senior physician leader responsible for advancing clinical excellence, operational alignment, quality performance, workforce stability, and strategic growth across the WVU Medicine system hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers.

Reporting to the Department Chair with a matrixed relationship to the President of System Medical Group (SMG), the Vice Chair serves as the primary partner to community hospital leadership. This role requires balancing system-wide standards with the independence and local identity of individual hospitals. Success in this position depends on building trust, fostering alignment, and leading through influence rather than authority.

The Vice Chair must maintain a visible, in-person presence across system hospitals and develop strong working relationships with each hospital CEO and CMO.

This position includes 50% protected administrative time to support system integration responsibilities, travel, leadership engagement, and quality improvement initiatives. The remaining 50% effort will be devoted to clinical practice.

Protected time may be adjusted upward as needed based on system priorities, growth initiatives, operational complexity, or evolving leadership responsibilities.

The successful candidate will practice in the areas of Anesthesiology. In addition to providing excellent patient care, the successful candidate will also be actively involved in teaching medical students, residents, and fellows.

Duties & Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as the primary liaison for anesthesiology between SMG and community hospital CEOs and CMOs.
• Build and sustain collaborative, trust-based relationships.
• Align SMG goals with hospital strategic priorities.
• In collaboration with the Chair, represent SMG-Anesthesiology in hospital-level leadership forums as appropriate.

• Travel to well-performing system hospitals approximately quarterly.
• Travel to hospitals requiring operational or quality support at least monthly until stability is achieved.
• Maintain regular in-person engagement with hospital leadership and anesthesia teams.
• Provide occasional clinical coverage at system hospitals when strategically or operationally necessary.

• Promote evidence-based perioperative best practices.
• Serve as the system's ASPIRE/MPOG advisor: interpret dashboards, identify performance improvement priorities, and coach site quality leads on actionable improvement plans.
• Support local leaders in translating quality data into measurable frontline change.
• Guide development of consistent policies, staffing models, and operational frameworks.
• Lead collaborative improvement efforts at sites requiring additional support.

• Partner with local hospital CEOs, CMOs, and site anesthesia leaders to support physician and APP recruitment.
• Assist in developing staffing plans aligned with growth projections and operational needs.
• Participate in candidate interviews and recruitment events as appropriate.
• Help ensure equitable compensation structures and consistent recruitment messaging across sites.
• Support retention efforts through transparent performance and compensation alignment.

• Promote transparent, equitable compensation structures across system sites.
• Ensure consistency in compensation methodology and communication.
• Align incentives with productivity, quality, and system citizenship.

• Support and coach site anesthesia leaders.
• Promote collaboration across hospitals while respecting local autonomy.
• Mediate conflicts when appropriate and foster system-wide professional standards.

The Vice Chair may be required to take on additional responsibilities as assigned by the Chair or SMG leadership, particularly in support of evolving system needs, special initiatives, or time-limited projects. Flexibility and responsiveness to organizational priorities are essential.

Qualifications:

• Candidate must have an MD or DO degree or foreign equivalent and be eligible for an unrestricted state medical license
• Must have completed an Anesthesiology residency program
• Must be board certified in Anesthesiology
• Minimum 7 years post-training clinical experience
• Minimum 3 years of progressive leadership experience
• Demonstrated experience with ASPIRE and MPOG quality reporting platforms
• Experience with physician compensation models and recruitment strategy preferred
• Strong executive presence, communication skills, and political acumen
• Willingness and ability to travel routinely to system hospitals
• All qualifications must be met by the time of appointment