Chief Medical Officer

Position Overview

If you're interested in working as a Psychiatrist with DMHAS (in any capacity whether it be full time, part time or per diem) please contact Kyle St. Jean via email View email address on click.appcast.io. Ready to lead clinical excellence in a hospital dedicated to recovery‑oriented behavioral healthcare? Become a key executive leader at Connecticut Valley Hospital! Connecticut Valley Hospital (CVH), part of the State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS), invites an accomplished and mission‑driven physician executive to serve as its next Chief Medical Officer. As a key member of the hospital’s executive leadership team, the Chief Medical Officer will provide strategic and clinical leadership for Connecticut’s largest public psychiatric and addiction treatment hospital. This is an opportunity to influence care across a complex, two‑campus healthcare system and to lead a highly skilled interdisciplinary medical staff committed to safety, dignity, recovery, and improved outcomes for individuals with significant behavioral health needs. At CVH, our work is guided by Achieving Excellence Together—our shared commitment to collaboration, accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement. The Chief Medical Officer will help advance this model by bringing clinical leaders together around a common vision for exceptional patient care. The Chief Medical Officer will guide the hospital’s clinical direction, strengthen medical practice and accountability, promote evidence‑based and patient‑centered care, and help advance a culture in which recovery and wellness are embedded throughout treatment. Working collaboratively with hospital executives and interdisciplinary leaders, the CMO will play a central role in advancing clinical excellence, workforce development, regulatory readiness, patient safety, and organizational performance. We are seeking a physician leader who appreciates the complexity of public behavioral healthcare and who can inspire clinicians, build strong partnerships, and translate vision into meaningful improvements in care. For a leader who believes that excellence is achieved through shared purpose and collective effort, this position offers the opportunity to make a lasting statewide impact.

Highlights

• FACILITY: Connecticut Valley Hospital (CVH)
• LOCATION: 1000 Silver Street, Middletown, CT
• SCHEDULE: Full‑Time, 40 Hours per Week, First Shift, 8:00am - 4:30pm, Monday through Friday
• POSITION NUMBER: 25728

Benefits

• Visit our new State Employee Benefits Overview page!
• Professional growth and development opportunities
• A healthy work/life balance to all employees
• The opportunity to:
  • Join a vibrant professional learning community of Board‑Certified Physicians and Psychiatrists
  • Support an agency deeply committed to improving the lives of those we serve
  • Make a meaningful difference in the public sector

Medical Examination Requirement

A comprehensive medical examination, including a drug screening, will be required of all applicants upon a conditional offer of employment. All state employees must adhere to Connecticut’s Policy for a Drug Free Workplace.

About Connecticut Valley Hospital

The Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services is a statewide healthcare system dedicated to promoting recovery, wellness, and independence for individuals living with mental health and substance use disorders. Through a comprehensive network of inpatient, outpatient, residential, and community‑based services, DMHAS works to ensure that individuals receive high‑quality care grounded in dignity, respect, choice, and hope.

Connecticut Valley Hospital is the state’s largest public psychiatric hospital and a critical component of Connecticut’s behavioral healthcare system. Across two campuses in Middletown and Hartford, CVH operates 17 inpatient treatment units serving individuals with complex psychiatric, addiction, medical, and psychosocial needs.

Through its General Psychiatry Division and Addiction Services Division, CVH provides specialized, trauma‑informed, recovery‑oriented, and gender‑responsive services. Treatment is delivered by interdisciplinary teams committed not only to stabilization, but also to helping individuals build the skills, supports, and confidence needed to achieve wellness and successfully return to their communities.

Guided by our person‑centered framework and our organizational model, Achieving Excellence Together, CVH continues to strengthen clinical quality, patient safety, workforce engagement, therapeutic programming, and community reintegration. The Chief Medical Officer will have an exceptional opportunity to help shape this work and advance a culture where excellence is achieved through teamwork, shared accountability, and an unwavering commitment to the people we serve.

Key Responsibilities

• Administers staff and operations of a designated hospital or facility.
• Develops, implements and evaluates policies, goals and objectives.
• Assists in development of programs and activities including development of medical service standards and criteria.
• Implements new procedures and procedural revisions.
• Determines or assists in determination of appropriate staffing levels and directs or assists in management and coordination of staff.
• Implements performance review standards for staff.
• Maintains contact with individuals within and outside of agency who might impact programs and services.
• Administers state and federal regulations pertaining to medical and psychiatric health care programs, services and operations.
• Participates on various committees and boards.
• Leads the recruitment and hiring of staff, including outreach, interview and selection.
• May testify in court as needed.
• May conduct training.
• May be responsible for coordination of accreditation activities.
• May serve as agency liaison with external medical, behavioral health planning, advisory groups, courts and other state medical and service agencies.
• May monitor contracts with medical services vendors.
• May participate in quality assurance studies and investigations.
• May develop processes and practices to improve quality and cost of patient care.
• Performs related duties as required.

Knowledge, Skill and Ability

• Considerable knowledge of
• Ability to apply management principles and practices; principles, practices and issues of medicine and psychiatry with particular reference to diagnosis and treatment of behavioral health patients; recent developments in field of psychiatry and medicine;
• Knowledge of administration and clinical operations, functions and systems involving medical service delivery;
• Considerable interpersonal skills;
• Oral and written communication skills;
• Organizational skills;
• Analytical skills;
• Ability to teach and provide clinical supervision.

Minimum Qualifications - General Experience

Experience in a hospital, clinic or correctional facility as a board certified psychiatrist.

Special Requirements

• Incumbents in this class must possess a license to practice medicine and surgery in Connecticut.
• Incumbents in this class must possess and retain certification as a specialist in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
• Incumbents in this class must possess and maintain eligibility for participation in federal health care programs as defined in 42 U.S. 1320a-7b(f).
• Incumbents in this class may be required to possess and retain certification as a specialist in an area such as geriatrics, ABI/TBI, forensics, substance abuse, etc.
• Incumbents in this class may be required to possess and retain a faculty appointment at either the Yale School of Medicine or the UConn School of Medicine.
• Incumbents in this class may be required to possess appropriate current licenses, certifications or permits.
• Incumbents in this class may be required to be bilingual.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

This employer may participate in E‑Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I‑9 information to confirm work authorization.