Date Posted: 07/25/2024
Closing Date: 08/29/2024, 11:59PM ET
Req ID: 38880
Job Category: Faculty - Clinical
Faculty/Division: Temerty Faculty of Medicine
Department: Dept of Medicine
Hospital Affiliation: Unity Health Toronto - St. Michael's
Campus: St. George (Downtown Toronto)

Description:

Unity Health Toronto is looking for a Medical Director of Palliative Care. This position is for a 5 year term, renewable once. This position represents a 0.2 FTE time commitment. The Medical Director of Palliative Care will provide clinical leadership for Palliative Care inpatient and outpatient services across St. Michael’s Hospital (SMH), St. Joseph’s Health Centre (SJHC) and Providence Healthcare and ensure the provision of evidence-based care for patients. The applicant must have or be eligible for full time academic appointment at St. Michael’s Hospital as a Lecturer, Assistant, Associate or Full Professor at the University of Toronto. The expected start date of the position is September 1, 2024, or shortly thereafter.

Currently, Palliative Care services at Unity Health Toronto encompass a 10-bed inpatient unit, consultation services, and an outpatient Symptom Improvement Service at SMH; a 10-bed inpatient unit, consultation services, and space earmarked for an outpatient clinic at the Lake House Palliative Care Centre at SJHC; a 33-bed inpatient unit at Providence Healthcare; and palliative care services as needed at the Cardinal Ambrozic Houses of Providence.

Within the continuum of care, the Medical Director will work in close collaboration with the Senior Clinical Program Director, Rehabilitation and Palliative Care to ensure a patient and caregiver-focused integrated continuum of care from point of program entry. This individual will work with relevant Department Chiefs, Leads, or Directors at each site to support site-specific needs including relevant clinical and academic needs. The individual will provide leadership in developing and implementing the vision and infrastructure for palliative care services across Unity Health Toronto through planning, integration, implementation and evaluation of clinical initiatives and the support of academic initiatives. This will be done in consultation and collaboration with individuals including program directors, managers, chiefs and medical directors. For further details on the Medical Director position’s responsibilities, please see below.

The Palliative Care program includes both inpatient, outpatient and consultative outreach care across Unity Health and has an opportunity to expand and support care across our communities including in long-term care homes, transitional care units and through partnerships with our existing Ontario Health Team and other community organizations. The successful candidate will report to the relevant Department Chief at their primary hospital site and the responsible Clinical VP for the Rehabilitation and Palliative Care Programs. Compensation will be stipend based and commensurate with the duties and time requirement of the position.

The successful applicant must hold an MD degree and have, or be eligible for, certification in Palliative Medicine and/or Internal Medicine by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and licensure with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO). Advanced training in palliative medicine and proven clinical excellence in the various aspects of palliative care as well as holding or be working towards a graduate degree relevant to their area of specialization is required. The successful candidate will participate in the undergraduate and postgraduate educational programs in Palliative Medicine at St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto and may collaborate in clinical research and quality improvement programs in conjunction with clinical work. Clinical activities within Palliative Care in the Division of General Internal Medicine will include attending on the palliative inpatient service, participating in the weekend on call rotation schedule as well as consults for in-hospital patients on other services. For details on the University of Toronto academic clinical faculty requirements for advanced training and demonstrated scholarship for the job descriptions of CT and CQI, please see Table 2 at https://deptmedicine.utoronto.ca/clinical-faculty-academic-appointments#Clinicalfacultyapptcategories.

Responsibilities for the Medical Director of Palliative Care:

1. Be a member of and contribute to the effectiveness of relevant program committees, Ontario Health Team committees and other committees as appropriate.
2. Work with relevant partners including: the VP Medical Affairs and Chief, Providence Healthcare; Department Chiefs (e.g. Medicine, Family and Community Medicine); relevant Division Heads (e.g. Palliative, GIM etc.) across all three Unity sites; and the VP, Education as needed to develop interprofessional education activities relevant to palliative care.
3. Provide medical operational leadership in the organization of Palliative care services across Unity Health and in collaboration with the VP, Clinical Programs and Senior Clinical Director, Palliative Care.
4. Ensure the provision of evidence based practices in palliative care based on a model of continuous learning and continuous improvement.
5. Work with the Unity Health Toronto Foundations on fundraising activities to support the vision of providing compassionate care to address the physical, emotional, spiritual and practical needs of patients and their families while managing end of life symptoms and comfort for terminally ill patients.
6. Have a strong clinical and administrative presence across Unity Health Toronto.

Applications for the position will be accepted until August 29, 2024, at 5:00pm. Please forward a one-page statement of interest, a curriculum vitae and a list of internal and external referrals who can be contacted regarding your candidacy to:

Trixie Williams, VP Clinical, Rehabilitation and Transitions

Unity Health Toronto

trixie.williams@unityhealth.to

CAUTION: This ad is “posted only” to the U of T affiliated hospital job board. Please see the information directly above for the application instructions; applications submitted via the "Apply Now" button on this page will NOT be considered for this position.

Unity Health Toronto serves patients, residents and clients across the full spectrum of care while investing in world-class research and education.

Unity Health Toronto’s embedding anti-racism, equity and social accountability in every aspect of our organization is essential to our ability to provide exceptional care experiences and to drive research and academic excellence. Our deeply held values of human dignity, compassion, excellence, community and inclusivity inform how we continuously nurture an environment that is inclusive and compels us to work in opposition to racism, ableism and discrimination as continuing barriers to people’s ability to access health services and to realize their full potential in employment and in life.

For more information about Unity Health Toronto, please visit https://unityhealth.to/.

For information about the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto, please visit our website at http://www.deptmedicine.utoronto.ca.

The Department of Medicine’s academic position descriptions can be viewed on this webpage: http://www.deptmedicine.utoronto.ca/academic-position-descriptions#AcademicPositionDescriptions.