Chief Operating Officer

Silver Hill Hospital
Chief Operating Officer

Opportunity
Under his leadership over the past four years, Andrew J. Gerber, MD, PhD, has been building the reputation of Silver Hill Hospital (SHH) as one of the leading psychiatric hospitals in the United States (including but not limited to substance use disorders). The new strategic plan and fundraising campaign and a growing affiliation with the Yale School of Medicine are focusing the hospital on a complete continuum of care made up of superior inpatient, residential, and outpatient services, on a beautifully renovated campus in New Canaan, Connecticut, as well as in New York City and someday in other locations around the country. Within the next few years Silver Hill plans to become the premier psychiatric hospital brand in the United States. 

SHH's mission, culture, and clinical expertise position the hospital perfectly for success and now is the ideal time for this endeavor. Large academic centers include psychiatry as part of a broader mission which can impact priorities and decision making, distracting from a specialized focus on mental health. Small organizations do not have a large scope and are often short of resources. SHH with its 20 psychiatrists, a solid financial model which includes insurance, self-pay, and a successful model for philanthropy with a generous and giving community, is perfectly positioned for innovation and growth. Mental health has not gotten the historic attention and resources it deserves. A silver lining of the recent COVID pandemic is that it has increased awareness of mental health challenges and accelerated a generational shift in lowering stigma about mental health and addiction challenges and treatment. Now is the right time for SHH and a focused and energetic leadership team to build an organization that can lead in this crucial mission. 

The Organization
Silver Hill is an independent, not-for-profit psychiatric hospital that is nationally accredited by the independent Joint Commission. Silver Hill has been a standout among the nation’s top psychiatric hospitals for adults and adolescents since its founding in 1931.

Nestled on 44 beautiful acres of rolling Connecticut countryside, Silver Hill Hospital is renowned for its clinical expertise, proven treatments, and nurturing support. Together these elements create an environment of care in which patients reset, recover, and reconnect with their lives. 

Silver Hill is unlike any other psychiatric or addiction treatment facility because it combines so many outstanding elements into one environment of care:

A Legacy of Service: Founded in 1931, Silver Hill has become a nationally recognized leader in mental health for adults and adolescents. The organization’s sole focus is on the treatment of psychiatric and addiction disorders and, as a not-for-profit hospital, all resources are returned to the patient experience.

A Healing Environment: Silver Hill’s home-like residences nestled within the hospital’s beautiful 44-acre campus paint a picture of a quiet country retreat: welcoming, warm, and healing. Everything in this tranquil setting has been carefully designed to foster a patient-oriented process of recovery. The six residential programs are designed to treat specific patient populations and disorders. All the residences have been recently renovated to ensure patient safety and comfort.

Uninterrupted Treatment: Silver Hill provides access to the treatment their patients need when they need it and all in one location – from Inpatient to Transitional Living to Intensive Outpatient programs. This means there is no disruption of treatment or dislocation in patient care. Patients can move seamlessly from one level of treatment to another depending on their current needs. During a stay at Silver Hill, patients have ready access to staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Staff Expertise: Silver Hill takes a comprehensive team approach to psychiatric care. The staff includes 14 board-certified psychiatrists, most of whom are certified in two or more specializations. These psychiatrists work closely with licensed nurses, social workers, counselors, therapists, technicians, and other staff. Silver Hill has a particularly high staff-to-patient ratio, and many of the staff have made careers at Silver Hill, devoting themselves to the compassionate treatment of their patients.

Family Participation: The patients who walk through Silver Hill’s doors are not the only ones who are affected by an illness, so are the families that stand with them. Family members are often the ones who bring patients to Silver Hill and take them home after their treatment. They play an important role in recovery. Silver Hill supports patients and family members throughout treatment and beyond, with regular meetings and programs that foster understanding and lead to a positive outcome.

Partnership with Referring Clinicians: Treatment begins in the community with referring clinicians and continues during treatment at Silver Hill and after discharge. From initial diagnosis through post-hospital care, Silver Hill has been collaborating with referring clinicians for eight decades. When clinicians refer to Silver Hill, they can be confident that Silver Hill is there to partner with them in the treatment of even the most complex and difficult presentations.

Evidence-Based Therapies: Silver Hill clinicians have the skills to employ a wide range of traditional, alternative, and complementary therapies that all have one thing in common: They are proven to alleviate symptoms and contribute to your recovery when employed skillfully and appropriately.

Treatment of Co-Occurring Disorders: In many instances, patients are experiencing more than one illness at the same time when they come to Silver Hill. For instance, a patient may suffer from both a substance abuse issue and depression. Or a patient may struggle with both an eating disorder and anxiety. The world-class clinicians of Silver Hill take a multi-disciplinary team approach to provide care. Together they have the breadth of knowledge and skill to treat co-occurring conditions simultaneously, which is the best approach for a successful recovery.

The Position 
The new Chief Operating Officer (COO) of SHH will bring a creative and motivating leadership style, reporting directly to the President and Medical Director (who functions as the CEO). They will work closely with executive leadership and the Board to lead the hospital and operational staff through innovative programs and services that will distinguish SHH from its competitors. This includes overseeing the construction of two new inpatient units and an interventional psychiatry program in partnership with the Chief Medical and the Chief Nursing Officers. The COO will also collaborate closely with the Chief Human Resources and Chief Advancement Officers, who also report to the President, and with the Chief Business and Chief Quality Officers, who will report to the COO. 

The COO will be accountable for providing effective administrative management that supports the mission, philosophy, goals, objectives, and standards at SHH for departments with administrative managed responsibilities. In this role, the COO will analyze and assess the current business operations to identify opportunities for innovation, improve the patient experience of care, and increase efficiency. They will lead the transformation of SHH into an elite-performing organization that caters to the unique needs of the behavioral health community.  

Principal among the SHH COO’s responsibilities will be financial reporting, management and planning. They will have direct accountability for the oversight of  Patient Accounting, Quality Operations, Regulatory and Compliance, Patient Admissions, Information Technology, Business Development, and Brand and Hospitality (which includes marketing, dietary and housekeeping services, and the hospitality aspects of facilities). This position has further oversight and coordination of office/space relocations and maintains standardization of office furniture and design in accordance with SHH standards. While patient care will not directly be part of the COO responsibilities, they will be responsible for partnering with the Executive Team to set high clinical standards of care for the hospital. The new COO will also be responsible for identifying, planning, and executing on new strategic revenue streams.  

Success will depend on the ability to cultivate strong collaborative relationships with the Executive Team.

Additional responsibilities: 

• Utilizes management, financial, regulatory, clinical and systems knowledge to assess market needs, functioning of units, programs, managers, and staff; gathers data from variety of sources in systematic manner, tracking, trending and analyzing and synthesizing performance indicators.
• Is an integral part of the senior leadership team and expected to participate in the financial and functional decision-making processes necessary for the successful attainment of the hospital’s operational and financial goals. Including but not limited to, maintaining oversight of the hospital budget, and overseeing, tracking all revenue and expenses while maintaining balance sheets.
• Ensures all accounting and business office policies and required internal controls are in place to facilitate a clean audit with no material audit adjustments or deficiencies found. Ensures that all approval processes are in place.
• Directs the operations of the Revenue Cycle to ensure that accounts receivable is collected timely and uncompensated care is kept to a minimum. Strives to achieve goals for self-pay, cash collections and AR days and to reduce bad debt and denials. Routinely reviews revenue cycle metrics to proactively identify and address issues affecting overall performance.
• Is actively involved in ensuring Front End Revenue Cycle processes are in place including ensuring the insurance verification is completed on 100% of patients, working with the Financial Counselor to ensure proper determination of patient portions and approval of any discounts or charity and proper logging of upfront collections.
• Oversees Patient Admissions teams and ensures efficiency of process as patients travel throughout the continuum of care.
• Maintains a thorough working knowledge of federal, state and managed care reimbursement methodologies to ensure that the hospital is paid accurately, and revenue deductions are recorded accurately. Facilitates preparation of any required cost reports.
• Demonstrates leadership in planning programs, actions, interventions, policies, plans of correction and management and staff. 
• Responsibilities for ongoing response to community/market needs, regulatory changes, patient care needs and quality care demands. Participates in operational decision making and strategic planning for the hospital as requested.
• Implements appropriate policies and procedures to ensure compliance with regulatory guidelines and accrediting standards.
• Develops and implements training and coaching programs for department managers and career development opportunities for staff.
• Serves as advisor and resource to the President and participates with top management, medical staff and clinical leaders within the organization to assist in formulating and administering organizational policy.
• Participates in evaluation of new and existing programs and departments related to quality of service, patient satisfaction, revenue generation and expense management.
• Monitors departments’ productivity, analyzing and trending it with specified outcomes such as employee injuries, patient falls, seclusion/restraint use, etc.
• Works in collaboration with leadership on planning process and to identify and promote opportunities in healthcare that enhance the operations. Ensures areas of responsibility are congruent with the strategic direction of SHH. Responsible for successful development and implementation of specifically approved programs within areas of responsibility.
• Provides leadership and vision to staff in areas of responsibility ensuring Quality of Standards are maintained. Ensures compliance with regulatory agencies by continually monitoring the operations of the departments against established standards and initiating changes where required.
• Oversight of integration and/or acquisition activity.
• Develops and maintains effective relationships in the professional and civic communities.
• Counsels management staff in creating targets, goals, and initiatives that enhance their operations and excel performance of their departments.

The ideal candidate will have:

• 10-15 years of experience within a healthcare setting. Behavioral Health experience is preferred.
• Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills with a friendly and professional demeanor.
• Experience and comfort working within residential and/or hospitality-oriented settings, preferred.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with excellent ability to articulately present material in front of large audiences.
• Strong organizational, project management and problem-solving skills with impeccable multi-tasking abilities and a Team-player outlook.
• Ability to be flexible to the daily changing needs within the community and to handle obstacles with compassion and resolve.
• A strong culture fit with proven ability to partner with and guide a senior leadership team in the spirit of the mission and vision of SHH.

Critical Success Factors

• Has comprehensive knowledge and significant experience with financial management of a medium or large organization, ideally having served as a Chief Financial Officer or related capacity. Is comfortable with general accounting practices, management of budget, general ledger, balance sheet, profit, and loss statement, etc.
• Design and implement an operational oversight/supervision structure for all operational teams that supports the business objectives, clinical objectives, and financial success of the hospital.
• Brings a positive and energetic “can do” action-oriented approach, constantly asking “how can we do things better?” as opposed to gravitating towards reasons to justify past practices “because that’s the way we’ve always done it.”
• Has a comprehensive knowledge of, experience with, and comfort with contemporary web-based financial, informational management, and project management tools that have become essential for the efficient management of medium and large sized organizations. This ideally includes such tools as Salesforce, Sage Intacct (or other similar general ledger, budgeting, and financial management tools), Looker (or other similar business intelligence/data visualization tools such as Tableau or PowerBI), Asana (or other similar project management tools), Qualtrics (or similar survey and data collection tools), ADP or Workday (or other personnel management tools), and mainstream Electronic Health Records and associated billing tools.
• Collaborate with leadership for the plans of any newly proposed construction related projects.

Compensation 
An attractive compensation package will be constructed commensurate with the background and experience of the selected candidate. 

Silver Hill Hospital is an Equal Opportunity Employer.