Director, Infection Prevention and Control

Duties & Essential Job Functions

• Actively participates in leadership meetings to ensure alignment of priorities and strategies with AHS.
• Collaborates with Employee Health to institute measures to protect and prevent healthcare workers from communicable diseases.
• Collaborates with Facilities Management to ensure an integrated Environment of Care program.
• Collaborates with leadership to ensure compliance with regulatory and accrediting agency requirements.
• Conducts retrospective and/or prospective and data analyses to determine rates infection hazards and healthcare infections; recommends and coordinates the implementation of appropriate interventions to reduce rates; and evaluates the effectiveness of prevention and control measures.
• Collaborates with appropriate committees to disseminate infection prevention data in a timely manner.
• Collaborates with the chair(s) of the Infection Control committee to coordinate the Infection Control Committee.
• Creates a healthy work environment for staff by recruiting talent, mitigating personnel performance gaps according to human resource guidelines, and mentoring the team.
• Develops, reviews, and revises infection control policies regularly and as-needed.
• Ensures timely and accurate data reporting to public health departments, CMS and other external agencies as appropriate.
• Implements standardized, infection prevention initiatives to improve the quality and safety of care.
• Keeps abreast of current scientific literature, recommendations, guidelines, and regulatory requirements which may impact the infection Prevention program, by monitoring regulatory and accreditation agency standards (CDC, OSHA, APIC, etc) as well as the scientific literature for changing regulations, standards, guidance, and research results. Disseminates information to the system and proposes necessary program changes.
• Manages the division budget to meet fiscal requirements and achieve department goals. Consider the financial/safety implications and clinical outcomes when making recommendations, evaluating technology and products, and developing policies and procedures. Use a systematic approach to evaluate costs, benefits, and efficacy. Incorporate fiscal assessments into program evaluations and/or reports, assist in developing and maintaining departmental budgets.
• Maintains awareness of potential clusters or outbreaks of situations and unusual or resistant microbiological organisms; identifies risks or potential risks of communicable disease; and takes appropriate action as needed; notifies infection control chair and administration immediately when a problem is identified or questioned; collaborates with local/state agencies when requested.
• Provides content expertise to physician leaders, patient care service leaders and quality leaders to improve infection prevention and control.
• Provides direct supervision of Infection Preventionists and coordinators in division.
• Provides recommendations for new products that has a potential impact on reducing risk of infection.
• Supervises reports of communicable diseases to the appropriate local and state health departments in a timely manner.
• Serves as the designated National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Facility Administrator for Alameda Health System. Be familiar with infection prevention software and/or other electronic medical records technology. Performs statistical analysis of infection data, generates graphic displays and creates reports for internal use and external agencies; benchmarks and compares infection rates.
• Utilizes scientifically proven epidemiological principles and practices by observing, investigating, and implementing control measures when an outbreak or cluster of infections is noted among staff or patients.

Minimum Qualifications

• Any combination of education and experience that would likely provide the required knowledge, skills and abilities as well as possession of any required licenses or certifications is qualifying.
• Required Education: Master’s degree in Nursing, Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Microbiology, Public Health, or Epidemiology.
• Required Experience: Five years of experience in infection prevention in an acute care setting.
• Required Experience: Three years of experience in a management/supervisory experience in quality, safety, accreditation, or infection prevention.
• Required Licenses/Certifications: Current Certification in Infection Control (CIC) from Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology.