Senior Psychiatrist, Correctional Health Services

NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation. We are a network of 11 hospitals, trauma centers, neighborhood health centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, and correctional health services. We are a home care agency and a health plan, MetroPlus. Our health system provides essential services to 1.4 million New Yorkers every year in more than 70 locations across the city's five boroughs. Our diverse workforce of more than 42,000 employees are uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers.

NYC Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health Services is one of the nation’s leading correctional health care systems in quality of and innovations to care, and access from pre-arraignment through compassionate release. In-jail services include medical, nursing, mental health, substance use treatment, social work, dental and vision care, discharge planning, and reentry support. In addition to providing direct patient care in the jails, CHS leverages the resources of the nation’s largest municipal health care system to help discharged patients successfully return to their communities. CHS is also a pivotal partner in New York City’s criminal justice reform efforts.

About the Role

The Senior Psychiatrist is the psychiatric leader of the facility or program and works in close collaboration with the Mental Health Unit Chief, Clinical Supervisors, and Supervising Psychiatrists (if applicable) to ensure that safe, holistic, and evidence-based psychiatric care is provided to incarcerated patients with varying levels of mental health needs. A team-based approach to care is critical; one that incorporates all relevant mental health and medical disciplines as well as security staff. A major component of this position will be training, recruiting, and retaining high-quality staff and providing strong leadership and mentorship for existing staff.

The New York City jail system is the second largest in the nation. A significant number of individuals in the NYC jail system will receive care on the mental health service. The service strives to provide safe, holistic, and evidence-based therapeutic interventions for the diverse range of mental health issues that face the population, from serious mental illness to the natural struggles that accompany incarceration. The service provides some of the most comprehensive and unique treatment modalities in the country, including specialty housing units for individuals with serious mental illness, a 24-hour on-call psychiatric service, robust creative arts programming, clinics in each of the facilities, substance use treatment, medication-assisted treatment (MAT), integrated re-entry services that include alternatives to incarceration, and relationships with multiple training institutions throughout the city. Furthermore, CHS has been engaged in an effort to better identify people with neurodevelopmental/neurocognitive disorders and to utilize psychological testing to connect people to services in the community (e.g., with OPWDD).

Responsibilities

• Ensure the highest possible quality of mental health care both in the facility and in collaboration with the other jail facilities in the system, including active participation in quality improvement, staff and patient safety initiatives, treatment supervision, and personnel mentorship and management.
• In coordination with the facility-specific Mental Health Unit Chief, design, implement, and monitor relevant clinical facility-specific procedures, policies, and operating manuals.
• Direct clinical individual and group supervision of the relevant psychiatric prescribing staff, including psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and psychiatric physician assistants, including both in vivo reviews of clinical skills as well as chart review.
• Collaborate closely, including regularly scheduled meetings, with other relevant disciplines within the mental health, medical, nursing, and operations departments, as well as the Department of Correction.
• Ensure that medication renewals are completed in a timely manner.
• Educate clinical staff about new developments regarding best practices in all aspects of psychiatric care, with specific attention to the challenges and issues facing a jail setting (e.g., influence of legal case, dual loyalty, medication diversion).
• Ensure compliance with all regulatory standards.
• In collaboration with the Mental Health Unit Chief, oversee the orientation of new staff to the facility or program.
• Conduct regular and multidisciplinary case conferences.
• Report on an as-needed basis to the CHS Morbidity and Mortality review committee.
• Work in collaboration with the Mental Health Unit Chief to manage clinical schedules, vacation requests, CME activities, and other relevant activities as they pertain to psychiatric staffing and education.
• Participate in policy revision and creation, and practice guideline creations, related to psychiatric care, including input into the psychiatric medication formulary.
• Lead at least monthly interdisciplinary mental health staff meetings in coordination with the Mental Health Unit Chief and Clinical Supervisor.
• Personnel management of clinical staff, including setting quality standards, establishing effective recruitment and retention strategies, and managing workforce complaints.
• Devote at least 30% of time to direct clinical care, which may include direct supervision of psychiatric trainees. For smaller facilities or programs with less supervisory need, more direct patient care will be expected.
• On-call responsibilities for two weeks at a time, one to two times per year, for off-hours issues that require high-level clinical intervention.
• Other duties at the discretion of the Medical Director of Mental Health or the Chief of Service.

Requirements

• Graduation from a medical school approved by the Council on Medical Education and Hospitals of the American Medical Association.
• Completion of an acceptable internship in an approved hospital.
• A license to practice medicine in the State of New York.
• Certification by the American Board in the field of specialization or a faculty appointment of Associate Professor or higher in a medical school recognized by the American Medical Association.
• Eight (8) years of satisfactory full-time paid experience in the field of specialization, including at least three (3) years in a supervisory or administrative capacity. (Training and experience required for certification will be credited toward required specialized experience.)

Qualifications

• M.D. or D.O. degree with an active NY State license in good standing.
• Completion of a 4-year psychiatric residency training program.
• Active certification by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Psychiatry.
• At least two years of post-residency experience working with individuals with mental illness in a criminal justice setting (jail, prison, probation, and/or parole) or public health community setting.
• At least one year of post-residency experience in a supervisory role in psychiatry.
• At least one year of post-residency experience working with individuals with serious mental illness.
• An equivalent and satisfactory combination of education and experience may be considered.

Skills

• Excellent diagnostic and treatment skills with particular attention to issues of psychopharmacology, safe administration of medication in a variety of settings, medical complications of mental illness, and therapeutic resistance.
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills and ability to work collaboratively with other disciplines, including DOC staff.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to identify staff needs and provide mentorship and education to suit those needs.
• Buprenorphine waiver training highly encouraged but not required.