Supervisor Social Work

Virginia Mason Franciscan Health brings together two award-winning health systems in Washington state CHI Franciscan and Virginia Mason. As one integrated health system with the most patient access points in western Washington, our team includes 18,000 staff and nearly 5,000 employed physicians and affiliated providers.

At Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, you will find the safest and highest quality of care provided by our expert, compassionate medical care team at 11 hospitals and nearly 300 sites throughout the greater Puget Sound region. 

While you’re busy impacting the healthcare industry, we’ll take care of you with benefits that may include health/dental/vision, FSA, matching retirement plans, paid vacation, adoption assistance, annual bonus eligibility, and more!

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:  

Operations:

• Supervises daily operations of the assigned social work team which provides ongoing intervention, assessment and care of patients to facilitate the safe and appropriate delivery of patient care, facilitate achievement of clinical core measurement scores and to ensure that all activities are conducted in a timely and cost-effective manner and in compliance with organizational values, professional standards, internal policies/standards/procedures and/or applicable regulatory requirements; monitors and audits Plan of Care and related documentation to ensure conformance with established standards relating to timeliness and accuracy; oversees the resolution of daily clinical, administrative and operational issues, and monitors/troubleshoots service recovery and other escalated concerns, resolving within defined scope of responsibility; implements and enforces quality control/quality assurance and productivity standards; ensures that applicable standards, systems and procedures are understood and followed; monitors and audits related documentation to ensure conformance with established standards relating to timeliness, and accuracy; prepares periodic productivity reports and program updates for review of higher-level authority.
• Participates in the development of, and implements new clinical systems/programs to enhance existing services and raise the standard of care for the patient population served; produces and presents reports on key performance indicators and other significant benchmarking metrics.
• If assigned to Regional Mental Health Administration: supervises operations of the Psychiatric Assessment Team which provides ongoing intervention, assessment and care of patients (in collaboration with unit-based nursing, social work and provider staff) who have psychiatric consult orders and those detained and on a single-bed certification (SBC); participates in community meetings that support patients on SBCs as relates to transfers, community resources, placement, disposition and patients that are difficult to place because of behavior dyscontrol.

Staff Supervision and Development:

• Schedules, supervises and evaluates the work of assigned staff engaged in the assessment/treatment of patients in accordance with established procedures; prioritizes cases and assigns staff to address urgent and non-urgent patient care needs as identified by the multidisciplinary clinical team; approves rescheduling and replacement staff for assigned work unit in accordance with established standards; ensures that staff are qualified and properly trained to perform assigned job duties; interviews job candidates and makes employment and other personnel decisions in accordance with established guidelines; orients employees and holds regular staff meetings to keep employees appraised of all matters relevant to successful job performance; approves timecards; communicates performance standards, assesses clinical competency and evaluates employee performance; counsels employees, providing constructive feed back and recognizing results achieved; participates in performance management activities and resolves technical issues referred by subordinates as beyond their scope of authority. 

Monitors Compliance:

• Interprets, and monitors compliance with, applicable internal/external legal and regulatory agreements, standards and requirements; keeps abreast of changing regulatory requirements/regulations, professional standards and competitive industry practices impacting assigned functions, as well as organizational initiatives/changes with potential to impact current operations; monitors impact on existing activities and identifies/implements effective response/solution while maintaining acceptable service levels and work quality. 
• If assigned to Regional Mental Health Administration: assures WAC and RCWs related to patients with mental illness and substance abuse are implemented and met, including all WACs related to the detention process and ensuing requirements.

Performance/Quality Improvement:

• Monitors, on a continuous basis, services, patient outcomes, quality control, family/patient satisfaction, staffing needs and operational effectiveness to facilitate optimal care delivery; collects/analyzes data relating to productivity, trends, patient volume/consults and related information; identifies opportunities and provide recommendations to management for new quality/performance improvement and/or service delivery/care initiatives; implements new processes and ensures that performance improvement activities are conducted in a timely and effective manner; ensures that staff receive the necessary on-site training and consultation to enhance their understanding of quality/performance improvement initiatives. 

Performs related duties as required.

Education/Work Experience Requirements

Master’s degree in Social Work, Social Welfare or related behavioral science field, and five years of directly related work experience that would demonstrate attainment of the requisite job knowledge/abilities.

NOTE:If assigned to the Emergency Department or Regional Mental Health Administration, an applicant must meet the minimum requirements of WAC 388-865-0238 (Definition of a Mental Health Professional) in order to meet the requirements of RCW 71.05 as relates to the provision of Mental Health Evaluations in the Emergency Department.

If assigned to Regional Mental Health Administration:

• Knowledge of the differences in detention processes between Washington counties sufficient to perform the duties of the position.
• Knowledge of the role of Court Evaluators sufficient to perform the duties of the position.
• Ability to assure that regulatory requirements related to patients with mental illness and substance abuse are implemented and met, including all Washington State WACs related to the detention process and ensuing requirements.
• Ability to serve as a resource/mentor relating to questions on patients on single-bed certification and the processes for managing their care.
• Ability to identify challenging patient situations potentially requiring additional intervention and care planning in accordance with established protocols.

Licensure/Certification

• Washington Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW:WA) 
• Active membership in the National Association of Social Workers is preferred.