Wentworth-Douglass Program Manager, Emergency Preparedness

This onsite position is based at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital and is part of the Mass General Brigham Department of Emergency Preparedness and Continuity

The Mass General Brigham system must ensure it is resilient in the face of all hazards - natural, man-made, and technological - in order to fulfill our commitment to patient care, research, teaching, and service to the community. The Department of Emergency Preparedness and Continuity oversees the strategy, operations, and management of efforts to ensure that Mass General Brigham is prepared to respond to emergencies and protect patients, staff, visitors, and the system’s health care facilities. 

The Program Manager reports to the Vice President of Emergency Preparedness and Business Continuity and the entity based Emergency Preparedness (EP) leader, with oversight and support from the MGB Chief Preparedness and Continuity Officer, and other key entity and system leaders.  Manages the planning, coordination, maintenance, and updating of entity Emergency Preparedness plans including both internal and external event responses. Helps lead the hospital’s annual Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA). Serves as Emergency Preparedness subject matter expert, leads and supports all Emergency Preparedness committees as needed.  

Coordinates resources to ensure the entity Emergency Operations Plans are updated annually.  Manages Emergency Preparedness readiness training, including the execution of a minimum of 2 Hospital-wide Emergency Preparedness Drills per year.  Participates in the leadership of hospital emergency response activities, and is knowledgeable about and familiar with the Hospital Incident Command System.    Maintains employee alert system.  Leads and participates in internal and external task forces, committees, and agencies regarding Emergency Preparedness.  Investigates, researches, and makes recommendations regarding best practices with respect to Emergency Preparedness.  Responsible for ensuring that all Joint Commission and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services standards for Emergency Preparedness are known and being met.  

Don’t check off every box in the requirements listed? Please apply anyway! As a not-for-profit organization, Mass General Brigham is committed to supporting patient care, research, teaching, and service to the community.  We place great value on being a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization as we aim to reflect the diversity of the patients we serve. At Mass General Brigham, we believe in equal access to quality care, employment and advancement opportunities encompassing the full spectrum of human diversity: race, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, religion, ethnicity, national origin and all the other forms of human presence and expression that make us better able to provide innovative and cutting-edge healthcare and research. The Senior Program Manager will be a vital contributor to our inspiring, bold mission.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities: 

Program Management
• Manages various Emergency Preparedness projects to meet program needs.  Manages the implementation and on-going education of the Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) throughout the organization.  Leads and provides project management support for those committees responsible for identifying/developing specific needs associated with various emergency scenarios for external events (ex: trauma, bio-terrorism, cyber-attack, chemical, nuclear) and internal events (ex: IT downtimes, fire, weather, damaged utilities, etc.).  
•Serves as on call resource for Emergency Preparedness. Responds to incidents with little or no notice.
•Staffs various Emergency Preparedness committee and sub-committee meetings; contributes ideas and monitors the planning process.  Supports development of strategic vision for Emergency Management program.  Develops project plans and timelines for accomplishing outstanding tasks.  Identifies inconsistencies among plans and addresses as necessary.  Identifies systems and operational problems and proposes solutions.  Works to build consensus when departmental response plans diverge.
•Ensures all departments have current information regarding Joint Commission and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Emergency Management standards and that the entity maintains compliance.  
•Investigates and researches best practices with respect to Emergency Preparedness.  Attends seminars; benchmarks with other institutions; and obtains resource material for review.
•Participates in monitoring annual program management framework to ensure critical tasks are completed on time.  Includes execution of an annual Hazard Vulnerability Analysis, ongoing training and exercise program, annual and ad hoc Emergency Operations Plan updates and other tasks. 
•Cultivates relationships with clinical and non-clinical stakeholders to ensure active involvement in EP program. 
•Responsible for supporting the entity Hospital Incident Command System groups when activated as emergency manager and subject matter expert.  Monitors available sources of data such as WebEOC and communications from city, regional, state, and national public health and emergency management authorities.  Coordinates production of Incident Action Plans during response.  Supports recovery efforts following Emergency Operations Plan activations.
•Participates in management of hazardous materials and biothreats response programs and teams if applicable. 
•Works with MGB EP staff and other MGB institutions on joint projects benefiting the entity program and MGB.  
•Assists in development of an Annual Report on the Emergency Preparedness Program.  
•Identifies grant opportunities and participates in the grant submission process.  

Plans 
• Manages the development and maintenance of the entity Emergency Operations Plan. Ensures that an updated version of the plan is available at least annually, and that the plan meets Joint Commission and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services standards.  
• Manages the collection, review, and updating of all departmental plans prior to publication, and ensures that the plans are cohesive and comprehensive. 
• Ensures that accepted recommendations from incident and exercise critiques and/or ad hoc task forces are included in updated versions of plans and documents.  Recommends revisions as necessary.  
• Develops specialized plans on an as needed basis.

Call Lists 
•Manages process to ensure all Emergency Preparedness Call Lists are up to date and functional. Includes overseeing process to ensure: 
•    Regular reviews and verification of hospital call lists are conducted, and updates are published.  
•    Reminders are sent to update departments’ internal call lists.  
•    Employee Alert System (EAS) is tested regularly and maintained.  

Drills/Training 
• Participates in development of annual Training and Exercise Plan and provides input to ensure multidisciplinary feedback is incorporated into annual update.  
•In coordination with other staff, designs and executes a minimum of 2 Emergency Preparedness drills per year. Convenes and facilitates a multidisciplinary planning group for each exercise and assists in the selection of a scenario and in the design of exercise logistics. Plans and executes “no notice” drills for key departments as a tool to ensure enhanced readiness.
•Writes and submits after-action reports in a timely manner.  Convenes an interdepartmental critique of each drill/exercise and records recommendations and lessons learned.  Creates and manages project work plans to mitigate and address issues identified in after-action reports with appropriate follow-through to project completion.
•Participates in entity training efforts directed at improving knowledge base on emergency planning and response principals.  Manages the planning and facilitation of the annual National Emergency Preparedness Month educational events and other similar events. 

Personnel Management
•Assists in management of program interns as needed.

Financial Management 
•Participates in development of capital and operational requests to support EP.  
•Ensures that EP equipment and supplies are available and in good working order.  Manages process to document location and condition of all preparedness equipment and ensures comprehensive inventory list is updated annually.  
•Prepares application for federal and state grants and other funding opportunities specific to EP.

Outside Liaison 
•Serves as entity Emergency Preparedness representative for external groups and committees.  
•Represents the entity and identifies opportunities to play a leadership role in local and regional planning activities.  
•Attends EP meetings with external agencies and other work groups (i.e. Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Hospital Preparedness Program Healthcare Coalition, and MGB).  Reports outcomes, decisions and recommendations to senior program leadership.

Qualifications:

•Bachelor's degree in a relevant field required. Master's degree preferred.

•Project management experience.  Specifically, experience managing complex projects in a complex environment.

•Three to five years of relevant experience required. Healthcare experience preferred.

Skills/Abilities/Competencies: 

•Training or experience in Project Management
•Expertise in Emergency Preparedness planning 
•Excellent written and oral communication skills  
•Effective leadership skills, interpersonal skills, consensus-building skills  
•Maturity and operational problem solving/decision making experience 
•Knowledge of Microsoft Office applications 
•Works well in team environment
•Healthcare experience preferred

Working Conditions: 

•Works in an office setting and sometimes in the clinical environment.  
•May be required to attend meetings outside of regularly scheduled hours and is available by pager/cell phone outside of normal business hours.  
•May be required to report to the entity outside of normal business hours to manage events that require emergency management. 
•Occasional local, regional, national and international travel may be required.

Mass General Brigham is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  By embracing diverse skills, perspectives, and ideas, we choose to lead. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, age, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, military service, genetic information, and/or other status protected under the law. We will ensure that all individuals with a disability are provided a reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, perform essential job functions, and receive other benefits and privileges of employment.