Psychiatric Services Medical Director

Lead Psychiatric Care Across an Integrated Health System

Northwest Human Services (NWHS) is seeking an experienced Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) to serve as our Psychiatric Services Medical Director.

This working clinical leadership role is ideal for a PMHNP who wants to remain closely connected to patient care while shaping the quality, consistency, and future direction of psychiatric services.

The Medical Director maintains an active psychiatric practice while providing clinical direction, mentorship, and leadership to psychiatric providers. In partnership with the Chief Medical Officer and interdisciplinary care teams, this position helps ensure psychiatric services are safe, evidence-based, coordinated, and responsive to patient needs.

NWHS is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that has served the community for more than 55 years, providing integrated medical, dental, behavioral health, psychiatric, and crisis services throughout Marion and Polk counties.

Clinical & Leadership Balance

Approximately 75% of this position is clinical practice and 25% is director-level leadership/administration.

Key Responsibilities

Psychiatric Clinical Services & Patient Care

• Maintain an active psychiatric practice, including evaluations, diagnosis, treatment planning, medication management, primary care consultation, and post-hospital follow-up.
• Diagnose and treat a broad range of psychiatric and behavioral health conditions.
• Consult with primary care providers regarding complex psychiatric presentations, psychopharmacology, medication management, risk assessment, and continuity of care.
• Assess and respond to suicide risk, danger to others, substance-related concerns, medication complications, and behavioral health emergencies.
• Develop measurable, patient-centered treatment plans consistent with current psychiatric standards.
• Maintain timely, accurate clinical documentation supporting patient care, compliance, and appropriate billing.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams on referrals, case management, enabling services, follow-up care, and clinical coverage.

Psychiatric Provider Leadership & Mentorship

• Provide clinical direction, consultation, mentorship, and professional support to psychiatric providers.
• Promote evidence-based treatment, psychiatric standards of practice, and consistent quality of care.
• Lead provider education related to diagnosis, psychopharmacology, co-occurring disorders, medication interactions, suicide risk, and patient safety.
• Support providers managing complex cases and clinical risk.
• Establish expectations for treatment protocols, quality measures, documentation, clinical performance, and patient care.
• Recruit, develop, motivate, and retain high-performing team members.
• Provide coaching, performance feedback, training, and professional development.
• Promote transparency, psychological safety, accountability, ethical conduct, inclusion, and continuous improvement.

Integrated Psychiatric & Primary Care

• Partner with the Chief Medical Officer, clinic leadership, medical providers, behavioral health clinicians, nursing, and care coordination teams to strengthen integrated care.
• Develop treatment protocols and educational resources for primary care providers related to psychiatric diagnosis, treatment, and medication management.
• Improve communication and coordination across psychiatric, primary care, behavioral health, and interdisciplinary teams.
• Provide psychiatric expertise and consultation within the integrated healthcare model.
• Identify and address barriers affecting patient access, continuity of care, provider effectiveness, and team collaboration.
• Support care that recognizes the connection between physical health, mental health, substance use, and social factors affecting outcomes.

Clinical Quality, Safety & Compliance

• Lead psychiatric quality assurance and continuous-improvement efforts.
• Establish and monitor quality standards, outcome measures, and clinical practices.
• Provide psychiatric expertise in developing and reviewing policies, procedures, treatment protocols, and practice standards.
• Participate in critical incident reviews, risk-management activities, and the monthly Critical Incident Review Committee.
• Review psychiatric safety events and identify corrective actions and improvement opportunities.
• Ensure compliance with professional standards, organizational policies, payer requirements, accreditation expectations, and applicable federal and state regulations.
• Support appropriate documentation, coding, billing, credentialing, and privileging practices.
• Promote culturally responsive, trauma-informed, equitable, and patient-centered care.

Strategic & Operational Leadership

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for psychiatric services.
• Develop departmental goals, clinical initiatives, workflows, and service-improvement efforts.
• Use clinical, workforce, operational, and quality data to evaluate performance and guide decisions.
• Manage staffing, productivity, cost containment, resources, and departmental priorities.
• Identify operational barriers and implement practical solutions.
• Consider compliance, risk, financial, workforce, and quality needs in departmental planning.
• Build collaborative relationships with community providers, referral agencies, social service organizations, and external partners.
• Participate in organizational meetings, committees, and leadership activities.

Required Qualifications

• Master’s or doctoral degree in nursing with Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner preparation.
• Active, unrestricted Oregon Nurse Practitioner license.
• Current PMHNP-BC certification through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
• Current DEA registration with authority to prescribe controlled substances, including Schedules II–V.
• Minimum 3 years of director-level experience OR 5 years of clinical practice with demonstrated leadership experience.
• Demonstrated experience with psychiatric evaluation, diagnosis, treatment planning, medication management, and treatment of a broad range of psychiatric and behavioral health conditions.
• Demonstrated ability to provide clinical leadership, consultation, education, and mentorship to psychiatric providers and interdisciplinary healthcare teams.
• Advanced knowledge of psychiatric standards, psychopharmacology, co-occurring disorders, suicide risk assessment, patient safety, and evidence-based treatment.
• Experience managing complex psychiatric presentations, behavioral health emergencies, medication-related concerns, and clinical risk.
• Strong clinical judgment, communication, leadership, coaching, collaboration, and decision-making skills.
• Current Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers certification consistent with American Heart Association guidelines.
• Valid Oregon Driver’s License and proof of automobile insurance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in an integrated healthcare setting, FQHC, community health center, community mental health program, safety-net organization, or outpatient behavioral health setting.
• Experience integrating psychiatric services into primary care or interdisciplinary healthcare.
• Experience developing clinical protocols, provider education, psychiatric practice standards, or training programs.
• Experience leading quality improvement, patient safety, access improvement, or psychiatric service development.
• Experience using clinical, quality, operational, or EHR data for performance improvement.
• Experience with value-based care, population health, care coordination, or integrated service-delivery models.
• Experience with incident review, risk management, or corrective-action processes.
• Bilingual or multilingual skills relevant to the communities served.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Employer-paid group life, short-term disability, and long-term disability
• 403(b) retirement plan with 2% employer contribution plus up to 3% employer match
• Flexible Spending Account
• PTO beginning at 10 hours per month for full-time employees, increasing with tenure
• 7½ paid holidays plus 2 paid floating holidays
• Continuing education and training benefits
• Employee Healthy Living Program – Gym Membership & Smoking Cessation

To Apply

To join our team, visit the Northwest Human Services Employment page.

For more information, contact the HR/Recruiting Department at [email protected] | 503.588.5828.

All candidates who receive a written offer of employment will be required to undergo a comprehensive background investigation.

Equal Opportunity Employer | We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.