ASSISTANT HEALTH SERVICES AGENCY DIRECTOR

Beautiful Coastal Community
Mediterranean Climate
Excellent Quality of Life Environment   
 

ASSISTANT HEALTH SERVICES AGENCY DIRECTOR

The County is seeking a strong, innovative leader with clinical, program, policy and administrative skills to fill the Assistant Health Services Agency Director position.  Under general direction of the Health Services Agency Director the incumbent assists in the planning, administering, managing, and monitoring of the services for the Agency. The incumbent will be assuming full responsibilities as back up to the Health Services Agency Director and will possess strong working knowledge of the core programs and services delivered in the public sector and healthcare in general.  As the second in command at the Health Services Agency the incumbent may work directly with State and Federal government agencies, the Board of Supervisors, the County Administrative Office and key community health partners to promote and protect the health of the community.    

The Health Services Agency is one of the largest departments in the County system with over 500 employees and partners with numerous non-profit and for-profit community agencies to provide a full spectrum of services to the residents of Santa Cruz County.  The Agency directly provides primary care and specialty health care services in three Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), which include laboratories, radiology services, community mental health and substance use disorder services, environmental health services and public health services including emergency medical services. Since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the Agency has successfully opened a brand new Behavioral Health Center to provide around-the-clock crisis intervention and stabilization services as well as an inpatient psychiatric health facility.  In addition, our FQHC’s have expanded their capacity to provide integrated behavioral health, primary care and dental services to the community including the homeless population.  The Agency has been the largest funder to support the countywide Healthy Kids and MediCruz programs which provide health insurance and health care services to the low income and uninsured population regardless of legal documentation status.  The Agency is a member of the First 5 Commission, the County’s managed care Medi-Cal health plan commission, the Santa Cruz Health Improvement Partnership, several state, local and regional water boards and commissions, and many other boards and commissions. The Agency collaborates with these organizations to help fulfill the mission of protecting and promoting the health of the community. The Agency’s FQHC’s have successfully obtained national recognition as Patient-Centered Medical Homes. Additionally, the Agency has completed a five year strategic plan for mental health and substance use disorder services and is currently working with the community to pursue national public health accreditation and implementation of the 1115 Waiver’s Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY

Santa Cruz County has approximately 270,000 residents and is situated in the northern area of Monterey Bay, 70 miles south of San Francisco and 35 miles southwest of the Silicon Valley. The County’s natural beauty is apparent in its pristine beaches, lush redwood forests, and rich farmland. It has an ideal Mediterranean climate with low humidity and 300 days of sunshine a year. Its unique shops and restaurants, coupled with a multitude of cultural and recreational activities, including theatre, music, art as well as golfing, surfing, hiking, and biking, offer a wealth of leisure activities. Higher education includes Cabrillo College and the University of California, Santa Cruz, with two additional State Universities less than an hour’s drive away. These elements of high quality living make Santa Cruz County one of California’s most desirable living areas.

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

Any combination of training and experience that would provide the required knowledge and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the knowledge and abilities would be:

A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with a major in business administration, public administration, hospital administration, health care administration, public health administration or a closely related field AND four years of extensive budgetary, administrative and management experience that demonstrates application or possession of the knowledge and abilities listed below.

Strongly desired qualifications may include: 
    • An extensive clinical background. 
    • A graduate degree in a health related field. 
    • Direct government experience. 
    • Possession of any one of the following license/certificates: Clinical Psychologist; Registered Nurse; Public Health Nurse; Licensed Clinical Social Worker; Medical Doctor; Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine; Marriage and Family Therapist; Registered Environmental Health Specialist; or Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENT: Possession and maintenance of a valid California Class C Driver License or the employee must be able to provide suitable transportation which is approved by the appointing authority.

Knowledge: Thorough knowledge of the principles and practices of organization and management; local government organization and operations and inter-relationships between county government, federal, state and local governments and community organizations. Working knowledge of the principles and practices of governmental budgeting; grant applications and contracts; effective principles and practices of personnel management; goals and objectives of healthcare and health prevention and promotion programs; goals and objectives of health finance and insurance programs; health planning, basic community health needs and public and private community health resources; and the principles and practices of health system budgeting. Some knowledge of data processing systems; health information technology, health privacy issues, and health related laws such as California Welfare and Institutions Code.

Ability to: Assist in planning, organizing, and directing an agency with diverse and complex activities to meet established goals and objectives; establish and maintain effective working relationships with government officials and agencies, boards, commissions, civic leaders, community organizations and the public; interpret and explain agency or department policy and program practices to the public, staff and other public officials; comprehend and interpret complex regulations, laws and directives; exercise initiative, ingenuity and sound judgment in solving difficult and complex administrative, managerial and technical problems; prepare and present accurate, comprehensive and concise oral and written reports and direct management and other subordinate staff.

Health, Dental and Vision
Medical coverage is available through CALPERS with the County paying a majority portion of the cost for the employee and dependents. The dental plan is entirely County paid for employees and dependents. The County pays for an employee vision plan and the employee may purchase dependent coverage.  

Retirement
Pension formula 2% at age 60 or 2% at age 62 as determined based on provisions of the CA Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA).  Pension benefit determined by final average compensation of three years.  County pays a portion of retirement contribution and participates in Social Security.  

Life Insurance and Long Term Disability Plan
County paid $50,000 term policy.  Employees may purchase supplemental life insurance.  Long Term Disability Plan pays 66 2/3 % of the first $13,500, up to $9,000 per month maximum.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

Application Deadline:                                                             Friday, May 06, 2016

Review of qualifications and competitive
screening based on experience, education
and response to supplemental questions:                            Week of, May 09, 2016

* Examination:                                                                      Week of, June 06, 2016

* You may be required to compete in any combination of written, oral, performance examination or a competitive evaluation of training and experience as described on your application and supplemental application. You must pass all components of the examination to be placed on the eligible list. The examination may be eliminated if there are ten or fewer qualified applicants. If the eligible list is established without the administration of the announced examination, the life of the eligible list will be six months and your overall score will be based upon an evaluation of your application and supplemental application.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Candidates must submit answers to the supplemental application questions and a County application. Apply online at www.santacruzcountyjobs.com or mail/deliver the completed application to: Santa Cruz County Personnel Department, 701 Ocean Street, Room 310, Santa Cruz, CA, 95060.  Applications will meet the final filing date if received in the Personnel Department by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, May 06, 2016.  For more information please call Nisha Patel, Employment Services Manager at (831) 454-2600.   Hearing Impaired TDD/TTY: 711. Following a review for minimum qualifications, applicants who are selected to move forward in the recruitment process will be notified that they must submit a completed conviction history questionnaire in order to continue to the examination phase of the process.

Note: Provisions of this bulletin do not constitute an expressed or implied contract.  

The County of Santa Cruz is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to building a diverse workforce.