BACKGROUND: For over 40 years, Lutheran Family Health Centers has been serving the ethnically diverse, medically underserved neighborhoods of southwest and central Brooklyn. This Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) has evolved into one of the largest and most comprehensive community health center networks in the country.
Adhering to a managed care model, LFHC generates 627,000 visits each year, providing services to 89,000 patients. Currently, LFHC operates 8 full-time primary care sites, 28 school-based health centers spanning four NYC boroughs, and co-locates NYC’s largest behavioral health program with HIV primary care services. LFHC offers a full-range of comprehensive primary and specialty care services as well as comprehensive dentistry at five sites. Complementing this system is an array of ancillary and diagnostic services, rehabilitation and early intervention programs, WIC nutrition programs, social work services, and across-the-board health promotion/disease prevention activities. Most recently, LFHC added a significant program serving 8,100 homeless individuals, generating an additional 44,000 visits per year.
LFHC is uniquely governed by the Sunset Park Health Council, a consumer-majority board whose members are not only patients but also reflect LFHC’s service population with respect to racial/ethnic composition and socioeconomic status. Over 60% of the board members are LFHC network patients. Non-consumer members of the board include community residents and leaders from various public and private professional sectors.
PRIMARY FUNCTION: The Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer has oversight for all clinical and quality issues in the ambulatory setting of the LFHC network. The SVP/CMO will focus specifically on the development of a quality infrastructure that meets the needs of the current size of the network, and is aligned with the internal and external environment around provisions of care. He/she will concentrate on patient care policy and ensure that a single, consistent standard of care is demonstrated. The SVP/CMO will work with clinical and administrative leadership to develop patient-specific outcomes for care that will serve to focus on improving the health of the communities at large. The SVP/CMO will champion the continued development, implementation and adoption of the electronic medical record.
