The Team You'll Lead
As Vice Chair, you'll have direct oversight of faculty, advanced practice providers, and support staff while partnering with department leadership.
Department Leadership (Your Partners)
| Role |
Physician |
Your Partnership |
| Chair |
Dr. Kimberly D. Jenkins |
Your direct supervisor; servant leadership philosophy; maintains active clinical practice and takes call |
| Medical Director |
Dr. Andrew B. Casabianca, MD, DDS |
Transitioning after 30+ years; institutional knowledge resource during your onboarding |
| Associate Program Director |
Faculty member (0.8 FTE) |
Manages residency curriculum; you coordinate operational decisions with educational goals |
Your Leadership Relationship:
- Partner closely with Chair Dr. Jenkins on strategic vision
- Operational autonomy with accountability for results
- Handle day-to-day decisions independently
- Escalate significant issues before they become crises
Anesthesiology Faculty You'll Supervise
Current Faculty:
- Dr. Shashi B. Bhatt, MD, FRCA
- Dr. Anthony L. Braida, MD
- Dr. Andrew B. Casabianca, MD, DDS (Medical Director, transitioning)
- Dr. Ali M. Hassan, MD
- Dr. Kimberly D. Jenkins, MD (Chair)
- Dr. Mukesh Pitroda, MD
- Dr. Thomas A. Rooney, MD
Faculty Characteristics:
| Current State |
Your Management Challenge |
| ~6.6 FTE taking call |
Recruit to reduce burden |
| Part-time physicians (no call) |
Manage mix of full/part-time |
| 10-30+ years tenure (many) |
Navigate veteran faculty expectations |
| Recent attrition created gaps |
Rebuild trust and morale |
| Carrying 7-8 calls/month |
Demonstrate you share burden |
What You Need to Know:
- Faculty have carried excessive call while waiting for leadership to fix staffing
- Long-tenured physicians bring institutional knowledge and established patterns
- Some resistance to change is likely (need to earn trust)
- Collaborative culture exists but stressed by workload
- Your call participation and clinical credibility will be scrutinized
Pain Management Division (Separate Reporting)
Division Director: Dr. Alexander Escobar, MD
- Board certified: Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
- Fellowship-trained with separate pain program
- Does not report to Vice Chair for pain division operations
- General anesthesia and pain management operate independently
Advanced Practice Providers You'll Manage
CRNAs (Medical Direction Model):
- 14.2 full-time equivalents
- Work under physician medical direction
- Experienced practitioners with institutional knowledge
- Your responsibility: Daily assignments, supervision oversight, performance management
CAAs (Physician Supervision):
- Extend physician capacity
- Work under direct physician supervision
- Provide staffing flexibility
- Your responsibility: Integration into care team model, appropriate utilization
Management Challenges:
- Balance efficiency (maximize coverage) with safety (appropriate supervision)
- Address performance issues when they arise
- Optimize assignments matching case complexity to provider skills
- Maintain collaborative relationships vs. creating adversarial environment
Support Staff (Collaborative Oversight)
Perioperative Teams:
- OR nurses (low turnover, institutional knowledge)
- Surgical technologists
- Preoperative assessment nurses
- Recovery room staff
Your Role:
- Coordinate with nursing leadership (not direct supervision)
- Address workflow and communication issues
- Participate in process improvement initiatives
- Serve as physician voice in perioperative operations
Residents (Educational Oversight)
Program Structure:
- 12 residents total (3 per year)
- Associate Program Director manages curriculum
- Faculty provide clinical supervision and teaching
Your Responsibility:
- Ensure faculty maintain educational standards
- Address teaching quality concerns
- Balance OR efficiency with resident learning
- Support program accreditation requirements
- Monitor resident feedback about faculty teaching
Departmental Culture You're Inheriting
Strengths:
- Collaborative crisis support (colleagues help during difficult cases)
- Long faculty tenure demonstrates career satisfaction
- Commitment to academic mission and teaching
- Team-based approach vs. competitive individual practice
Current Challenges:
- Unsustainable call burden straining morale
- Attrition created staffing gaps and workload pressure
- Faculty waiting to see if new leadership can fix problems
- Anticipated retirements approaching (2-3 physicians)
- Need to rebuild trust through successful recruitment
Your First 90 Days: Key Relationships
Build Trust With Faculty:
- Take your share of call immediately (no honeymoon period)
- Demonstrate clinical competence and shared burden
- Listen to concerns before implementing changes
- Deliver quick wins on fixable problems
Partner With Chair:
- Align on priorities and communication style
- Establish decision boundaries (what you handle vs. escalate)
- Regular check-ins to maintain coordination
- Present united front to department
Interface With Surgeons:
- Introduce yourself and understand their concerns
- Set realistic expectations about OR access and efficiency
- Deliver on commitments to build credibility
- Address complaints promptly and fairly
Engage Advanced Practice Providers:
- Understand current workflow and challenges
- Recognize expertise and institutional knowledge
- Involve in process improvement discussions
- Clarify supervision expectations
Recruitment: Your Most Important Task
Current Need:
- Multiple general anesthesia faculty positions open
- Vice Chair success depends on adding quality faculty
- Every month without new hires = continued excessive call burden
- Faculty evaluating your leadership based on recruitment results
Your Role in Recruitment:
- Active participation in candidate interviews
- Authentic representation of opportunities and challenges
- Partnership with HR and search firm
- Follow-up with promising candidates
- Onboarding and integration of new faculty
What Faculty Will Expect From You
Operational Excellence:
- Fix OR board inefficiencies
- Improve communication with surgeons
- Reduce unnecessary delays and frustrations
- Make their daily work easier
Leadership Support:
- Advocate for faculty needs with administration
- Shield them from unreasonable demands
- Provide backup during crises
- Recognize contributions and expertise
Successful Recruitment:
- Actually add faculty (not just search activity)
- Reduce call burden to sustainable levels
- Build stable team for long-term success
- Demonstrate commitment to solving staffing problems
Fairness and Transparency:
- Consistent application of policies
- Clear communication about decisions
- Honest assessment of challenges
- No playing favorites or political games
Success Indicators
You're Succeeding When:
- New faculty accept offers and actually start
- Call burden decreases measurably
- Faculty morale improves (observable in interactions)
- Surgeons complain less about delays and access
- OR metrics show improvement trends
- Faculty voluntarily stay beyond minimum commitments
You're Struggling When:
- Recruitment yields no acceptances
- Faculty start leaving for other opportunities
- Complaints to Chair or HR increase
- Surgeon dissatisfaction escalates
- OR metrics worsen or stagnate
- Morale continues declining
The Bottom Line
You're leading a team that:
- Has talent and experience but is stressed by workload
- Wants leadership to succeed but will reserve judgment
- Carries excessive call while waiting for recruitment to work
- Values collaboration and teaching but needs operational support
- Will evaluate you based on results, not promises
Your credibility comes from:
- Taking call and sharing burden
- Maintaining clinical practice and competence
- Delivering on recruitment commitments
- Improving operations measurably
- Supporting faculty while holding them accountable
