Medical Discipline Lead – Medical Microbiology - Provincial Laboratory Medicine Services (PLMS)

Medical Discipline Lead – Medical Microbiology

Provincial Laboratory Medicine Services (PLMS)

Regular, Part-Time (0.20 FTE)

The Provincial Laboratory Medicine Services (PLMS) mandate is to provide provincial oversight for all aspects of publicly funded medical laboratory and pathology services within British Columbia. PLMS is a PHSA program. These services include, but are not limited to, provincial planning, coordination, monitoring, evaluating and reporting on patient results and provincial health outcomes. PLMS is also accountable for the provision of ministry-delegated services in support of the Laboratory Services Act, oversight of key private sector relationships, management of the Provincial Blood Coordination Office (PBCO), and the provision of medical laboratory services throughout the Lower Mainland.

Reporting to the PLMS Chief Medical Laboratory Officer, the Medical Discipline Lead supports the PLMS mandate by providing clinical leadership within a specific discipline. Working in partnership with technical and operations leadership, the Medical Discipline Lead will be responsible for co-leading with the Strategic Lead, discipline-specific provincial planning, evaluation, utilization and providing subject matter expertise to PLMS leadership and to the regional medical directors and leadership teams. The Clinical Discipline lead will be expected to address multiple issues with confidentiality, discretion and sensitivity.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Be accountable to ensure optimum communication with discipline colleagues, clinical physician groups, health authorities, the Ministry of Health, and medical committees and agencies.
• In partnership with the Strategic Lead, organize and facilitate the effective operation of the Provincial Discipline Advisory Committee with regional medical, technical, and operating staff (both public and proprietary), subject matter experts (SMEs), and other clinical colleagues to inform and support practice direction within BC.
• Assist PLMS leadership in the development of discipline specific service plan and provide advice to the ongoing provincial operational planning.
• Co-lead and facilitate with the Strategic Lead work with regional discipline leadership, SMEs, and clinicians to improve the quality of service delivery to the patient and clinician.
• Examine trends within the respective discipline of practice and within laboratory medicine and provide advice to PLMS.
• Co-lead and facilitate with the Strategic Lead the standardization and adoption of clinical standards and taxonomy in order to improve quality, patient safety, data sharing and facilitate quality improvement and reporting.
• In partnership with the Strategic Lead, facilitate processes to review, evaluate, and make evidence-based recommendations regarding the introduction, replacement and/or elimination of publicly funded clinical laboratory tests in order to improve quality, patient safety, data sharing and reporting.
• Provide an active presence in the advocacy for improving diagnostic lab utilization in the province.
• Co-lead with the Strategic Lead the development of guidelines to assist prescribing clinicians to order the correct laboratory diagnostics or facilitate diagnosis.
• Engage on behalf of PLMS clinical colleagues involved with the ordering of diagnostic tests to improve service delivery, guideline changes, and utilization improvement in order to improve and affect patient outcome in a positive manner.
• Assist PLMS with addressing discipline specific practice questions.
• Performs other related duties as required.
• Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of the historic and ongoing impacts of settler colonialism and systemic racism on Indigenous Peoples within social and health contexts. This includes understanding how these factors contribute to current health disparities and barriers to care. Show a clear commitment to identifying, challenging, and eradicating Indigenous-specific racism and all forms of discrimination impacting equity-deserving groups within health care settings. This involves familiarity and understanding Indigenous Cultural Safety and Humility recognizing personal biases, institutional barriers, engaging in anti-racism education and training and advocating for systemic change.
• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of legislative obligations and provincial commitments within PLMS contexts found in the foundational documents including Truth & Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action (2015), In Plain Sight (2020), BC's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (2019), United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), Reclaiming Power and Place Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls Calls for Justice (2019), the Declaration Act Action Plan and Remembering Keegan: A First Nations Case Study - BC Human Rights Code, BC Anti-racism Act and how they intersect across the health care system.

Core Competencies

• Brings an understanding of the Indigenous specific racism and the broader systemic racism that exists in the colonial health care structure, and has demonstrated initiatives in breaking down barriers and ensuring a safe environment ensuring a sense of belonging to all and informed by Indigenous Cultural Safety.
• Awareness of social, economic, political and historical realities of settler colonialism on Indigenous Peoples and familiarity with addressing Indigenous-specific anti-racism, anti-racism and Indigenous Cultural Safety and foundational documents and legislative commitments (the Declaration Act, the Declaration Action Plan, TRC, IPS, Remembering Keegan, etc.).

QUALIFICATIONS:

1. Education, Training and Experience

The successful applicant will hold certification from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in a Laboratory Medicine Specialty and licensure by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC, or have relevant post-graduate training and at least 5 years recent related experience.

1. Skills and Abilities
   • Demonstrate the ability to work with laboratory and other clinical data to create rationale and support for change within laboratory medicine.
   • Demonstrate team-building and facilitation skills to further encourage collaboration across multiple disciplines, environments and functional areas.
   • Demonstrate innovative leadership thinking, creativity and organizational skills.
   • Demonstrate superior interpersonal, communication, facilitation and leadership skills including the ability to negotiate with and influence others (including those both internal and external to the organization and at various levels).
   • Demonstrate ability to create and support innovative practice.
   • Demonstrate commitment to the values of continuous learning and ethical decision making.
   • Show collaborative leadership skills in working with others to identify issues, design creative solutions, follow-up with action and evaluate results.
   • Have physical ability to perform the duties of the job.
   • Demonstrates a commitment to beginning and/or continuing their personal learning journey related to Indigenous-specific racism and dismantling systems of oppression, as well as addressing racism more broadly. Shows willingness to articulate and share their learning experiences to contribute to a culture of motivation and inspiration among peers.
   • Demonstrates foundational knowledge of the social, economic, and political realities of settler-colonialism and its impacts on Indigenous peoples and equity-deserving groups within social and health contexts. Understands the impact of social determinants of health-on-health outcomes. Shows a commitment to learning about and upholding legislative obligations and provincial commitments outlined in foundational documents such as the Truth & Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action (2015), In Plain Sight (2020), BC's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (2019), United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), Reclaiming Power and Place: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls Calls for Justice (2019), the Declaration Act Action Plan, Remembering Keegan: A First Nations Case Study, the BC Human Rights Code, Anti-Racism Data Act, and the Distinctions Based Approach.

Health & Safety

In accordance with the Mission, Vision and Values, and strategic directions of PHSA, employee safety is a priority and a responsibility shared by everyone at PHSA, and as such, the requirement to continuously improve quality and safety is inherent in all employee safety aspects of this position.

Cultural Humility and Safety

PLMS acknowledges our commitment to supporting action on the self-determined priorities of Indigenous leaders, to focus and to highlight Indigenous perspectives on health and wellness needs within provincial laboratory services. We will continue to foster partnerships with Indigenous leaders, organizations, communities and colleagues and hold one another accountable to ensure that cultural safety and humility is embedded in our leadership.

Flexible Workplace Location

As a provincial facing organization, PLMS is pleased to offer flexibility in work locations to our diverse and specialized workforce. The plan can be tailored and suited to the role and the individual and can be explored between the individual and supervisor.

What we do

Provincial Laboratory Medicine Services (PLMS) provides laboratory testing at 31 sites across the lower mainland and central coast of BC, including acute care hospital laboratories and specialty laboratories.

PLMS is part of the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA).

The Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) plans, manages and evaluates specialized health services with the BC health authorities to provide equitable and cost-effective health care for people throughout the province. Our values reflect our commitment to excellence and include: Respect people – Be compassionate – Dare to innovate – Create equity – Be courageous.

Learn more about PHSA and our programs: jobs.phsa.ca/programs-and-services

PHSA (and program) are committed to anti-racism and equity in our hiring and employment practices. With learning and compassion, we are addressing existing inequities and barriers throughout our systems. PHSA is seeking to create a diverse workforce and to establish an inclusive and culturally safe environment. We invite applications and enquiries from all people, particularly those belonging to the historically, systemically, and/or persistently excluded groups identified under the B.C. Human Rights Code.

One of PHSA’s North Star priorities is to eradicate Indigenous-specific racism, which includes ongoing commitments to Indigenous recruitment and employee experience as well as dismantling barriers to health care employment at every level. We welcome Indigenous individuals to apply and/or contact the Sanya’k̓ula Team (Indigenous Recruitment & Employee Experience) for support at indigenous.employment@phsa.ca.

Indigenous-specific anti-racism initiatives are rooted in addressing the unique forms of discrimination, historical and ongoing injustices, and exclusion faced by Indigenous peoples. These initiatives align with an Indigenous rights-based approach, recognizing the inherent rights and title of BC First Nations and self-determination of all First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities. PHSA is mandated to uphold legislative obligations and provincial commitments found in the foundational documents including the Truth & Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action (2015), In Plain Sight (2020), BC's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (2019), United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), Reclaiming Power and Place Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls Calls for Justice (2019), the Declaration Act Action Plan and Remembering Keegan: A First Nations Case Study.