Associate Behavioral Health Director

Position Title Associate Behavioral Health Director About the University

Western Washington University, with over 15,000 students in seven colleges and the graduate school, is nationally recognized for its educational programs, students and faculty.

The campus is located in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal community of 90,000 overlooking Bellingham Bay, the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountain range. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Western has additional sites in Anacortes, Bremerton, Everett, Port Angeles, and Poulsbo. Western is recognized nationally for its successes, such as being named one of the top public master's-granting institutions in the Pacific Northwest for 25 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report.

Western Washington University is committed to achieving excellence through advancing inclusive success, increasing our Washington impact, and focusing on transformational education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and based on innovative scholarship, research, and creative activity.

Western's greatest strength is the outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae who make up its community. Western supports an inclusive governance structure for all and provides a learning and working environment in which everyone can thrive.

In pursuit of this excellence, individual employees are expected to establish and maintain productive and effective inclusive working relationships amongst diverse populations including staff, faculty, administration, student, and external constituents.

Further, individual employees are expected to have the ability to operationalize sustainability concepts (economic, societal, environmental) into all aspects of performing their job duties.

About the Department The Student Health Center supports Western's mission, which states that together with our students, staff, and faculty, we are committed to making a positive impact in the state and the world with a shared focus on academic excellence and inclusive achievement.

We encourage applications from women, people of color, people with disabilities, veterans, and other candidates from underrepresented backgrounds and with diverse experiences interested in this opportunity. About

the Position

The Associate Behavioral Health Director is a permanent, full-time professional staff position reporting to the Director of the Student Health Center (SHC).

This role combines direct psychiatric clinical care with administrative oversight of WWU’s psychiatric and behavioral healthcare services in the Student Health Center.

The director is responsible for delivering psychiatric evaluations and medication management to students, managing the day-to-day operations of the SHC Behavioral Health team, ensuring compliance with accreditation standards, and contributing to strategic planning and community engagement efforts.

This position plays a central role in facilitating integrated, accessible, and high-quality behavioral health care that meets the needs of WWU’s diverse student population.

Position Duties and Responsibilities

70% Direct Clinical Services:

• Psychiatric assessment, diagnosis and treatment for a wide variety of mental health conditions, including complex bipolar and psychotic disorders.

Provide prescription and medication oversight and consult for crisis intervention. Obtain medical history, perform physical assessment, establish diagnoses, provide medical consultations, order and interpret lab and other studies, arrange consultations. Prescribe medications or other treatments and arrange follow-up for patients based upon diagnoses. Help to arrange emergency care and hospitalization when appropriate.

• Accurately and fully document histories, physical exams, behavioral observations, diagnoses, telephone consultations and treatments according to clinical and medical records protocols. Personally review and electronically sign all reports of labs and other tests, consultation reports and transferred medical records. Regularly update each patient's electronic chart as indicated.
• Facilitate referrals, coordinate care across campus and community services.
• Provide on call coverage on a rotating schedule for psychiatric concerns including medication refills, critical lab results, and calls from community providers

20% Program Management, Administration and Collaboration:

• Oversee day-to-day operations of the SHC's behavioral health services including direct supervision of Behavioral health counseling and nursing staff and psychiatric prescribers (currently psychiatric nurse practitioners and temporary psychiatrists)
• Work collaboratively with the Counseling and Wellness Center to integrate behavioral health services
• Formulate, implement, and monitor behavioral health policies and procedures in compliance with AAAHC accreditation and state regulations
• Serve on the Integrated Behavioral Health Team and on the SHC Governing Body
• Plan and implement behavioral health in-service trainings and staff development
• Provide consultation, support, and clinical oversight to SHC staff and psychiatric consultants
• Monitor suicide and substance use screening protocols in coordination with campus partners
• Analyze and report behavioral health utilization and outcomes data to inform resource allocation and service model adjustments
• Conduct work assignments in support of an inclusive environment for staff and students, the development of cultural competency skills, and the delivery of programs that support the diversity objectives of the campus community
• Serve as primary behavioral health liaison to campus partners (Counseling and Wellness Center, Office of Student Life, Disability Access Center, Student Care and Concern Team)
• Maintain collaborative relationships with community mental health and healthcare providers (e. g., PeaceHealth, Sea Mar, UnityCare NW)
• Participate in university-wide behavioral health coordination and outreach efforts

10% Leadership and Strategic Planning:

• Participate in SHC leadership team activities and provide input on strategic goals related to student mental health
• Supervise psychiatric providers and behavioral health counselors at the SHC, including scheduling, timesheet approvals, evaluations, performance monitoring and improvement plans, and other supervisory tasks
• Contribute to clinical staff hiring processes, workforce planning, and initiatives to improve access to mental health services
• Provide subject matter expertise in behavioral health during program evaluations, committee work, and policy development
• Foster a professional work environment that is collaborative, caring, and supports student and staff well-being
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Director

Required Qualifications

• Board Certified Psychiatrist or Doctoral level Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
• Minimum of three years of administrative experience in a healthcare setting, including supervision
• Current unrestricted Washington State license or ability to be licensed by time of hire in Washington State, with maintenance of continuing education

Requirements

• Current DEA registration
• Current CPR certification
• Demonstrated clinical experience diagnosing, treating, and managing acute and chronic psychiatric conditions
• Experience conducting mental health risk assessments and providing crisis intervention
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Experience with electronic health records and ability to manage care through telemedicine
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams
• A strong commitment to creating a culturally responsive environment for staff and students, and the development of cultural engagement and responsiveness

Skills

• Strong commitment to patient-centered care, staff wellness, and equity.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with behavioral health integration
• Five or more years of experience in inpatient or outpatient mental health clinical settings as a prescribing provider
• Experience in college or university health settings
• Demonstrated success implementing policies, procedures, and clinical workflows
• Experience training and mentoring psychiatric prescribers, psychiatrists, and/or behavioral health counselors.
• Experience interpreting and applying healthcare policies, protocols, and accreditation standards
• Demonstrated ability to advance equity and support the development of students who are disabled, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, undocumented, and other underrepresented student groups, including students who hold multiple marginalized identities
• Ability to provide effective leadership in support of staff learning, development, retention, and recruitment with awareness and sensitivity to the needs of diverse student populations
• Familiarity with AAAHC or similar clinical accreditation standards

Additional Requirements

• Maintains CPR/BLS certification
• Maintains license and remains in good standing with the State of Washington
• Successful fit testing and the ability to wear a N95 mask for several hours
• Maintains Tetanus, pertussis and influenza vaccinations
• Proof of measles, mumps, rubella, hep B & varicella immunity
• The successful candidate must be eligible to participate in federal healthcare programs. Finalists will be screened against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (OIG) List of Excluded Individuals/Entities and the Washington State Health Care Authority Provider Termination and Exclusion List. Individuals who are excluded from participation in these programs are not eligible for hire or continued employment.

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