The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is seeking a candidate with strong leadership and clinical skills to serve as the Associate Medical Director of Prevention Services in the Division of Substance Abuse Prevention and Control (SAPC).

SAPC is responsible for leading and facilitating the delivery of a full spectrum of prevention, treatment, and recovery services via one of the largest specialty substance use provider networks in the country. With an annual operating budget of over $400 million and over 350 staff positions, SAPC manages a network of approximately 150 provider agencies spread out over 400 sites across the County, including over 40 agencies within the prevention provider network.

Los Angeles County is in the process of transforming its substance use prevention and treatment system through the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System (DMC-ODS) Waiver, a component of a broader Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver that aims to significantly enhance the access to and quality of publicly funded substance use services. The California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative is another transformative opportunity that aims to enhance and better integrate the specialty substance use disorder (SUD) into broader health and social service systems.

Expanding SAPC’s scope of prevention services is a top priority for the Department of Public Health. The Associate Medical Director of Prevention Services position will provide clinical leadership to help shape this transformation and provide innovative and targeted approaches to effectively address the upstream drivers of substance use across County residents.

POSITION SUMMARY:  

The Associate Medical Director of Prevention is an administrative position within the Clinical Services Branch that will report to the SAPC Medical Director and serve as clinical leadership for the Prevention Unit. In this role, the Associate Medical Director of Prevention will shape program policy, planning, and development, and will have the opportunity to transform the County’s substance use prevention system for residents of one of the largest and most diverse counties in the nation.

KEY RESPONSIBLITIES:  

Key functions of the SAPC Associate Medical Director of Prevention include applying specialized clinical addiction knowledge and skills in the performance of administrative and other duties such as:

• Provide clinical leadership to support all aspects of SAPC’s substance use prevention work, including the development of policies and procedures to facilitate quality and evidence-based service delivery, and working with leadership to develop strategies to enhance and expand service delivery and workforce development.
• Assist leadership and provide clinical expertise to the establishment of school-based Wellness Centers and Family Resource Centers throughout the County, including the identification of sites, meeting with relevant stakeholders, program and policy planning and development, assisting with evaluation of programs to ensure quality-focused prevention services, among other critical priorities.
• Lead and support the County’s various efforts focused on opioids and methamphetamine, including the countywide Safe Med LA opioid coalition (SafeMedLA.org), the HEART Collaborative, the Methamphetamine Prevention Committee within the Meth Task Force, and other initiatives in partnership with relevant stakeholders.
• Provide clinical leadership, direction, and oversight of the Provider Education Unit within Prevention Services to ensure quality trainings for the prevention provider network on topics such as SBIRT, substance use prevention and awareness, the opioid and methamphetamine epidemic, naloxone and opioid overdose prevention, among other priority prevention-focused topics.
• Provide clinical leadership, direction, and oversight of SAPC’s harm reduction network, including community-based organizations that distribute naloxone and operate syringe exchange programs, which includes administering policies, network management activities, and executing and monitoring budgets and contracts.
• Develop partnerships with various federal, State, County, municipal, and other public, private, and community-based agencies to collaboratively achieve prevention goals and bring added value to other efforts (e.g., promoting alternate activities for high-risk youth; promoting protective factors such as school connectedness, academic competence, family cohesion, and strong neighborhood attachment).
• Provide consultation, training, and lend clinical expertise to leadership and staff, including external agencies, and serve as a departmental authority and spokesperson to guide the coordination and administration of all aspects of substance use prevention services, including responding to emergent primary and secondary prevention efforts and working with other DPH programs, County departments, and communities to integrate prevention into services provided.
• Assist leadership with developing and managing SAPC’s budget for Prevention Services.
• Conduct research on the latest findings from studies related to substance use prevention and prepare reports for internal and external leadership and staff, recommending adoption of evidence-based, best, promising and innovative practices for preventing substance use.
• Follow established policies and procedures within scope of practice; conduct self-assessment of performance; comply with licensing and accreditation standards and other regulatory requirements; interpret and support standards and requirements to others.
• Assist the SAPC Medical Director and executive leadership with other projects and assignments.
  
  

TO APPLY: If interested, please contact Dr. Gary Tsai at gtsai@ph.lacounty.gov and submit a cover letter and resume.

DIVISION OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION AND CONTROL
1000 South Fremont Ave; Building A-9 East, 3rd Floor, Alhambra, California 91803
Tel: (626) 299-4101 Fax: (626) 458-7637