Reports to: Manager, Clinical Excellence Program

Location: Migori, Kenya

Start Date: April 2023

Organizational Background

Founded by a group of committed Kenyans, Lwala builds the capacity of rural communities to advance their own comprehensive well-being. We support communities to design, implement, and evaluate solutions to their most pressing health challenges. Then, we build coalitions of communities, health workers, government, and universities to generate evidence of impact and infuse these insights into the formal health system in Kenya and beyond. This bottom-up change promises holistic solutions that are custom-built for the systems they are meant to reform.

1. Position Purpose

The position is responsible for ensuring that the Lwala Community Hospital provides professional, ethical, high-quality, and dignified health services in line with Kenyan standards and our goal to elevate Lwala Community Hospital as a Center of Excellence, a hospital modelling, teaching and advancing dignified, holistic, patient-centred primary health care. In this role, you will be responsible for driving highest quality and excellence in provision of health care services, act as the medical lead for the hospital, a clinical advisor and leadership of the team.

To ensure success, the medical officer shall exhibit extensive clinical knowledge in main diseases in the area and demonstrable experience in a similar managerial role. You will be expected to align your medical expertise with best practices in health administration.

Key Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Medical Officer include but are not limited to:

1. Leading in clinical expertise to patient care and providing guidance to clinical team.
2. Ensuring the highest standards in patient care are reached and maintained.
3. Verifying complex diagnoses and facilitating treatment plans.
4. Keeping informed on advancements in the field and contributing to medical research programs.
5. Ensuring compliance with healthcare regulations and safety standards.
6. Reporting to the leadership, as well as liaising between administrative and medical staff in matters related to continuous quality improvement
7. Ensuring consistent and accurate medical recordkeeping practices.
8. Identifying and coordinating referral of patients for further management.
9. Supporting trainings, mentorship of staff on new guidelines, and administering relevant and timely continuous medical updates.
10. Developing clinical protocols and procedures in line with the current SOPs.
11. Pro-actively advising the leadership on relevant medical supplies from time to time.
12. Ensuring students and interns on attachment are appropriately placed within medical department and appropriately supervised.
13. Supervising practicum and field experience students from Vanderbilt University and other partnering institutions.
14. Participating in conducting internal quality checks at the hospital
15. Chairing the relevant committee meetings e.g. DTC and ensure the drugs protocol is available and reviewed periodically.
16. Ensuring clinical management audits are conducted and the reports shared are analyzed for decision making
17. Leading discussions on priority emergencies or leading conditions.
18. Coordinating case summaries for complicated cases and reviewing with the external consultants.
19. Ensuring relevant health informatics are implemented to improve patient care and easy access for services, this may include telehealth, tele education etc.
20. Performing administrative duties related to the management of the hospital including but not limited to budget management, revenue generation among others.
21. Carrying out other relevant duties as may be assigned from time to time.

Qualifications and Experience

Level of education / academic qualification

• Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine and Surgery (MBCHB) from a recognized university and licensed to practice in Kenya.

Specialized training / professional qualifications

• At least 3 years’ progressive experience in consulting with patients in a busy hospital.
• Experience having been a hospital administrator or superintendent will be an added advantage.

Other competencies / abilities / skills required

• Systems thinker: You think in terms of the whole operating structure
• High degree of independence, flexibility, initiative and commitment.
• Strong technical, interpersonal communication, and patient engagement skills.
• Strong analytical, judgment, and decision-making skills.
• Realistic – able to deal with practical, hands-on problems and solutions.
• Genuine interest in patient care and wellness.
• Strong communication and presentation skills, training/meeting facilitation skills.

Relevant Work Experience

• At least 3 years of relevant work experience in direct health service delivery
• Ability to travel and work with rural communities in Migori County

Characteristics

• Commitment to impact – The individual should be passionate about Lwala’s mission and the population we serve, and relentless in pursuit of generating evidence and learning to understand our impact as we test our community-based innovations and scale with government and partners.
• Communication skills – Strong written and verbal communications skills are essential, in particular, the ability to communicate complex thoughts and ideas simply and effectively and tailor communications to the non-technical audience.
• Energy, motivation and stamina - The role can be demanding and, at times, subject to external pressures for timely completion. The candidate must be adaptive, creative, organized, and highly motivated.

2. Authority / Independent Action

The job is performed in accordance with standard procedures and guidance with occasional need for independent decision. It is guided by the professional standards outlined in the respective professional field and must be performed without compromise to those standards.

It makes recommendation to the management on issues relating to management of clinical services - supplies, drugs and equipment that enable effective service delivery.

3. Resource Management Responsibility

• The job provides responsibility for human and material resources.

4. Working Conditions

Working environment

• The job is conducted in the health facilities within the sub counties which Lwala supports in the implementation of health solutions. The position may require the incumbent to travel from facility to facility within Migori county.

Occupational hazards

• There is exposure to risks that come with handling people with diverse medical conditions especially infectious diseases as well as handling of dangerous medical equipment and substances. Periodical exposure to adverse weather conditions and risky situations is a possibility.

To Apply

Please follow this link to apply >>> Medical Officer Job Application

The application deadline is 28^th February 2022