Chief of Urgent Care – San Francisco | Physician Leader Driving Strategy, Growth & Operational Excellence

Opportunity Information

The Chief of Urgent Care provides clinical, operational, and strategic leadership for the Urgent Care service line, ensuring high-quality, timely, and patient-centered care while optimizing access, throughput, workforce engagement, and financial performance.

Reporting to the Chair of Primary Care, the Chief partners closely with the Administrative Director through a dyad leadership model to manage day-to-day operations, drive performance, and ensure consistent, high-reliability care delivery across all Urgent Care sites. This role is accountable for aligning Urgent Care performance with organizational goals while fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic & Operational Leadership

• Lead the Urgent Care service line in alignment with organizational strategy, access goals, and community demand.

• Partner with the Administrative Director to oversee staffing models, budgeting, scheduling strategies, and resource allocation.

• Develop and implement initiatives to improve patient access, throughput, length of stay, and provider experience.

• Ensure appropriate clinician coverage and staffing flexibility to meet variable demand, seasonal surges, and extended hours.

• Conduct regular onsite rounding to maintain visibility, support frontline teams, and identify operational improvement opportunities.

Clinical Excellence

• Ensure adherence to evidence-based clinical guidelines, urgent care protocols, and quality standards.

• Champion patient safety, risk mitigation, and continuous quality improvement initiatives.

• Promote standardized clinical pathways to ensure consistency of care across Urgent Care locations.

• Serve as a clinical mentor and escalation resource for Urgent Care providers.

Recruiting, Onboarding & Workforce Development

• Lead physician and advanced practice provider recruitment strategy for Urgent Care in partnership with Physician Recruitment, HR, and operational leadership.

• Participate in candidate evaluation, interviewing, selection, and offer alignment to ensure strong clinical and cultural fit.

• Oversee onboarding and integration of new providers, ensuring rapid, consistent, and effective transitions into Urgent Care practice.

• Partner with Medical Directors to standardize onboarding, mentoring, competency validation, and early performance support.

• Support succession planning and leadership development for Urgent Care Medical Directors and emerging physician leaders.

• Deliver clear, timely performance feedback through the annual evaluation process, supporting accountability, development, clinical excellence, and continuous improvement.

• Promote provider retention through engagement, performance feedback, career development pathways, and Experience of Work initiatives.

Performance Management

• Monitor and drive performance against Urgent Care KPIs, including access, throughput, length of stay, left-without-being-seen (LWBS), quality, patient experience, and financial performance.

• Optimize provider productivity, panel mix, and workflows to meet visit volume, efficiency, and access targets.

• Partner with administrative, finance, and revenue cycle leaders to improve documentation, coding accuracy, and cost management.

• Address performance gaps through data-driven improvement plans, coaching, and standardized operational interventions..

Growth & Innovation

• Support growth strategies for Urgent Care, including site expansion, hours optimization, and integration with primary care, specialty, and virtual care.

• Champion adoption of technology, clinical decision support, and operational tools that improve efficiency and patient experience.

• Foster a culture of innovation, adaptability, and continuous improvement within Urgent Care.

Collaboration & Communication

• Maintain strong partnerships with Primary Care, Emergency Medicine, specialties, and system leadership.

• Communicate goals, expectations, and performance updates clearly and consistently to Medical Directors and frontline providers.

• Serve as a visible clinical leader and advocate for Urgent Care across the organization.

Qualifications

• MD or DO with board certification in Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, or Emergency Medicine.

• Minimum of 5 years of clinical experience with at least 3 years in a leadership role, preferably in Urgent Care or ambulatory settings.

• Demonstrated success leading high-volume, access-driven clinical operations.

• Experience with physician recruitment, onboarding, and workforce development strongly preferred.

• Strong leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.

Leadership Competencies

• Strategic Thinking: Aligns Urgent Care performance with organizational access and growth strategies.

• Operational Acumen: Manages staffing models, workflows, budgets, and demand variability effectively.

• Talent Leadership: Recruits, develops, and retains high-performing Urgent Care teams.

• Collaborative Leadership: Effective dyad partner and cross-functional leader.

• Change Management: Leads operational and cultural change in fast-paced environments.

• Results Orientation: Drives measurable outcomes with accountability.

Performance Expectations & KPIs

• Quality & Safety: Achieve best-practice performance in Urgent Care quality and patient safety metrics.

• Patient Access & Throughput: Meet or exceed targets for wait times, length of stay, and LWBS rates.

• Financial Performance: Maintain budget discipline and achieve visit volume and productivity goals.

• Patient Experience: Achieve patient satisfaction scores above organizational benchmarks.

• Provider Engagement & Retention: Maintain high engagement scores, effective onboarding metrics, and low voluntary turnover.

• Recruitment Effectiveness: Timely recruitment and successful integration of Urgent Care providers aligned with service line needs.

• Role Fit Within Leadership Structure

• Chair: Service line vision, strategic alignment, and physician leadership

• Chief: Department-level execution, performance accountability, and operational leadership

• Medical Director: Clinic-level execution, provider leadership, and day-to-day oversight of care delivery

Equal Opportunity Statement

* It is the policy of the Sutter West Bay Medical Group (SWBMG) to provide equal employment for all qualified individuals; to prohibit discrimination in employment because of race, color, creed, religion, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, ancestry, national origin, age, medical condition, disability or status as a veteran or a disabled veteran. We promote the full realization of equal employment opportunities through a positive continuing program within our service area. Equal employment opportunities apply to every aspect of SWBMG's employment policies and practices.