Division Director, Developmental & Behavioral Health

The Department of Pediatrics at Childrens Mercy Kansas City is seeking a creative and scholarly leader to serve as Division Director of Developmental & Behavioral Health. The Division has provided outstanding interdisciplinary care to patients with neurodevelopmental and behavioral health conditions for 40 years. Care is provided in multiple ambulatory clinics, through a robust telehealth service, and by our inpatient consultation team as well as by behavioral health specialists embedded in primary care clinics and thirty pediatric medical and surgical specialty programs across our health care system. The division receives over 2000 referrals each month and conducts more than 20,000 annual visits in its two flagship ambulatory clinics and multiple satellite clinics. We also provide services in our Eating Disorder Center, a specialty clinic for Complex ADHD, and our division co-leads the Tourette Syndrome Center of Excellence.

Expansion of services is underway and will include a 24-bed partial hospital program, an integrated inpatient care unit, a crisis center, and an intensive outpatient program for eating disorders. As part of our institutions ambitious mental health strategic plan, we are significantly expanding ambulatory services and recently opened a Depression and Anxiety Clinic and a Mental Health Screening Clinic. Also underway is expansion of existing services for autism, ADHD, neurodevelopmental differences, behavioral health care for patients with comorbid medical conditions, and more.   

Our team is comprised of 55 licensed psychologists, 8 child and adolescent psychiatrists, 9 developmental pediatricians, 3 board certified behavior analysts, 3 psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners, and 4 psychometricians.

Faculty in the Division engage in innovative clinical and translational research to optimize the well-being of patients with behavioral and mental health concerns, developmental disabilities, and chronic health conditions. Our interdisciplinary group of investigators collaborate with other research groups throughout Childrens Mercy, across the region and nationwide to understand, prevent and treat pediatric health concerns through the lens of developmental and behavioral science. Areas of research focus include:

• health equity,
• mental health service delivery,
• precision medicine,
• psychosocial treatment and outcomes for youth with acute and chronic pediatric health conditions,
• suicide prevention,
• language development,
• etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders, and
• behavioral health outcomes for youth with autism.

Inclusion of and focus on parents and caregivers is core tenet for our investigators. Research in the Division of is supported through funding from federal agencies including National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state agencies, private foundations, Childrens Mercy and generous philanthropic support. The findings of our research teams are routinely published in leading journals in our field and presented at regional, national, and international academic forums.

The Division is the primary site for pediatric resident rotations in child development and behavioral health, an American Psychological Association accredited clinical psychology internship program, a developmental pediatrics fellowship and multiple pediatric psychology postdoctoral clinical fellowships. We also train child and adolescent psychiatry fellows and psychology practicum students from programs throughout the Great Plains.

The foremost qualities necessary for this position are vision for the field of pediatric developmental and behavioral health and a strong record of academic achievement. Other desired characteristics include a demonstrated commitment to developing young clinicians into future leaders in pediatrics, knowledge of academic infrastructure and finances, successful collaborations with hospital and medical partners and dedication to a team culture of accountability and professionalism. Childrens Mercy recently launched Illuminate, a $150M comprehensive initiative to address the mental health needs of children and adolescents in our community. The Developmental & Behavioral Health Division Director is a critical partner with the hospital in developing and operationalizing all aspects of this plan, which is comprised of four strategies and fourteen projects with a five-year timeline. The Developmental & Behavioral Health Division Director reports to the Chair of Pediatrics.

About Childrens Mercy

Childrens Mercy (CM) is a nationally recognized, free-standing childrens hospital founded in 1897 to provide care for the children of Kansas City. The primary service area of CM now encompasses 150 counties in Missouri and Kansas. As an independent childrens hospital, CM offers comprehensive pediatric-related specialty care across nine clinical Departments and Centers. In FY2023, CM conducted almost 600,000 total visits, over 200,000 emergency and urgent care visits, and nearly 20,000 surgical cases. CM is also one of only ten centers in the nation verified as a Level 1 Childrens Surgery Center by the American College of Surgeons and the only pediatric Level I Trauma Center in the region. CM has nearly 800 doctors in more than 40 subspecialties caring for children of all ages, from routine checkups to quaternary care. We enthusiastically complement our nationally-ranked clinical care with robust community support programs that keep kids safe and healthy.

Education

Education is a core activity at Childrens Mercy. CM provides education opportunities to nursing students, medical students, psychology interns, residents and fellows. In total, CM supports over 1,400 learners annually with accredited residencies in pediatrics, med/peds, child neurology, pediatric dentistry, pediatric optometry and pharmacy. CM is the site for pediatric clerkships for both UMKC and KU medical students. If capacity allows, CM eagerly provides elective rotations and sub-internships to students from any accredited allopathic or osteopathic medical school. CM offers more than 40 fellowship programs across numerous areas and is committed to developing the next generation of subspecialists. Certificate and masters programs are operated in conjunction with our academic partners, KU and UMKC.

Research

Childrens Mercy is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children through engagement in world-class, collaborative research. Through the generosity of large philanthropic gifts, CM constructed a nine story, 375,000 square foot facility providing state-of-the-art technology in a building with ample dry and wet lab space. In addition, these generous gifts are enhancing scientific programs and supporting targeted recruitment. Research conducted today includes basic, translational and clinical research across many pediatric subspecialties. Areas of research strength include Precision Therapeutics, Genomic Medicine, Population Health, Innovations in Health Care Delivery and Emerging Pathogens. The CMRI provides core resources and support for CM faculty, from research topic development through grant management and trial coordination. CM recently renewed its T32 training grant in Clinical Pharmacology, having trained 24 post-doctoral fellows, most of whom have competed successfully for extramural funding for their research programs. Childrens Mercy is the pediatric partner for the NCI-designated KU Comprehensive Cancer Center and has been instrumental in the Frontiers Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) at KU since the CTSIs inception. This regional CTSI program comprises four universities (including three medical schools) and three health systems on both sides of the Missouri-Kansas state line. CM faculty members have been extremely successful obtaining  KL2 and pilot grant funding, and our faculty have leadership roles at Frontiers. Furthermore, Frontiers has an inclusive administrative structure in which leadership of cores and functions is shared by investigators at CM and KU, providing additional opportunities for faculty to become actively engaged in clinical and translational research.

 About Kansas City:

Situated in both Missouri and Kansas, the Kansas City Metropolitan Area is an affordable and comfortable place to live and raise a family. The metros anchor city, Kansas City, Missouri, is the largest city in Missouri and has many great museums, a busy downtown, multiple professional sports franchises, an exciting music scene and many charming neighborhoods. Throughout the Metro area, you will find highly ranked public schools, great parks and other green spaces, and lots of amazing people. Kansas City is large enough to provide the amenities of a metropolitan area, while small enough to allow for easy commutes, accessible amenities and a very high quality of life.

Ideal Qualifications and Experience

• MD/PhD/PsyD or equivalent and board certification in relevant professional field
• Current academic rank of Associate Professor or Professor
• A strong record of clinical and academic achievement
• Demonstrated success in advancing medical education, patient care and research
• A commitment to our true north pillars: quality and safety, people, patient experience, delivery and stewardship
• Dedication to our values of kindness, curiosity, inclusion, team and integrity
• Experience in integrated clinical, educational and research missions
• Enthusiasm for fostering and supporting programs that address diversity, equity and inclusion
• Experience with or a desire to learn and utilize LEAN methodologies
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability and commitment to collaborate with leadership at partner institutions.

For more information or to apply, please send CV and Cover Letter to physicianjobs@cmh.edu, attn: Dr. JC Cowden and Dr. Adrienne DePorre, search committee co-chairs.

More information may be requested at physicianjobs@cmh.edu.

All materials will be treated as confidential.