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Director Patient Safety

HCA HealthONE • Englewood, CO

Not Applicable Posted March 27, 2026 Job link

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Responsibilities

Commitments

Responsibilities

Systems Thinking and Reliable Design Expectations :
Prevent future harm by initiating and overseeing proactive evaluation and redesign of systems to improve care processes (e.g. forcing functions, checklists, error causation thinking, human factors, applied informatics, culture).
Support improved outcomes by emphasizing both appropriate behaviors and robust systems that include concise accountability measures and follow-up.
Improve consistent delivery of evidence-based care and reduction in preventable harm by focusing on reliability and applying the principles of reliable design.
Reduce variation in care delivery.
Partner with the Patient Safety Organization to explore identified variations when appropriate.
Utilize alerts and best practices (e.g.
Sentinel Event Alerts) to perform gap assessments and implement strong actions that will alleviate identified gaps.
Identification and Mitigation of Patient Safety Risk Expectations:
Effectively report, investigate, and analyze patient safety incidents, medical errors and potential risks in the facility.
Facilitate thorough and credible serious event analysis that result in strong sustainable improvement strategies.
Facilitate thorough and credible failure mode effect analysis to identify and mitigate unintended adverse patient outcomes and evaluate effectiveness of process changes.
Perform Patient Safety Rounds that identify patient safety risks.
Empower staff to identify and participate in resolution of patient safety concerns.
Coordinate disclosure of serious events to patients and/or families in accordance with organizational policy and regulations.
Assure timely reporting of Patient Safety Work Product (PSWP) to the Patient Safety Organization.
Actively participate in PSO learning collaboratives.
Ensure implementation of best practices, alerts, and updates to drive patient safety improvement.
Safety Culture Advancement Expectations:
Champion completion of Culture of Safety Survey.
Facilitate analysis of culture of safety survey results such that data-driven action plans lead to targeted outcomes.
Support and encourage harm reporting throughout the organization through a non-punitive just event reporting system.
Provide feedback that acknowledges both the value of event reporting and review of reported events.
Facilitate thorough and credible review of events that address both system and individual accountability.
Patient Safety Education Expectations:
Include patient safety in new hire orientation presentation (e.g.
PSO membership, reporting expectations, safety culture)
Provide ongoing education to leaders, clinicians and staff on the science of safety (high reliability, effective communication, sustaining awareness/alertness) and patient safety initiatives.
Partnership with Executive and Clinical Leaders Expectations:
Work with facility leaders and managers to ensure thorough, credible and timely event management.
Join with facility leaders to identify and hardwire behavioral norms that promote a culture of safety.
Work with facility leaders to ensure understanding of and compliance with the National Patient Safety Goals.
Partner with facility leadership to establish activities that enable and sustain an open and fair environment promoting learning, safe systems, and appropriately managing behavioral choices related to patient safety (e.g.
Patient Safety Rounds, Event Response, Disclosure).
Partner with Quality to complete the NQF Safe Practices section of the Leapfrog Hospital Survey.
Patient and Family Engagement Expectations:
Engage patients/families when appropriate in the patient safety program.
Seek input from patients/families involved in harm or close call events as appropriate.
Measurable Reduction in Avoidable Harm Expectations:
Oversee the management and use of event information to benchmark and track progress to zero avoidable harm.
Provide analysis and identifying trends from reports (e.g. event data, SHARP report, Service Line Dashboards) to track progress of improvement strategies.
Spread and sustain improvement.
Present informative and actionable patient safety reports to appropriate committees to include high level presentations to Leadership, Medical Executive Committee and Board of Trustees.
Include the patient’s story of harm.
Risk Management/Claims Activities (if Not Otherwise Assigned)
Work with defense legal counsel to coordinate the investigation, processing and defense of claims against the facility; records, collects, documents, maintains, and provides to defense attorneys any requested information and documents necessary manage facility claims while maintaining privilege of PSWP
Notify and interact with HCI of all actual and potential claims
Work with security on procedures to reduce the frequency and/or minimize the severity of property loss or assets
Contract Review
Manage non-HCI cases: accept/process subpoenas, visitor events, property loss or theft, etc.

Not Met Priorities

What still needs stronger evidence

Requirements

Certification in Patient Safety (CPPS) required;
Other licenses/certifications required by State
Three to five years healthcare experience in patient safety, risk, and/or quality preferred.
Healthcare experience should be recent and within a clinical setting such as Hospital, Ambulatory Surgery Center, etc.
Demonstrates good organizational skills; tendency to be organized, planful and structured
Knowledge of patient safety science principles, theory, methods, standards and regulatory requirements
Superior interpersonal skills (developing and maintaining positive relationships; communicating clearly and effectively with people at all levels with verbal and nonverbal communication; working with others to identify, define and solve problems)
Strong leadership qualities (task completion, motivation, organization)
Knowledge of and experience with patient safety analysis techniques (methods).
Proven team building skills in dealing with intra-professional clinical and operations teams including medical staff in diverse settings
Advanced computer skills with word processing and database competency.
Excellent oral and written communication skills.
Demonstrated ability to deliver educational and informational presentations on clinical and/or patient safety topics.
Ability to inspire others to believe in the culture of patient safety.
Information management skills including flowcharting, data analysis and report preparation.
Knowledge of rapid cycle improvement theory

Preferred Skills

Clinical background preferred
Three to five years healthcare experience in patient safety, risk, and/or quality preferred.
Healthcare experience should be recent and within a clinical setting such as Hospital, Ambulatory Surgery Center, etc.
Knowledge of patient safety science principles, theory, methods, standards and regulatory requirements
Knowledge of rapid cycle improvement theory

Education

(Required) – Other licenses/certifications required by State
(Not required) – Education:
(Required) – Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare related field required.
(Not required) – Master’s degree preferred.
(Not required) – Clinical background preferred

This position is incentive eligible.
Salary Estimate: $102440.00 - $159827.20 / year
Learn More About The benefits Offered For This Job.
The estimate displayed represents the typical salary range of candidates hired. Factors that may be used to determine your actual salary may include your specific skills, how many years of experience you have and comparison to other employees already in this role. The typical candidate is hired below midpoint of the range.
Introduction
Managers thrive with us! HCA Healthcare is one of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare services, comprising of over 180 hospitals and about 2,000 sites of care in 21 states and the United Kingdom. We are looking for a(an) Director Patient Safety for our HCA HealthONE Swedish team where excellence creates excellence.
Benefits
HCA HealthONE Swedish, offers a total rewards package that supports the health, life, career and retirement of our colleagues. The available plans and programs include:

Comprehensive medical coverage that covers many common services at no cost or for a low copay. Plans include prescription drug and behavioral health coverage as well as free telemedicine services and free AirMed medical transportation.
Additional options for dental and vision benefits, life and disability coverage, flexible spending accounts, supplemental health protection plans (accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity), auto and home insurance, identity theft protection, legal counseling, long-term care coverage, moving assistance, pet insurance and more.
Free counseling services and resources for emotional, physical and financial wellbeing
401(k) Plan with a 100% match on 3% to 9% of pay (based on years of service)
Employee Stock Purchase Plan with 10% off HCA Healthcare stock
Family support through fertility and family building benefits with Progyny and adoption assistance.
Referral services for child, elder and pet care, home and auto repair, event planning and more
Consumer discounts through Abenity and Consumer Discounts
Retirement readiness, rollover assistance services and preferred banking partnerships
Education assistance (tuition, student loan, certification support, dependent scholarships)
Colleague recognition program
Time Away From Work Program (paid time off, paid family leave, long- and short-term disability coverage and leaves of absence)
Employee Health Assistance Fund that offers free employee-only coverage to full-time and part-time colleagues based on income.
Learn More About Employee Benefits
Note: Eligibility for benefits may vary by location.
HCA Healthcare has expanded our influence across the healthcare industry by investing $3.5 billion in capital improvements in recent years. Do you want to be an influencer in healthcare?
Apply for our Director Patient Safety role today!
Job Summary And Qualifications
I. Position Summary: Advance a patient safety program that promotes a culture of safety and the elimination of avoidable harm.
II. Major Responsibilities:
Systems Thinking and Reliable Design Expectations :

Prevent future harm by initiating and overseeing proactive evaluation and redesign of systems to improve care processes (e.g. forcing functions, checklists, error causation thinking, human factors, applied informatics, culture).
Support improved outcomes by emphasizing both appropriate behaviors and robust systems that include concise accountability measures and follow-up.
Improve consistent delivery of evidence-based care and reduction in preventable harm by focusing on reliability and applying the principles of reliable design.
Reduce variation in care delivery. Partner with the Patient Safety Organization to explore identified variations when appropriate.
Utilize alerts and best practices (e.g. Sentinel Event Alerts) to perform gap assessments and implement strong actions that will alleviate identified gaps.
Identification and Mitigation of Patient Safety Risk Expectations:

Effectively report, investigate, and analyze patient safety incidents, medical errors and potential risks in the facility.
Facilitate thorough and credible serious event analysis that result in strong sustainable improvement strategies.
Facilitate thorough and credible failure mode effect analysis to identify and mitigate unintended adverse patient outcomes and evaluate effectiveness of process changes.
Perform Patient Safety Rounds that identify patient safety risks. Empower staff to identify and participate in resolution of patient safety concerns.
Coordinate disclosure of serious events to patients and/or families in accordance with organizational policy and regulations.
Assure timely reporting of Patient Safety Work Product (PSWP) to the Patient Safety Organization.
Actively participate in PSO learning collaboratives. Ensure implementation of best practices, alerts, and updates to drive patient safety improvement.
Safety Culture Advancement Expectations:

Champion completion of Culture of Safety Survey.
Facilitate analysis of culture of safety survey results such that data-driven action plans lead to targeted outcomes.
Support and encourage harm reporting throughout the organization through a non-punitive just event reporting system.
Provide feedback that acknowledges both the value of event reporting and review of reported events.
Facilitate thorough and credible review of events that address both system and individual accountability.
Patient Safety Education Expectations:

Include patient safety in new hire orientation presentation (e.g. PSO membership, reporting expectations, safety culture)
Provide ongoing education to leaders, clinicians and staff on the science of safety (high reliability, effective communication, sustaining awareness/alertness) and patient safety initiatives.
Partnership with Executive and Clinical Leaders Expectations:

Work with facility leaders and managers to ensure thorough, credible and timely event management.
Join with facility leaders to identify and hardwire behavioral norms that promote a culture of safety.
Work with facility leaders to ensure understanding of and compliance with the National Patient Safety Goals.
Partner with facility leadership to establish activities that enable and sustain an open and fair environment promoting learning, safe systems, and appropriately managing behavioral choices related to patient safety (e.g. Patient Safety Rounds, Event Response, Disclosure).
Partner with Quality to complete the NQF Safe Practices section of the Leapfrog Hospital Survey.
Patient and Family Engagement Expectations:

Engage patients/families when appropriate in the patient safety program.
Seek input from patients/families involved in harm or close call events as appropriate.
Measurable Reduction in Avoidable Harm Expectations:

Oversee the management and use of event information to benchmark and track progress to zero avoidable harm.
Provide analysis and identifying trends from reports (e.g. event data, SHARP report, Service Line Dashboards) to track progress of improvement strategies. Spread and sustain improvement.
Present informative and actionable patient safety reports to appropriate committees to include high level presentations to Leadership, Medical Executive Committee and Board of Trustees. Include the patient’s story of harm.
Risk Management/Claims Activities (if Not Otherwise Assigned)

Work with defense legal counsel to coordinate the investigation, processing and defense of claims against the facility; records, collects, documents, maintains, and provides to defense attorneys any requested information and documents necessary manage facility claims while maintaining privilege of PSWP
Notify and interact with HCI of all actual and potential claims
Work with security on procedures to reduce the frequency and/or minimize the severity of property loss or assets
Contract Review
Manage non-HCI cases: accept/process subpoenas, visitor events, property loss or theft, etc.
III. Position Requirements:

Licensure/Certification/Registration:
Certification in Patient Safety (CPPS) required;
Maintain CPPS while in role
Other licenses/certifications required by State
Education:
Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare related field required. Master’s degree preferred.

Experience:
Clinical background preferred
Three to five years healthcare experience in patient safety, risk, and/or quality preferred. Healthcare experience should be recent and within a clinical setting such as Hospital, Ambulatory Surgery Center, etc.
Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:
Demonstrates good organizational skills; tendency to be organized, planful and structured
Knowledge of patient safety science principles, theory, methods, standards and regulatory requirements
Superior interpersonal skills (developing and maintaining positive relationships; communicating clearly and effectively with people at all levels with verbal and nonverbal communication; working with others to identify, define and solve problems)
Strong leadership qualities (task completion, motivation, organization)
Knowledge of and experience with patient safety analysis techniques (methods). Proven team building skills in dealing with intra-professional clinical and operations teams including medical staff in diverse settings
Advanced computer skills with word processing and database competency.
Excellent oral and written communication skills.
Demonstrated ability to deliver educational and informational presentations on clinical and/or patient safety topics.
Ability to inspire others to believe in the culture of patient safety. Effective change agent.
Information management skills including flowcharting, data analysis and report preparation.
Knowledge of rapid cycle improvement theory
HCA HealthONE, one of the largest and most comprehensive healthcare systems in the Rocky Mountain region, offers more than 170 care sites in the Denver metro area. Offering services across the continuum of care to meet patients’ total healthcare needs, HCA HealthONE includes seven acute care hospitals, a dedicated flagship pediatric hospital, a rehabilitation hospital, CareNow® urgent care clinics, mental health campuses, imaging and surgery centers, physician practices, home and hospice care, and AirLife Denver, which provides regional critical care air and ground transportation. Among HCA HealthONE’s acute care hospitals is Swedish, a proud member of the community for more than 115 years. An acute care hospital with 408 licensed beds, HCA HealthONE Swedish is a national leader in neurosciences and serves as the region’s preeminent referral center for the most advanced stroke treatment and was the state’s first Joint Commission-certified Comprehensive Stroke Center. HCA HealthONE Swedish is also home to a robust robotics program, a certified burn and reconstructive center, and a wide-ranging oncology center. Consistently among the Denver Business Journals’ list of top corporate philanthropists in the Denver-metro area, HCA HealthONE was named as one of the most community-minded organizations by The Civic 50 and contributed more than $1 million through cash and in-kind donations last year alone, along with more than $400M in federal, state and local taxes.
HCA Healthcare has been recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® by the Ethisphere Institute more than ten times. In recent years, HCA Healthcare spent an estimated $3.7 billion in costs for the delivery of charitable care, uninsured discounts, and other uncompensated expenses.
"Bricks and mortar do not make a hospital. People do."- Dr. Thomas Frist, Sr.
HCA Healthcare Co-Founder
If you're looking for a leadership opportunity that provides both personal satisfaction and professional growth, apply to join HCA Healthcare as a(an) Director Patient Safety. Unlock your leadership potential with HCA Healthcare.
We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.