Risk Manager

Location: Salem Hospital, 890 Oak Street SE, Salem, Oregon 97301
Department: Corporate Integrity, Risk Management
Position Type: Full Time, 40 hours/week, Exempt, On Site
Schedule: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm, Monday - Friday, occasional night/weekend hours

Your role with us

As Risk Manager you will be independently responsible for managing risk throughout our health system, including Salem Hospital, West Valley Hospital, and Salem Health's network of primary care and specialty clinics spanning Marion and Polk Counties. Your purview will include managing Salem Health Hospitals and Clinics' insurance program, including the captive, overseeing loss control and claims management, and leading the team that serves as our main internal resource for education on risk management. This is a distinctive and exciting opportunity for an individual with experience working with a captive/sole independent and leading a risk program in an independent health system roughly 100 to 400 beds in size.

Reporting to the Chief Corporate Integrity and Risk Officer, you will interface daily with internal and external customers, supported by the claims examiner and risk analyst who report directly to you. Externally, you will build strong working relationships with brokers, service providers, claims adjustors, underwriters, attorneys, mediators, structured settlement representatives, claimants, health plans, and government regulators to effectively drive your work forward. Internally, you will confer with internal physicians, clinicians, and colleagues in the areas of patient safety, legal counsel, and patient advocacy to address daily operational questions. Business leaders and clinical leaders alike will seek your expertise in system-wide problem solving as Salem Health continues to broaden our presence in the community, expand service offerings, and take innovation to new heights.

Leading a highly cohesive and energetic team whose scope has grown exponentially as the organization has added specialty clinics and providers with hyper-focused, life-saving skills such as anesthesiology and cardiothoracic surgery, you will oversee a uniquely complex and fascinating risk profile that presents a new challenge each day. You will enjoy a culture that blends independent work with consistent cooperation, all rooted in Salem Health's values of excellence, accountability, integrity, caring and teamwork. Care With Respect will become far more than a phrase; it will be the lens through which you view all risk-related projects and decisions.

If you are an experienced expert in health care risk management who operates with a growth mindset, respective of a conservative stance on risk while remaining collaborative and open-minded to continuous improvement initiatives that require you to limit rigidity in your approach, this may be the ideal opportunity for you.

What you'll do

• Plan, coordinate, and administer a broad, comprehensive insurance program involving such activities as captive management, insurance purchasing, insurance consulting, administering self-insured coverages, and coordinating claims handling for all insurance lines.
• Develop and manage the overall risk management program, involving risks of all types, which may include using deductibles, self-insurance, captive insurance companies, financial plans, commercial insurance, excess and reinsurance programs.
• Assume responsibility for contract compliance, including preparing contracts for board approval and providing advice on contract language necessary to fulfil insurance and risk management requirements, evaluating contracts to ensure that insurance and liability issues are adequately addressed and that risk is transferred to the other party, establishing insurance requirements for all projects and contracts, and ensuring affiliated institutions have adequate insurance coverage when necessary.
• Provide administrative oversight of the claims program, including reporting procedures to insurance carriers, regulatory agencies and licensing boards.
• Oversee investigation of incidents/accidents/events that could lead to financial loss, including professional liability, general liability, and worker's compensation.
• Provide administrative oversight of the underwriting process and ensure insurance coverage is appropriate for the organization.
• Supervise patient advocates to ensure compliance with regulations, tracking and trending grievances and complaints to elevate areas of concern to leadership.
• Assess worker's compensation claim frequency and severity while monitoring the quality of insurer's claims administration.
• Provide direction and advice to medical and clinical staff in connection with professional liability and medical/legal matters.
• Respond to crisis situations that have risk management implications and assist staff with problem-solving.
• Act as a resource by providing just-in-time coaching and training to staff and physicians preparing for disclosures to patients and families, participating in these discussions as appropriate.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in healthcare, business, or health-related field.
• Five years of risk management experience in a healthcare facility or system with a minimum of 100 beds.

Additional Information

• The strongest candidates will have experience that spans beyond managing risk for clinics and critical access hospitals only, with preference toward experience managing risk for an independent health system working with a captive.
• Certified Professional Healthcare Risk Manager (CPHRM) preferred.
• Oregon Adjustor - General Lines must be obtained within six months of hire.
• Ability to read and understand Epic medical records highly preferred.

Why Salem Health?

Salem Health is a Top Workplace in Oregon, known for fostering a supportive culture where your contributions truly matter. As an award-winning, independent health care system, we serve our region through Salem Hospital, multiple community clinics and West Valley Hospital, ensuring broad access to high-quality care.

We believe in empowering our teams. Through Lean principles, staff help drive innovation and solve real problems. We also invest in your growth with professional development, tuition assistance, and clear career pathways. At Salem Health, you'll find more than a job, you'll find purpose, connection, and room to thrive.

Salem Health Hospitals and Clinics is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other status or condition protected by law.

Salem Health Hospitals and Clinics is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for applicants. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact my.recruiter@salemhealth.org.