Director, Center for Behavioral Health

Director, Behavioral Health Transfer Center

Salary Range: $89,900 – $130,000 (negotiable)

Additional Compensation: Signing bonus available

Schedule: 24/7 operational leadership (some weekends required)

Position Summary

The Director of the Behavioral Health (BH) Transfer Center provides strategic and operational leadership for a centralized, multi-facility behavioral health access and transfer operation. This role is accountable for clinical decision-making, service-level performance, regulatory compliance, and team development in a fast-paced, high-acuity environment.

Serving as the subject-matter expert for behavioral health transfer operations, the Director ensures timely, appropriate patient placement while building trusted relationships with facilities, physicians, and referral partners.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead all daily operations of the BH Transfer Center, overseeing remote RNs and non-clinical staff
• Ensure clinically appropriate, timely transfers across all age groups and levels of care
• Manage service levels in partnership with Workforce Management, Finance, and executive leadership
• Monitor and improve KPIs including response times, acceptance rates, bed utilization, and throughput
• Ensure compliance with EMTALA, CMS, Joint Commission, HIPAA, and state regulations
• Audit transfer calls, admission packets, and level-of-care determinations
• Serve as escalation point for complex or high-risk cases
• Collaborate with CEOs, Directors of Nursing, Directors of Assessment, and medical leadership
• Lead hiring, onboarding, coaching, and performance management of transfer center staff
• Identify operational gaps and drive process improvement across systems and workflows
• Partner with IT, HR, Training, and Quality teams to enhance service delivery

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor’s degree required
• Master’s degree strongly preferred (Nursing, Social Work, Psychology, Healthcare Administration, or related)
• Licensed clinician (RN, LCSW, LPC, etc.) preferred



Experience

• 5+ years in behavioral health or hospital operations
• 3+ years in leadership or management
• Experience managing or building a behavioral health or hospital transfer/admissions center preferred
• Experience leading high-volume, telephonic clinical programs

Licensure

• Current Compact (Multistate) RN license (if RN)

Core Competencies

• Strategic leadership of centralized access and transfer operations
• Behavioral health clinical operations expertise
• Real-time triage and decision-making under pressure
• Data-driven performance management using KPIs and dashboards
• Systems thinking across EMRs, call management, and bed management tools
• Calm, effective crisis leadership
• Team development and culture building rooted in accountability and empathy

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