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The Health Care District of Palm Beach County is seeking a visionary and transformative leader to guide both current behavioral health operations and the future development of the Two Waters Mental Health Center-a first-of-its-kind, state-of-the-art crisis care facility grounded in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Crisis Now model.

This is a rare dual-impact leadership opportunity designed as a phased role:

Phase 1 (Current State - Pre-Opening Leadership):
Provide executive leadership for behavioral health services across Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) sites, while actively designing the clinical, operational, and cultural foundation of the future crisis system.

Phase 2 (Future State - Facility Leadership):
Assume full leadership of the Two Waters Mental Health Center upon its anticipated opening in 2029, overseeing a comprehensive continuum of crisis care including outpatient services, 23-hour observation, crisis stabilization, extended stabilization, inpatient care, mobile crisis, and case management.

This role ensures that when the doors open in 2029, the systems, workforce, and culture are already in place to deliver high-quality, compassionate, and person-centered crisis care.

Two Waters will be built on a modern philosophy that recognizes behavioral health crises not solely as clinical emergencies, but as human experiences of pain, disconnection, and unmet need-best addressed through relationship-centered, trauma-informed, and dignity-driven care.

Key Responsibilities

• Provides executive leadership and strategic oversight for all crisis response and stabilization programs, ensuring alignment with organizational goals for access, quality, and safety. 
• Leads operational management of crisis services, including 23-hour observation, crisis stabilization units, extended stabilization, inpatient services, mobile crisis, and outpatient care. 
• Oversees budget development, staffing models, and regulatory compliance with DCF, AHCA, Joint Commission, and all applicable state and federal requirements. 
• Develops and implements revenue-generation strategies aligned with the crisis center's service model and funding opportunities. 
• Leads performance improvement initiatives, including monitoring access, safety indicators, outcomes, and compliance metrics. 
• Utilizes data to drive decision-making, identify trends, and ensure accountability for program outcomes. 
• Provides leadership during critical incidents, emergency response, and system-level crises, including on-call availability as needed for 24/7 operations. 
• Represents crisis services in community forums, collaborative meetings, and system-of-care planning efforts; maintains strong partnerships with external agencies and stakeholders. 

Phase 1: FQHC Behavioral Health Leadership (Now - 2029)

• Lead outpatient behavioral health services across FQHC sites, ensuring high-quality, accessible, and integrated care. 
• Translate current-state operational experience into future-state system design, particularly for the co-located FQHC clinic within the Two Waters facility. 
• Standardize clinical workflows, access models, staffing structures, and patient experience across sites. 
• Build and develop high-performing, multidisciplinary teams while shaping a culture rooted in trauma-informed, person-centered care. 
• Establish policies, procedures, and performance standards that will scale into the future crisis system. 

Phase 2: Two Waters Development & Activation (Strategic Build)

• Lead the design of clinical and operational models aligned with SAMHSA Crisis Now and high-intensity behavioral health emergency center frameworks. 
• Develop policies, procedures, workflows, and care pathways that are practical, scalable, and patient-centered. 
• Partner with design and construction teams to ensure facility layout, patient flow, and staffing models align with clinical best practices. 
• Support activation planning, including operational readiness, space utilization, and service integration across the continuum. 
• Design care pathways that address not only acute risk, but underlying drivers of crisis such as psychological pain, social disconnection, and unmet needs. 
• Ensure models emphasize least-restrictive, voluntary-first approaches, with clear escalation pathways only when clinically necessary. 
• Build and shape the future workforce pipeline, including staffing models, training programs, and competency frameworks. 

Culture & Care Model Leadership

• Serve as the architect of a compassionate, trauma-informed organizational culture. 
• Translate values such as dignity, empathy, and respect into daily operations, staff training, and leadership accountability. 
• Embed a "care, not custody" philosophy that prioritizes engagement, autonomy, trust-building, and patient voice. 
• Promote continuity of care through warm handoffs, service integration, and long-term engagement beyond the crisis encounter. 

Required Qualifications & Experience

• Progressive leadership experience in behavioral health, including crisis services, psychiatric emergency care, or acute care settings. 
• Demonstrated success overseeing complex operations, multidisciplinary teams, and multiple service lines or sites. 
• Experience in program development, system design, service line expansion, or operational transformation.  
• Strong understanding of behavioral health systems of care, including outpatient, crisis, and higher levels of care. 
• Experience developing and implementing policies, workflows, and clinical/operational standards. 
• Strong knowledge of SAMHSA Crisis Now model or comparable frameworks. 
• Commitment to trauma-informed, person-centered care and experience embedding these principles into organizational culture. 

Preferred Experience

• Direct experience with high-intensity behavioral health emergency centers, crisis receiving facilities, or extended stabilization programs (e.g., 23-hour observation units). 
• Familiarity with nationally recognized models such as EmPATH units, Crisis Stabilization Units (CSUs), or diversion-focused programs. 
• Experience integrating crisis services with 988 systems, mobile crisis teams, EMS, and law enforcement diversion pathways. 
• Experience in FQHC or integrated care settings, particularly co-located behavioral health services. 
• Experience designing or launching new programs, facilities, or care models, including involvement in facility planning and operational readiness. 

The Ideal Candidate

This leader will:

• Be equally comfortable leading current operations and building future systems. 
• Bring both strategic vision and hands-on execution. 
• Understand that culture must be intentionally designed and operationalized. 
• Be passionate about access, equity, and compassionate crisis care. 
• Recognize that effective crisis care extends beyond stabilization to restoring connection, hope, and engagement in care. 
• Thrive in roles that evolve over time and require long-term, system-level thinking. 

What Makes This Role Unique

• A true continuity-of-impact role-your work today directly defines the future model of care. 
• Opportunity to influence the design of a major facility already under development. 
• Integration of outpatient FQHC services within a high-intensity crisis care model. 
• Ability to shape a facility, workforce, and culture from the ground up. 
• Central role in transforming behavioral health care across Palm Beach County and building a nationally relevant model for crisis services. 

Be Part of Something Foundational

Two Waters will be a place where individuals find stability, dignity, and connection during life's most difficult moments.

This role ensures that when the doors open in 2029, the systems, staff, and culture are ready to deliver on that promise.

You won't just open a facility-you'll build the foundation that makes it work.

The Health Care District of Palm Beach County is an independent special taxing district that has served as a healthcare safety net for more than 36 years to fill in gaps in access to healthcare services. This unique healthcare system covers the entire county and provides a wide range of services such as nine community health centers (Federally Qualified Health Centers) which serve everyone regardless of ability to pay; school health teams in 172 public schools; a lifesaving Trauma Hawk aeromedical helicopter program; a rural, public teaching hospital, Lakeside Medical Center; an award-winning skilled nursing center; a ground ambulance program for Health Care District patients needing a higher level of care and the county's Trauma Agency, which ensures quality outcomes within the county's trauma system and leads initiatives to prevent traumatic injury. 

We are committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and will not discriminate against an applicant or employee on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, military or veteran status, age, sex, pregnancy status, genetic information, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation or identification status, or any other legally recognized category protected by jurisdictional, state or federal law. The information collected by this application is solely to determine suitability for employment, verify identity and maintain employment statistics on applicants.

We are also committed to maintaining a safe, healthy, and productive work environment for all employees. As such, we are a Drug-Free Workplace. 

This role may require Agency of Health Care Administration (AHCA) background screening and clearance. As required under House Bill 531, applicants may review AHCA's education and awareness information at the following link: https://info.flclearinghouse.com/  

Education:

• Master's degree in Behavioral Health, Nursing, Healthcare Administration, or related field.
• Must be able to acquire or maintain knowledge of Chapters 394 and 397, Florida Administrative Code 65E-5, AHCA regulations, and Joint Commission standards.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years in behavioral health leadership, including 3 years in crisis or acute psychiatric care required.
• Experience leading mobile crisis, stabilization, or other emergency behavioral health programs preferred.
• Demonstrated success with quality improvement, performance management, and cross-system collaboration preferred.
• Expertise in crisis systems operations preferred.
• Training in trauma-informed leadership, recovery-oriented systems of care, and/or crisis system transformation preferred.
• Working knowledge of the history and function of alternatives to traditional emergency psychiatric care preferred.

Certification:

N/A

Licensure:

Current Florida state licensure

Registrations:

N/A

Training:

Preference to clinical Supervisor training, with Continuation Training in supervision of other clinicians.