Physician Assistant, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Unit Summary

Hamilton Health Sciences is hiring Physician Assistants who are ready to build or advance their career in neonatal intensive care.

We’re offering up to $25,000 in Financial Incentives for Physician Assistants who are excited to grow into a specialized NICU role at one of Canada’s top Level III NICUs. For more information, please contact .

Step into a job that opens countless doors. As one of Canada’s largest and most diverse hospitals, we’re providing advanced care to people of all ages from across the province. You can explore advancement opportunities, take professional development courses, and stretch yourself as a leader, all at HHS. We are the largest employer in the greater Hamilton region, and play a vital role in training the next generation of health professionals in collaboration with our academic partners, including McMaster University and Mohawk College. Hamilton Health Sciences is a hospital system of 18,000 staff, physicians, researchers and volunteers that proudly serves south central Ontario residents. We also provide specialized, advanced care to people from across the province.

McMaster Children’s Hospital (MCH), located on the McMaster University campus in Hamilton’s beautiful Westdale neighbourhood, has been providing care to children from across the region since 1988. Here, patients ranging in age from infancy to 17 benefit from a family-centred approach that prioritizes the child’s emotional, mental and physical well-being. The hospital is home to the fastest-growing kids-only emergency department in Ontario, one of Canada’s most advanced neonatal intensive care units, and a range of programs and clinics with unique expertise in a number of areas including children’s cancer, digestive diseases, and mental health.

The NICU at MCH is the largest of its kind in Canada, providing tertiary level specialized care to over 1,500 critically ill newborns per year and serving a broad geographic region in southern Ontario. The NICU supports a diverse and complex range of medical and surgical care needs for both inborn and out-born infants, working very closely with an active in-house obstetrical program that sees over 3,800 births per year and includes the provision of high-risk pregnancy care through the Maternal Fetal Medicine service. MCH NICU also operates a Neonatal Transport Team, supporting hospitals across southern Ontario and in collaboration with provincial partners. The large interdisciplinary NICU team provides family-centered care with a strong focus on evidence-based best practices and continuous quality improvement. The NICU team is actively involved as leaders in a number of productive and impactful research activities and collaborative quality improvement initiatives provincially, nationally and internationally.

Position Summary

The NICU Physician Assistant (PA) is a graduate of a recognized PA Program who has successfully completed the PA Certification Exam (PACE). The PA works under the direct supervision of an immediately available Neonatal Intensive Care Physician (Neonatologist) within a large interdisciplinary team. The NICU PA fulfills a critical role in facilitating consistent application of clinical protocols and continuity of care, and will also identify patients with acute clinical issues common to NICU and work within the interdisciplinary team to appropriately manage patient care. The NICU PA will work to full scope in accordance with privileges granted via an established Medical Directive, requesting consultation or referral with appropriate physicians, clinics, or other health resources as indicated, order diagnostic tests as applicable, and prescribe and dispense medications as delineated by the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee.

Schedule Work Hours

Days, evenings, nights, weekends, holidays

Qualifications

• Graduate of a recognized Physician Assistant program

• Successful completion of the PA Certification Exam (PACE)

• Registration with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario

• Current BCLS certification

• Prior experience in a critical care setting is preferred

• Demonstrated ability to make sound decisions including in emergency situations

• Demonstrated ability to work alongside Attending Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, Registered Nurses and other healthcare professionals comprising the interdisciplinary team

• Demonstrated excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills

• Demonstrated commitment to professional development

• Demonstrated leadership and critical thinking skills

• Demonstrated commitment to patient and family-centered care

• Demonstrated ability to take initiative utilizing strong problem solving, organization and prioritization skills

Hamilton Health Sciences fosters a culture of patient and staff safety, whereby all employees are guided by our Mission, Vision, Values, and Values Based Code of Conduct. Hamilton Health Sciences is a teaching hospital and all staff and physicians are expected to support students and other learners.

To be considered for this opportunity applicants must apply during the posting period. All internal and external applicants may ONLY apply via the Careers website. This job posting is for an existing vacancy.

Hamilton Health Sciences is an equal opportunity employer and we will accommodate any needs under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and the Ontario Human Rights Code. Hiring processes will be modified to remove barriers to accommodate those with disabilities, if requested. Should any applicant require accommodation through the application processes, please contact Human Resources at 905-521-2100, Ext. 46947 for assistance. If the applicant requires a specific accommodation because of a disability during an interview, the applicant will need to advise the hiring manager when scheduling the interview and the appropriate accommodations can be made.

This competition is open to all qualified applicants, however, qualified internal applicants will be considered first. Past performance will be considered as part of the selection process. If you are a previous employee of Hamilton Health Sciences, please note: the circumstances around an employee's exit will be considered prior to an offer of employment. Proficiency in both Official Languages, French and English, is considered an asset.