Do you envision finding a meaningful role with an inclusive and compassionate team? At Children’s Mercy, we believe in making a difference in the lives of all children and shining a light of hope to the patients and families we serve. Our employees make the difference, which is why we have been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a top pediatric hospital, for eleven consecutive years.

Children’s Mercy is in the heart of Kansas City – a metro abounding in cultural experiences, vibrant communities and thriving businesses. This is where our patients and families live, work and play. This is a community that has embraced our hospital and we strive to say thanks by giving back. As a leader in children’s health, we engage in meaningful programs and partnerships throughout the region so that we can improve the lives of children beyond the walls of our hospital.

The Department of Pediatrics at Children’s Mercy Kansas City is seeking a creative and scholarly leader
to serve as Division Director of Developmental & Behavioral Health. The Division has provided
outstanding interdisciplinary care to patients with neurodevelopmental and behavioral health
conditions for 40 years. Care is provided in multiple ambulatory clinics, through a robust telehealth
service, and by our inpatient consultation team as well as by behavioral health specialists embedded in
primary care clinics and thirty pediatric medical and surgical specialty programs across our health care
system. The division receives over 2000 referrals each month and conducts more than 20,000 annual
visits in its two flagship ambulatory clinics and multiple satellite clinics. We also provide services in our
Eating Disorder Center, a specialty clinic for Complex ADHD, and our division co-leads the Tourette
Syndrome Center of Excellence.

Expansion of services is underway and will include a 24-bed partial hospital program, an integrated
inpatient care unit, a crisis center, and an intensive outpatient program for eating disorders. As part of
our institution’s ambitious mental health strategic plan, we are significantly expanding ambulatory
services and recently opened a Depression and Anxiety Clinic and a Mental Health Screening Clinic. Also
underway is expansion of existing services for autism, ADHD, neurodevelopmental differences,
behavioral health care for patients with comorbid medical conditions, and more.

Our team is comprised of 55 licensed psychologists, 8 child and adolescent psychiatrists, 9
developmental pediatricians, 3 board certified behavior analysts, 3 psychiatric mental health nurse
practitioners, and 4 psychometricians.

Faculty in the Division engage in innovative clinical and translational research to optimize the well-being
of patients with behavioral and mental health concerns, developmental disabilities, and chronic health
conditions. Our interdisciplinary group of investigators collaborate with other research groups
throughout Children’s Mercy, across the region and nationwide to understand, prevent and treat
pediatric health concerns through the lens of developmental and behavioral science. Areas of research
focus include:

• health equity,
• mental health service delivery,
• precision medicine,
• psychosocial treatment and outcomes for youth with acute and chronic pediatric health
conditions,
• suicide prevention,
• language development,
• etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders, and
• behavioral health outcomes for youth with autism.

Inclusion of and focus on parents and caregivers is core tenet for our investigators. Research in the
Division of is supported through funding from federal agencies including National Institutes of Health
and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state agencies, private foundations, Children’s
Mercy and generous philanthropic support. The findings of our research teams are routinely published
in leading journals in our field and presented at regional, national, and international academic forums.

The Division is the primary site for pediatric resident rotations in child development and behavioral
health, an American Psychological Association accredited clinical psychology internship program, a
developmental pediatrics fellowship and multiple pediatric psychology postdoctoral clinical fellowships.
We also train child and adolescent psychiatry fellows and psychology practicum students from programs
throughout the Great Plains.

The foremost qualities necessary for this position are vision for the field of pediatric developmental
and behavioral health and a strong record of academic achievement. Other desired characteristics
include a demonstrated commitment to developing young clinicians into future leaders in pediatrics,
knowledge of academic infrastructure and finances, successful collaborations with hospital and medical
partners and dedication to a team culture of accountability and professionalism. Children’s Mercy
recently launched Illuminate, a $150M comprehensive initiative to address the mental health needs of
children and adolescents in our community. The Developmental & Behavioral Health Division Director is
a critical partner with the hospital in developing and operationalizing all aspects of this plan, which is
comprised of four strategies and fourteen projects with a five-year timeline. The Developmental &
Behavioral Health Division Director reports to the Chair of Pediatrics.

About Children’s Mercy
Children’s Mercy (CM) is a nationally recognized, free-standing children’s hospital founded in 1897 to
provide care for the children of Kansas City. The primary service area of CM now encompasses 150
counties in Missouri and Kansas. As an independent children’s hospital, CM offers comprehensive
pediatric-related specialty care across nine clinical Departments and Centers. In FY2023, CM conducted
almost 600,000 total visits, over 200,000 emergency and urgent care visits, and nearly 20,000 surgical
cases. CM is also one of only ten centers in the nation verified as a Level 1 Children’s Surgery Center by
the American College of Surgeons and the only pediatric Level I Trauma Center in the region. CM has
nearly 800 doctors in more than 40 subspecialties caring for children of all ages, from routine checkups
to quaternary care. We enthusiastically complement our nationally-ranked clinical care with robust
community support programs that keep kids safe and healthy.

Education
Education is a core activity at Children’s Mercy. CM provides education opportunities to nursing
students, medical students, psychology interns, residents and fellows. In total, CM supports over 1,400
learners annually with accredited residencies in pediatrics, med/peds, child neurology, pediatric
dentistry, pediatric optometry and pharmacy. CM is the site for pediatric clerkships for both the
University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) and the University of Kansas (KU) medical students. If
capacity allows, CM eagerly provides elective rotations and sub-internships to students from any
accredited allopathic or osteopathic medical school. CM offers more than 40 fellowship programs across
numerous areas and is committed to developing the next generation of subspecialists. Certificate and
master’s programs are operated in conjunction with our academic partners, KU and UMKC.

Research
Children’s Mercy is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children through engagement in
world-class, collaborative research. Through the generosity of large philanthropic gifts, CM constructed
a nine story, 375,000 square foot facility providing state-of-the-art technology in a building with ample
dry and wet lab space. In addition, these generous gifts are enhancing scientific programs and
supporting targeted recruitment. Research conducted today includes basic, translational and clinical
research across many pediatric subspecialties. Areas of research strength include Precision
Therapeutics, Genomic Medicine, Population Health, Innovations in Health Care Delivery and Emerging
Pathogens. The CMRI provides core resources and support for CM faculty, from research topic
development through grant management and trial coordination.

CM recently renewed its T32 training grant in Clinical Pharmacology, having trained 24 post-doctoral
fellows, most of whom have competed successfully for extramural funding for their research programs.
Children’s Mercy is the pediatric partner for the National Cancer Institute-designated KU Comprehensive
Cancer Center and has been instrumental in the Frontiers Clinical and Translational Science Institute
(CTSI) at KU since the CTSI’s inception. This regional CTSI program comprises four universities (including
three medical schools) and three health systems on both sides of the Missouri-Kansas state line. CM
faculty members have been extremely successful obtaining KL2 and pilot grant funding, and our faculty
have leadership roles at Frontiers. Furthermore, Frontiers has an inclusive administrative structure in
which leadership of cores and functions is shared by investigators at CM and KU, providing additional
opportunities for faculty to become actively engaged in clinical and translational research.

About Kansas City:
Situated in both Missouri and Kansas, the Kansas City Metropolitan Area is an affordable and
comfortable place to live and raise a family. The metro’s anchor city, Kansas City, Missouri, is the largest
city in Missouri and has many great museums, a busy downtown, multiple professional sports
franchises, an exciting music scene and many charming neighborhoods. Throughout the Metro area, you
will find highly ranked public schools, great parks and other green spaces, and lots of amazing people.
Kansas City is large enough to provide the amenities of a metropolitan area, while small enough to allow
for easy commutes, accessible amenities and a very high quality of life.

Ideal Qualifications and Experience

• MD/PhD/PsyD/DO or equivalent and board certification if appropriate in relevant professional
field
• Current academic rank of Associate Professor or Professor
• A strong record of clinical and academic achievement
• Demonstrated success in advancing medical education, patient care and research
• A commitment to our true north pillars: quality and safety, people, patient experience, delivery
and stewardship
• Dedication to our values of kindness, curiosity, inclusion, team and integrity
• Experience in integrated clinical, educational and research missions
• Enthusiasm for fostering and supporting programs that address diversity, equity and inclusion
• Experience with or a desire to learn and utilize LEAN methodologies
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability and commitment to collaborate with leadership at
partner institutions.

For more information or to apply, please send CV and Cover Letter to physicianjobs@cmh.edu, attn:
Dr. JC Cowden and Dr. Adrienne DePorre, search committee co-chairs.

All materials will be treated as confidential.

At Children’s Mercy, we are committed to ensuring that everyone feels welcomed within our walls. A successful candidate for this position will join us as we strive to create a workplace that reflects the community we serve, as well as our core values of kindness, curiosity, inclusion, team and integrity.

Additionally, it’s important to us that we remain transparent with all potential job candidates. Because we value the safety of the patients and families we serve, as well as the Children’s Mercy staff, we want to let you know that the seasonal influenza and COVID-19 vaccines are a condition of employment for all employees in our organization. New employees must be willing to be vaccinated if found non-immune to measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) and chicken pox (varicella) and/or without evidence of tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccination since 2005. If you become a finalist for this position, and have any concerns about receiving these vaccines, medical and/or religious exemptions can be further discussed with Human Resources.

Children’s Mercy hires individuals based on their job skills, expertise and ability to maintain professional relationships with fellow employees, patients, parents and visitors. A personal interview, formal education and training, previous work experience, references and a criminal background investigation all are factors used to select the best candidates. The hospital does not discriminate against prospective or current employees based on the race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, creed, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, ancestry or veteran status. A drug screen will be performed upon hire. Children’s Mercy is smoke and tobacco free.

CM is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workforce. Our patients and families come from all walks of life, and so do we. We know that our greatest strengths come from the people who make up our team so we hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes our hospital stronger and our patient care more compassionate. If you share our values and our enthusiasm for service, you will find a home at CM. In recruiting for our team, we welcome the unique contributions that you can bring, including education, ideas, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, national origin, age, languages spoken, veteran status, color, religion, disability and beliefs.