Quality Liaison in Owensboro, Kentucky at RiverValley Consulting Services

Job Summary

The Quality Liaison is responsible for supporting daily operations, quality standards, staff accountability, and culture improvement within RiverValley Behavioral Health Children’s Hospital. This position serves as a visible and active resource on the hospital floor to help ensure Team Leads and Behavioral Health Technicians are performing consistently with hospital expectations, safety standards, patient care needs, and organizational values.

This role does not have direct supervisory responsibility over Team Leads or Behavioral Health Technicians. However, the Quality Liaison has functional authority to provide real-time instruction, coaching, redirection, feedback, and escalation when operational or quality expectations are not being met.

The purpose of this role is to strengthen consistency across shifts, improve communication between front-line staff and hospital leadership, support Team Lead accountability, reinforce quality and safety expectations, and help ensure BHTs receive the support needed to perform their roles effectively.

Essential Functions

Operational Support and Floor Presence

• Maintains a consistent and visible presence throughout the Children’s Hospital.
• Conducts regular rounding to observe shift flow, staff engagement, coverage, patient safety needs, and adherence to expectations.
• Assesses whether Team Leads are visible, available, and supporting BHTs appropriately.
• Provides real-time direction and clarification to Team Leads and BHTs when expectations, assignments, or processes are not being followed.
• Helps identify operational barriers that impact staff performance, patient safety, communication, or unit consistency.
• Serves as a resource to staff during high-acuity, escalated, or disorganized shift conditions.

Quality, Safety, and Standards Reinforcement

• Monitors adherence to hospital policies, patient safety expectations, documentation standards, observation requirements, therapeutic boundaries, and unit procedures.
• Conducts quality checks and operational audits as assigned by hospital leadership.
• Identifies patterns of non-compliance or inconsistent practice and communicates findings to appropriate leadership.
• Reinforces expectations related to patient safety, staff conduct, professionalism, supervision, rounding, documentation, and communication.
• Supports implementation of quality improvement initiatives within the Children’s Hospital.

Team Lead and BHT Support

• Observes whether Team Leads are performing the role as intended, including visibility, floor support, communication, coverage coordination, and leadership behavior.
• Provides coaching and feedback to Team Leads and BHTs regarding performance expectations, professionalism, communication, and adherence to standards.
• Reviews whether assigned Team Lead processes are being completed, including rounding expectations, handoffs, and coverage communication.
• Checks in with BHTs to assess whether they feel supported, informed, and equipped during their shift.
• Identifies concerns related to morale, communication, teamwork, staff support, and culture on the floor.
• Escalates repeated or significant performance concerns to hospital leadership.

Communication and Process Improvement

• Provides timely updates to hospital leadership regarding operational concerns, quality issues, staffing support concerns, and Team Lead performance.
• Escalates urgent safety, compliance, patient care, or staff conduct concerns immediately to appropriate leadership.
• Documents observations, coaching conversations, audits, and follow-up needs as directed.
• Assists and leads onboarding, MANDT training and retraining, and ongoing education for Team Leads and BHTs.
• Serves as a communication bridge between hospital leadership and front-line staff.

Functional Authority and Role Boundaries

The Quality Liaison has authority to provide real-time instruction, coaching, redirection, and feedback to Team Leads and BHTs regarding operational expectations, quality standards, patient safety, communication, professionalism, and process compliance.

The position may require immediate correction of observed operational, safety, quality, or compliance concerns and may escalate repeated concerns or failure to follow direction to hospital leadership and Human Resources.

This position does not have independent authority to hire, terminate, discipline, approve timecards, approve leave, or make final employment decisions. Those responsibilities remain with designated hospital leadership and Human Resources.

This job description represents an overview of the responsibilities for the above referenced position. It is not intended to represent a comprehensive list of responsibilities. An employee should perform all duties as assigned by his/ her supervisor.

Performance Expectations

Success in this role will be measured by the employee’s ability to maintain a visible presence on the floor, identify and communicate concerns timely, provide effective coaching and feedback, help improve consistency in Team Lead performance, support BHTs, assist leadership in verifying expectations are being followed, and contribute to improved culture, communication, safety, and accountability within the Children’s Hospital.

Physical and Environmental Requirements

• Ability to work in a behavioral health hospital environment.
• Ability to walk, stand, and move throughout assigned units for extended periods.
• Ability to respond to urgent or high-acuity situations as needed.
• Ability to teach, demonstrate, and fully perform MANDT techniques on both the hospital unit and in the training classroom.
• May be exposed to emotionally escalated situations, behavioral health crises, and other conditions common to an inpatient psychiatric setting.
• Must follow all safety, infection control, patient rights, confidentiality, and organizational policies.

Why Choose RiverValley?

RiverValley is now a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC), expanding access to high-quality, integrated care in the communities we serve. Join a mission-driven organization committed to clinical excellence, professional growth, and meaningful impact.

We offer:

• Competitive pay

• Comprehensive benefits (health, dental, vision, Telehealth)

• Paid time off + 9 holidays

• Retirement plan options

• Tuition reimbursement + free CEUs

• Clinical supervision

• Wellness & employee assistance programs

• Mileage reimbursement for work related travel

• Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) - eligible employer 

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong understanding of behavioral health hospital operations and front-line patient care environments.
• Ability to maintain a visible, active, and professional presence on the floor.
• Ability to provide clear instruction, coaching, redirection, and feedback to staff.
• Strong communication, conflict-resolution, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to hold staff accountable while maintaining professionalism and respect.
• Strong attention to detail, follow-through, and sound judgment.
• Ability to recognize patient safety, quality, compliance, and staffing support concerns.
• Ability to work effectively with Team Leads, BHTs, nursing, hospital leadership, and Human Resources.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and remain calm in high-stress or high-acuity situations.

Minimum Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent required.
• Prior experience in behavioral health, psychiatric hospital, residential treatment, direct care, or a related healthcare setting required.
• Prior experience in a lead, trainer, quality, compliance, operations, or staff-support role preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to coach staff and reinforce expectations in a professional manner.
• Must meet all background check, training, and regulatory requirements for working in the Children’s Hospital setting.

Preferred Qualifications

• Associate’s or bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration, human services, psychology, social work, business, leadership, quality improvement, or related field.
• Experience working with children or adolescents in a behavioral health setting.
• Experience conducting audits, rounding, quality checks, or staff observations.
• Experience supporting culture improvement, staff accountability, or operational process improvement.