Locum - Associate Regional Medical Officer of Health

The Department of Health and Wellness offers opportunities to grow and advance in a dynamic sector that touches the lives of all Nova Scotians. Along with our partners, including the Nova Scotia Health Authority and the IWK Health Centre, we are committed to continually improving our health system. With a focus on collaborative primary health care, continuing care, improved supports for mental health and addictions, digital health, capital infrastructure, and more, the department is thinking differently about how to plan, fund, legislate and monitor to improve access and service delivery. To do this, we are recruiting leaders at all levels of the organization who embrace a challenge and believe in their ability to make a difference.

The Associate Regional Medical Officer of Health (ARMOH) directly contributes to improved health and safety for our population. As the ARMOH, you support Nova Scotia Health (NSH) and the IWK through your leadership and expertise in promoting and protecting health and preventing disease and injury.

Through interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral partnerships, you will assist in providing leadership in assessing and measuring the health of populations, and in developing strategies to improve health and well-being through health protection, disease prevention, and health promotion initiatives. You are a key support for the Regional Medical Officers of Health (RMOHs) and the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health (OCMOH), and where necessary, through delegation, legislated health protection responsibilities. Under legislation, you are responsible for informing, investigating, and acting on any health hazard, notifiable disease or condition, communicable disease or public health emergency that poses a health risk to the population.  You will have opportunities to engage in strategic prevention and health care initiatives led by the Department.

In this role, you have a direct impact on the high-quality public health in Nova Scotia and the improved health of our population. We count on your expertise to:
 

• Provide leadership, strategic direction, and content expertise to the health protection function of DHW, Nova Scotia Environment (NSE), the Department of Agriculture and NSH Public Health under the Health Protection Act
• Provide leadership, strategic direction, and content expertise to the disease and injury prevention and health promotion functions of the NSH and IWK
• Provide public health physician expertise to NSE and the Department of Agriculture on issues involving the interface between human health, food systems and the environment
• Provide a public health perspective to DHW and/or NSH/IWK discussions and decisions regarding health services and patients
• Support the Senior Regional Medical Officer of Health (SRMOH) in the provision of public health physician expertise to the Senior
• Director of Public Health, NSH and their senior leadership team
• Support the OCMOH in providing the public with an independent assessment and voice on issues impacting the health of the public
• Contribute to research and knowledge translation on issues that are of public health relevance to Nova Scotia, and participate in the teaching and training of current and future public health and other health care practitioners

As our next ARMOH, you must be a physician licensable by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia. A fellowship in Public Health and Preventive Medicine from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (or equivalent training) is preferred. Post-graduate training in public health with public health experience will also be considered.

You demonstrate an understanding of disease control, risk assessment and management, the framework of legislation, public health science, inter-sectoral relationships, government policy and general executive direction. You are an innovative thinker with an ability to negotiate and communicate complex ideas and information in concise, meaningful ways. You identify opportunities to encourage greater integration of programs and activities and work collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders and partners across health systems. Your decisiveness, along with your superior organizational and time-management skills, is essential to your success.

• Normal work week is 35 hours/week, 7 hours/day (will require availability 24/7 during times of emergency)
• May be required to work overtime on occasion and will participate in a provincial on-call system for NSH Public Health. 
• The position may be performed virtually; the candidate must be based in Canada and eligible for licensure with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia
• If based in Nova Scotia, the candidate may work within an office environment in Nova Scotia with some travel at local, provincial, and national levels
• Requires intense ability to concentrate and decipher complex information into decisions and easily understood concepts for senior management and public at large
• Is a key spokesperson for the health of the population and requires interfacing with the media, senior levels of government, and national/international forums
• Often, the decisions may require a risk assessment, which requires keen listening and analytic skills
• Dealing with highly complex and often scientific/technical issues which will require decisions on an urgent or timely basis
• With the need to balance competing demands of individuals with those of the well-being of the whole community, the decisions made may be controversial (or unpopular)
• There may be a requirement to travel to represent the province at FPT meetings and to contribute to scientific meetings

This is a Locum employment opportunity with an anticipated end date of November 20, 2026.