Director of Hospital Services at LFHC

Lao PDR

Organization: FWAB - Friends Without A Border
Location: Lao PDR
Grade: Senior Executive level - Senior Executive
Occupational Groups:
- Public Health and Health Service
- Medical Doctor
Closing Date: 2026-01-23

Lao Friends Hospital for Children (LFHC) is a 52-bed acute pediatric teaching hospital, situated in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR. It is operated by a New York based non-profit organization, Friends Without A Border (FWAB), which is dedicated to providing high-quality and compassionate healthcare to children in remote areas of Southeast Asia. Opened in 2015, LFHC treats 44,000 cases annually with a three-tiered mission of care, education and prevention.

In addition to emergency, inpatient, outpatient, high-acuity, neonatal and surgical services, limited on-site radiology, laboratory and pharmacy together with homecare and prevention programs complement these clinical activities.

Position overview:

The Director of Hospital Services (DHS) will provide leadership and strategic direction for the hospital, ensuring that it functions effectively and achieves its aims and objectives; namely the provision of evidence-based high-quality medical and nursing care, education of staff, and community disease prevention. To achieve this, the DHS will work closely with representatives of the Luang Prabang Provincial Health Department and Hospital, Ministry of Health and University of Health Sciences, by developing a harmonious working relationship that promotes the integrated delivery of compassionate and quality health care to children in the Luang Prabang Province and other provinces in Lao PDR.

The DHS supervises the entire clinical aspects of the hospital (physicians and nurses included) with a mix of clinical shifts in the outpatient department, emergency department, inpatient department, High Acuity Unit and neonatal unit, while overseeing the administration functions by working closely with the Director of Admin. Most direct clinical work is performed by our Lao doctors. A major responsibility of the DHS is to ensure the provision of high-quality care to the patients, as well as education and professional development for the LFHC doctors, nurses and ancillary staff members.

Duties and responsibilities:

The DHS will work closely with and report regularly to FWAB NY.
Directly supervise Medical Director, Medical Education Director, Nursing Director, Admin Director, Prevention Director and Outreach Coordinator
Oversee the development and provision of educational activities that will meet the needs of the hospital and hospital staff members
Develop leadership within the Lao clinical and administrative teams to enable sustainable local management to occur within the hospital
Be in charge of the hospital’s quality of care framework design and implementation (in close collaboration with both Medical Director and Nursing Director) for the development and monitoring of a hospital quality assurance system, which allows the assessment and improvement of the quality of health care provided by the LFHC team
Oversee the development and implementation of hospital-wide medical policies and protocols
Ensure LFHC has a coordinated multidisciplinary clinical team that provides compassionate, safe and effective clinical care to children
Provide guidance on LFHC’s long-term strategy
Be in charge of the opening of new clinical services
Review clinical incidents together with the Medical Director, Nursing Director, Incident Review Committee, and propose appropriate corrective actions
Provide bedside education, consultation, and assistance with clinical care to Lao medical staff as required
Develop collaboration with LFHC’s external partners in order to improve the hospital’s clinical practices
Supervise clinical shift with bedside education, mentoring, and guidance
Support the LFHC team, in close collaborate with the Medical Education Director, with undertaking research projects
Share back-up call (day and night) as needed
Lead by example in demonstrating excellent care on a daily basis
Demonstrate positive interpersonal relations in dealing with fellow employees and supervisors

Qualifications and Attributes:

Essential:

1) A Medical Degree from an internationally recognized university

2) Registration to practice clinical medicine in the applicant’s home country

3) Recent clinical experience in the practice of acute pediatric medicine

4) A higher qualification in pediatrics and/or a close related pediatric subspecialty field

5) Management and budgeting experience in a health care setting

6) Demonstrated high-quality communication, leadership, team building and organizational skills

7) Commitment to providing compassionate and nurturing care to patients

8) Willingness to work with donors and community businesses for the purpose of fundraising, if necessary

Highly desirable:

1) A higher qualification in a health or management field

2) Experience working in a developing country in a low resource setting

Salary and Benefits:

Housing allowance; travel allowance (R/T to home country once a year); health insurance; and salary competitive and commensurate with experience and qualifications.

Luang Prabang is an amazing and lovely place to live and work.

Application:

Please email a cover letter and CV, and three references from past employers to: hr@fwab.org with the subject line “Director of Hospital Services.”

For specific enquiries regarding this position, email Nicole@fwab.org.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for an interview.

We do our best to provide you the most accurate info, but closing dates may be wrong on our site. Please check on the recruiting organization's page for the exact info. Candidates are responsible for complying with deadlines and are encouraged to submit applications well ahead.

Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify.
Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.