Ardent Health is a leading provider of healthcare in growing mid-sized urban communities across the U. S. With a focus on people and investments in innovative services and technologies, Ardent is passionate about making healthcare better and easier to access.
Through its subsidiaries, Ardent delivers care through a system of 30 acute care hospitals, 24,000+ team members and more than 280 sites of care with over 1,800 affiliated providers across six states.
The Director of Outreach & Engagement is a growth-oriented healthcare leader responsible for driving market expansion, provider engagement, consumer growth, and strategic business development throughout the UT Health East Texas market . This role leads outreach and physician/provider relations initiatives that support referral growth, physician alignment, service line performance, surgical growth, and overall market share expansion .
The Director serves as a strategic partner to market executives, physicians, operational leaders, and enterprise stakeholders to identify growth opportunities, improve market performance, and strengthen provider and consumer engagement strategies. This position requires a leader with strong sales and business acumen, executive presence, and a proven ability to translate strategy into measurable growth outcomes through effective team leadership, relationship development, and data-driven decision making.
Responsibilities Outreach & Provider Relations Leadership Lead market physician relations and outreach strategies to drive referral growth, physician alignment, physician retention, service line expansion, and surgical/OR performance. Develop and execute strategic outreach plans that support market growth objectives and organizational priorities. Coach, develop, and hold outreach and provider relations teams accountable for consultative sales activities, strategic targeting, relationship development, and measurable performance outcomes.
Establish and maintain strong relationships with physicians, providers, medical groups, community stakeholders, and executive leadership. Partner with operational leaders to identify opportunities that improve provider experience, patient access, referral pathways, and overall growth performance. Manages local outreach and consumer engagement staff, ensuring performance and alignment with regional goals.
Strategic Growth & Market Development Utilize referral, market share, CRM, surgical/OR, consumer, and competitive data to identify growth opportunities and establish market priorities. Analyze market intelligence, physician referral patterns, service line performance, consumer trends, and operational metrics to drive strategic decision making. Collaborate with enterprise and market leadership teams to execute initiatives that increase volume, strengthen market position, and improve patient acquisition.
Support strategic planning efforts and business development initiatives through market analysis and performance evaluation. Identify and implement best practices in provider relations, outreach strategy, market development, and consumer engagement. Leadership & Organizational Effectiveness Lead and develop high-performing outreach and engagement teams through coaching, mentoring, and performance management.
Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement. Effectively prioritize resources and initiatives to focus efforts on the highest-impact opportunities. Use market intelligence and stakeholder feedback to influence operational improvements and remove barriers impacting provider and consumer experience.
Present growth strategies, performance outcomes, and recommendations to executive leadership and key stakeholders Qualifications Education &
Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Healthcare Administration, Communications, Public Health, or a related field required. Minimum of five (5) years of progressive leadership experience in healthcare sales, provider relations, outreach, physician engagement, market development, or business development. Demonstrated success leading teams and achieving measurable volume growth, referral growth, and strategic business objectives.
Experience within a healthcare delivery system strongly preferred. Experience working with physicians, providers, physician practices, referral development programs, or payer relations preferred. Experience utilizing CRM and Provider Relationship Management (PRM) platforms preferred.
Experience analyzing referral, market share, competitive, consumer, and operational data to support strategic planning and growth initiatives preferred. Knowledge, Skills & Abilities: Strong sales leadership and business acumen with a demonstrated ability to drive growth and organizational performance. Executive presence with the ability to effectively influence physicians, executives, operational leaders, and enterprise stakeholders.
Proven provider relations and outreach leadership experience. Strategic and analytical mindset with the ability to leverage referral, market share, CRM, surgical/OR, consumer, and competitive data to guide decision making. Strong understanding of healthcare business drivers, including referral patterns, patient access, capacity management, service line performance, and physician engagement.
Knowledge of consumer marketing, brand positioning, community outreach, demand generation, and digital engagement strategies. Excellent communication, presentation, negotiation, and relationship-building skills. Ability to translate market intelligence into actionable growth strategies and operational improvements.
Strong prioritization and execution skills with the ability to balance competing priorities and drive measurable results. Proven ability to build, lead, and develop high-performing teams in a complex healthcare environment. Familiarity with CRM and PRM platforms utilized for provider and consumer engagement initiatives. #LI-AG1