SEARCH EXTENDED - Medical Director, Infection Prevention & Control
University of Illinois Hospital & Clinics (UI Health)
Application
Details
Posted: 09-Jan-26
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Type: Full Time
Sector:
Hospital, Public and Private
Required Education:
MD/DO
Internal Number: -
SEARCH EXTENDED - Medical Director, Infection Prevention & Control
The University of Illinois Hospital & Clinics (UI Health) is seeking a full-time Medical Director, Infection Prevention & Control to join their team. This position provides medical expertise across all aspects of infection control, ensuring the highest standards of patient & staff safety. As a physician specializing in infectious diseases and a faculty member in the Infectious Diseases clinical section, this role leads infection prevention efforts through surveillance, outbreak response, policy development, and multidisciplinary collaboration alongside the director of infection prevention and control. This role is responsible for leading institutional preparedness & response to emerging pathogens, pandemics, and high-consequence pathogens. This position leads, develops, and maintains a comprehensive IP&C program across the organization. This role involves collaborating with healthcare professionals, administrators, and public health agencies to ensure the highest standards of patient safety, regulatory compliance, & evidence-based IC practices.
Duties & Responsibilities
Leadership & Program Oversight:
Serves as the key clinical leader in reducing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and improving antimicrobial stewardship. • Provide medical oversight and strategic direction for the infection prevention and control program, ensuring institutional alignment with best practices and regulatory requirements.
With the director of infection prevention and control, execute the annual infection control risk assessment with input from all areas of clinical operations and develop the annual infection control plan, incorporating regulatory compliance and external reporting responsibilities.
Supervise and mentor Associate Hospital Epidemiologists, ensuring their professional development and assigning them responsibilities that align with institutional infection prevention priorities.
Stay up to date with changes in infection prevention regulations, guidelines, and best practices, ensuring institutional policies remain compliant and evidence-based.
Alongside the director of infection prevention and control, oversee facilities-based surveillance and risk mitigation including legionella surveillance, air flow monitoring, and construction risk mitigations.
Medical Expertise & Infection Control Implementation:
Provide expert medical guidance on infection control policies, outbreak management, and emerging infectious diseases, requiring continuous engagement with clinical teams.
Along with the director of infection prevention, ensure adherence to evidence-based infection prevention guidelines and regulatory requirements (CDC, CMS, The Joint Commission, OSHA, etc.).
Participate in lab stewardship measures when they overlap with infection control priorities.
Along with the director of infection prevention and control, monitor and report on staff compliance with infection prevention best practices, including hand hygiene and isolation precautions.
Along with the director of infection prevention and control, work closely with risk management and occupational medicine to provide medical expertise regarding exposures, infections, and inadvertent failures of sterile or aseptic technique.
Ensure Transmission-Based Prevention Best Practices:
Along with the director of infection prevention and control, ensure environmental hygiene practices align with infection prevention standards to reduce HAIs.
Along with the director of infection prevention and control, support sterilization and disinfection best practices alongside the director of infection prevention and control and the Infection Preventionists.
Along with the director of infection prevention and control, track and monitor MDROs, HAIs, and transmissible illnesses to identify trends and implement targeted prevention strategies.
Along with the director of infection prevention and control, ensure appropriate isolation precautions for patients with infections to prevent transmission.
Surveillance & Reporting:
With the director of infection prevention and control, oversee ongoing surveillance for HAIs, ensuring comprehensive monitoring and reporting of infection rates and trends.
With the infection prevention team, lead and participate in workgroups focused on reducing HAIs, enhancing infection prevention measures, and mitigating patient risks.
Along with the director of infection prevention and control, assess the effectiveness of infection prevention strategies and make data-driven improvements to reduce infection risk.
Along with the infection prevention and control team, report infection-related quality metrics to hospital committees, flagging important opportunities for improvement with senior leadership and frontline staff.
Preparedness & Response to Emerging Pathogens:
Track and monitor global infectious disease threats to ensure institutional preparedness for potential outbreaks.
Alongside the Director of Infection prevention and control and in collaboration with other workgroups, develop and implement hospital-wide preparedness plans for emerging pathogens, pandemics, and high-consequence pathogens. Lead institutional response efforts to infectious threats ensuring rapid containment and mitigation.
Collaborate with public health agencies and internal stakeholders to ensure readiness for infectious threats.
Along with the Infection prevention and control team, conduct training exercises and simulations to enhance institutional emergency preparedness.
Outbreak Investigation & Exposure Management:
Lead investigations into outbreaks, clusters, and exposures, ensuring prompt identification, containment, and mitigation strategies.
Conduct epidemiological analyses to determine sources of transmission and implement necessary interventions.
Oversee infection prevention strategies in response to major exposures, ensuring compliance with regulatory reporting requirements.
Liaison & Collaboration:
Along with the director of infection prevention and control, partner with clinical microbiology labs on mandatory reporting, multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs), healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), screening and surveillance, and high-consequence pathogens.
Serve as a liaison between the Infection Prevention and Control Program, the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program, and the Infectious Diseases clinical section.
Along with the director of infection prevention and control, liaise with all other clinical and non-clinical areas as needed to track infections, investigate outbreaks and exposures, and implement policies and best practices.
Act as the hospital’s primary liaison with the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on infection prevention, outbreak response, and regulatory matters.
Policy Development:
Develop and review all infection control policies alongside the Director of Infection Control.
Ensure policies align with best practices, regulatory requirements, and evidence-based guidelines. Present policies for approval to the Medical Staff Executive committee.
Data Analysis:
Along with the infection prevention and control team, collect and analyze data on HAI, MDRO, infection prevention policies and best practices.
Interpret epidemiologic data to understand patterns and causes of infection within the system and threats that may impact the health system.
Along with the director of infection prevention and control, oversees and prepares reports and presentations on infection prevention metrics.
Education & Training:
Along with the infection prevention and control team, develop education and training for medical students, trainees, faculty, clinical staff and non-clinical staff on infection prevention policies and best practices.
Along with the director of infection prevention and control, ensure that training and education modules meet regulatory compliance expectations and need.
Draft and/or advise on communications to employees, patients, and visitors regarding infections and infection prevention including emerging pathogens, situational awareness, outbreak information, exposure responses along with the communications team and the infection prevention and control team.
Support clinicians in caring for patients with infectious diseases along with the section of infectious.
Minimum Qualifications
MD or DO with board certification in Infectious Diseases.
Fellowship in Infectious Diseases or pediatric infectious diseases with expertise and experience in hospital epidemiology.
Minimum 3-5 years in infection prevention, hospital epidemiology, or quality improvement.
Strong analytical and critical thinking skills.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
Proficiency in data analysis and ability to conduct case-control analyses.
Outstanding leadership skills.
In-depth knowledge of epidemiological methods, infectious diseases, and infection control best practices.
Familiarity with healthcare regulations, standards, and reporting requirements.
Salary & Benefits:
Salary: The budgeted salary range for the position is $317,011 $434,314.
Final salary offered will be determined by a thorough assessment of available market data, internal salary equity, candidate experience and qualifications, and budget constraints. It is not typical for an individual to be offered a salary at or near the top of the full range for a position.
This position is intended to be eligible for benefits. This includes Health, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, a Retirement Plan, Paid time Off, and Tuition waivers for employees and dependents.
To Apply:
For fullest consideration, please submit a complete application and supplemental resume by February 9, 2026.
The University of Illinois Chicago is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, protected veteran status, or status as an individual with a disability.
Offers of employment by the University of Illinois may be subject to approval by the University’s Board of Trustees and are made contingent upon the candidate’s successful completion of any criminal background checks and other pre-employment assessments that may be required for the position being offered. Additional information regarding such pre-employment checks and assessments may be provided as applicable during the hiring process.
The University of Illinois System requires candidates selected for hire to disclose any documented finding of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment and to authorize inquiries to current and former employers regarding findings of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment. For more information, visit here.
University of Illinois faculty, staff and students are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If you are not able to receive the vaccine for medical or religious reasons, you may seek approval for an exemption in accordance with applicable University processes.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools may be used in some portions of the candidate review process for this position, however, all employment decisions will be made by a person.
