Operating Room Coordinator - Anesthesia and Critical Care

The Operating Room Coordinator for Anesthesia and Critical Care at Penn Medicine supports the daily operations of anesthesia services across the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. This full-time administrative role serves as a critical liaison between the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, operating room staff, clinical leadership, and other hospital departments requiring anesthesia services on an urgent or emergent basis.

You will work closely with the Clinical Director to coordinate daily OR assignments for anesthesia faculty, house staff, and CRNAs. The position requires quick decision-making, professional judgment, and the ability to triage numerous phone calls from distressed patients and departmental liaisons. You will also serve as a crucial component of the departmental disaster plan protocol, ensuring rapid mobilization in response to natural or terrorism-related emergencies.

Responsibilities

• Prepare daily draft operating room assignments for anesthesia personnel for approval by clinical and education directors
• Provide administrative support to the Clinical Director
• Serve as communication liaison between anesthesia faculty, residents, CRNAs, and other hospital departments regarding clinical responsibilities and urgent/emergent anesthesia needs
• Communicate operating room-related clinical advisories, warnings, and emergency messages from hospital administration to anesthesia personnel
• Generate reports, letters, and statistical data for OR and patient-related matters as required by anesthesia personnel
• Maintain files and display documentation of anesthesia emergency procedures, special situation protocols, available personnel lists, and contact numbers
• Provide administrative and functional support for clinical trial equipment, including scheduling training and managing paperwork with equipment representatives
• Maintain and review clinical protocol paperwork with new employees
• Collect compliance and billing-related documents
• Stock operating rooms with necessary forms and items (consent forms, blood bank specimen labels, difficult airway forms, etc.)
• Order supplies and forms for the Anesthesia Department
• Assist new staff and incoming residents with onboarding, coordinating with Peri-op services, Nursing, and Pharmacy to ensure access to locker rooms, scrub machines, RFID cabinets, Omnicells, and locker assignments
• Participate in daily OR scheduling meetings as the anesthesia representative, communicating anesthesia-related scheduling needs, changes, and concerns
• Track and follow up on anesthesia assignment requests, including complex cases requiring specialized care or additional clinical review
• Coordinate non-Anesthesiology operating room rotators by obtaining rotation schedules, creating and distributing annual schedules, ensuring requirements are completed, and scheduling anesthesia-specific training
• Coordinate the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care one-day Shadowing Experience for students, tracking requests, communicating requirements, guiding guests through Occupational Health requirements, and confirming visit details
• Work with the Anesthesia Education Office, Safety Officer, and Education Manager to ensure housestaff training compliance, communicating deadlines and tracking completion of mandatory Knowledge Link training and Occupational Health requirements (vaccination, ACLS)
• Participate in orientation of new anesthesia employees, providing education on scheduling processes, departmental workflows, communication procedures, and required clinical documentation
• Create and maintain contact files (.vcf format) of important departmental and external contacts for distribution to new faculty and staff
• Maintain current reference lists of active clinical staff and contact information, updating key departmental phones with current staff telephone numbers
• Maintain paper anesthesia downtime forms and required downtime materials in each operating room, checking folders monthly to ensure all required forms are present, current, and accessible when electronic systems are unavailable
• Enter and maintain daily anesthesia OR assignments in EPIC, ensuring accurate and timely communication of assignments and staffing changes to appropriate clinical personnel
• Perform additional duties as assigned to support the unit, department, entity, and health system organization

Clinical Setting

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street. This is an academic medical center with a tripartite mission of patient care, innovative research, and medical education.

Schedule

Full-time position.

Education

• High school diploma or GED required
• 3+ years of related experience, or a combination of education and experience will be considered

Benefits

Penn Medicine offers comprehensive compensation and benefits programs, including one of the finest prepaid tuition assistance programs in the region.