Job Description

California Rural Healthcare COO Opportunities

Help Us Build a Better Way for Rural Healthcare

This application may connect you with the specific opportunity you were viewing, as well as other current or upcoming rural healthcare positions that align with your experience and goals.

By joining the Rural Staffing Services Talent Network, you are helping us build a more thoughtful and connected approach to rural recruitment, one that allows experienced operational leaders and California healthcare organizations to find one another more quickly when the right need arises.

Every application helps strengthen a growing network of people who are willing to bring their experience, leadership, adaptability, and heart to rural communities.

Explore Rural Healthcare Opportunities at RSSJobs.org

This application may connect you with the specific opportunity you were viewing, as well as other current or upcoming rural healthcare positions throughout California that align with your experience and goals.

Visit www.RSSJobs.org to explore additional rural healthcare opportunities and communities.

Chief Operating Officer Opportunities Across California

Rural Staffing Services partners with rural hospitals, clinics, public hospital districts, regional health systems, community health centers, tribal healthcare organizations, long-term care providers, and community healthcare organizations throughout California to identify experienced operational leaders who understand the complexity and importance of rural healthcare.

We are currently connecting with senior healthcare executives who may be interested in active and upcoming Chief Operating Officer and senior operations leadership opportunities across California.

These opportunities may include leadership within:

• Critical Access Hospitals
• Rural and community hospitals
• Rural Health Clinics
• Federally Qualified Health Centers
• Public hospital districts
• Tribal healthcare organizations
• Regional health systems
• Long-term care and senior care organizations
• Integrated rural healthcare systems
• Multi-site and regional healthcare networks

This Is More Than a COO Role

In rural California, the Chief Operating Officer helps turn strategy into action.

The COO often works across departments, facilities, communities, tribal healthcare programs, and service lines to strengthen operations, improve communication, support employees, and ensure the organization can continue meeting the needs of the people it serves.

Operational leadership in California requires someone who can see the big picture while also understanding the realities of day-to-day care delivery across diverse and sometimes geographically isolated regions.

Wildfire impacts, mountain travel, transportation barriers, housing shortages, workforce shortages, supply availability, aging infrastructure, utility disruptions, and limited access to specialty services may affect nearly every operational decision.

The strongest leaders are visible, collaborative, practical, adaptable, and comfortable working closely with executives, department leaders, medical staff, governing boards, tribal partners, frontline employees, and community leaders.

They understand that strong operations are not only about efficiency. They are about protecting patient access, supporting employees, strengthening financial performance, and maintaining community trust.

What You May Lead

Responsibilities will vary by organization and may include:

• Providing strategic and operational leadership across multiple departments, facilities, communities, and service lines
• Translating organizational goals into practical operating plans
• Supporting efficient, safe, patient-centered, and community-focused care delivery
• Strengthening communication, accountability, and collaboration across departments, facilities, and communities
• Improving workflows, productivity, service access, and organizational performance
• Partnering with clinical and financial leaders on staffing, budgeting, and resource planning
• Supporting recruitment, retention, workforce development, and leadership succession
• Overseeing facilities, support services, clinic operations, ancillary departments, or regional programs
• Helping guide growth, restructuring, turnaround, service expansion, or organizational stabilization
• Supporting regulatory readiness, quality improvement, safety, accreditation, and organizational compliance
• Presenting operational updates, risks, and recommendations to executive leadership, governing boards, tribal leadership, or other oversight bodies
• Building strong relationships with employees, providers, public agencies, tribal partners, community organizations, and local leaders
• Supporting operations across multiple sites, tribal communities, or rural regions separated by significant geographic distances
• Helping maintain services during vacancies, wildfire impacts, severe weather, transportation delays, supply-chain challenges, utility disruptions, or other operational pressures
• Supporting infrastructure, housing, equipment, transportation, technology, telehealth, and capital-planning priorities
• Strengthening coordination between rural clinics, tribal healthcare programs, regional hospitals, specialty services, and community-based care
• Monitoring organizational performance and helping teams respond to changing community needs
• Ensuring essential healthcare services remain dependable, sustainable, and available closer to home

What You Will Bring

Qualifications will vary by opportunity, but organizations may seek:

• Progressive healthcare operations leadership experience
• Experience as a COO, Vice President of Operations, Chief Administrative Officer, Administrator, Executive Director, or comparable senior leader
• Strong knowledge of hospital, clinic, long-term care, community health, or healthcare-system operations
• Experience leading multiple departments, service lines, facilities, or regional programs
• A track record of improving performance, communication, accountability, and organizational effectiveness
• Experience with budgeting, workforce planning, change management, strategic implementation, facilities, and operational improvement
• Experience leading through growth, transition, workforce shortages, organizational change, or operational instability
• The ability to collaborate across clinical, financial, executive, tribal, and community teams
• Experience with rural hospitals, Critical Access Hospitals, FQHCs, public hospital districts, tribal healthcare organizations, regional systems, long-term care providers, or community healthcare organizations
• Experience supporting operations across multiple facilities or significant geographic distances may be valuable
• A bachelor's degree in healthcare administration, business, public administration, or a related field
• A master's degree or healthcare executive credential may be preferred for some opportunities
• A collaborative, visible, transparent, practical, and relationship-focused leadership style
• The ability to relocate or travel regionally when required

Specific education, travel, housing, reporting, and experience requirements will depend on the organization and position.

Types of Opportunities

Opportunities may include:

• Permanent Chief Operating Officer positions
• Interim Chief Operating Officer assignments
• Vice President of Operations roles
• Chief Administrative Officer positions
• Hospital Administrator opportunities
• Regional or multi-site operations leadership
• Community health center operations leadership
• Tribal healthcare operations leadership
• Long-term care or senior care operations leadership
• Temporary-to-permanent opportunities
• Operational turnaround or stabilization assignments
• Short-term executive support during a transition or vacancy

The schedule, compensation, relocation assistance, travel requirements, operational scope, reporting structure, governance structure, and employment arrangement will be explained before you decide whether to move forward with a specific opportunity.

Why Rural California?

California's rural healthcare organizations serve communities across mountain regions, agricultural valleys, forests, high desert areas, tribal lands, remote coastal communities, and small towns located far from major healthcare centers.

Some communities are connected by major highways and regional corridors. Others may be hours from larger medical centers, specialty services, airports, and other essential resources.

These distances and geographic differences create operational challenges unlike those found in many urban healthcare settings.

Keeping services available may depend on thoughtful staffing, dependable transportation, reliable supply systems, functional facilities, workforce housing, strong local leadership, emergency preparedness, and close coordination across multiple locations.

Strong operational leadership helps ensure patients can receive care, employees have the support they need, and communities can continue relying on their local healthcare organizations.

Serving as a COO in rural California offers the opportunity to make a direct impact, strengthen an entire organization, and help protect healthcare access across communities and regions.

You may help stabilize operations, improve communication, strengthen leadership teams, expand services, support workforce housing, improve facilities, or create stronger connections between local care, tribal healthcare programs, and regional resources.

The work requires resilience, adaptability, sound judgment, humility, and a genuine commitment to listening before leading.

For the right operational executive, it is an opportunity to do some of the most meaningful work of a career.

Join the Rural Staffing Services Talent Network

By applying through this page, you are joining the confidential Rural Staffing Services Talent Network.

You may be considered for current or upcoming COO and senior operations leadership opportunities throughout California that align with your experience, goals, preferred region, and availability.

Please submit your resume and let us know:

• Which California communities or regions you would consider
• Whether you are interested in rural, mountain, agricultural, tribal, high desert, coastal, or regional organizations
• Whether you are open to relocation or regional travel
• Whether you are interested in permanent, interim, hybrid, or multiple types of opportunities
• Your experience with rural hospitals, Critical Access Hospitals, FQHCs, public hospital districts, tribal healthcare organizations, regional systems, long-term care, or community healthcare organizations
• Which position or community you were viewing on RSSJobs.org

Our team personally reviews each application. When we identify an opportunity that may be a strong match, we will contact you directly to share more about the organization, community, operational priorities, relocation considerations, and next steps.

Your information will be handled professionally and confidentially.

Discover More Rural Healthcare Opportunities

Visit www.RSSJobs.org to explore additional rural healthcare positions, leadership opportunities, and communities throughout California.

Work Where It Matters.

Built for Rural.