Leadership role
Chief Clinical Officer (non-physician) / Chief Nursing Officer
A non-physician clinical chief, such as a chief health, veterinary or population-health officer.
Reporting and scope
Reports to the Executive Director / CEO or a COO. Authority covers an organization's clinical or health programs and their professional staff.
Core responsibilities
- Sets clinical or health program standards
- oversees clinical quality and safety
- supervises clinical leaders
- ensures licensing and regulatory compliance
- plans clinical services with operations and finance
- reports outcomes to leadership and the board.
How it differs
The Medical Director / CMO is the physician leader; the Director of Nursing leads nursing (including chief nursing officers and chief nurse executives, which stay with that role). This role is a clinical chief outside those two.
By organization size
Found at health centers, animal-welfare and public-health organizations and health plans.
Filings from the last five years mapped to this role commonly report titles such as: Chief Health Officer; Chief Behavioral Health Officer; Chief Veterinary Officer; Chief Population Health Officer; Chief Health Equity Officer; Chief Behavioral Health of
See what this role pays
Median reported total compensation, nationally: $212,000. Based on 376 IRS Form 990 filings, Form 990 years 2020–2025.
This median spans organizations of every budget size and sector, so it will not match a benchmark for one organization.
Benchmark pay for this role