Physician - Geriatrics and Extended Care Chief

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Marion (IL); On-site; USD 210,000 - 270,000; Full time

Job summary

The Marion VA Medical Center seeks a Physician to serve as Chief of Geriatrics and Extended Care Service, overseeing CLC, HBPC, and HPC programs. The role emphasizes strategic leadership, clinical excellence in geriatric and palliative care, and coordination with other VA teams.

The Chief will direct program development, credentialing, performance improvement, and ensure high-quality patient care for veterans in long-term settings.

Qualifications

• MD or DO degree from VA-approved school.
• Current full and unrestricted medical license in the US.
• Residency in a VA-approved core specialty with board eligibility.
• Proficiency in spoken and written English.
• Leadership and supervisory experience preferred.
• Experience in long-term care, hospice or home-based care preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provides palliative and hospice clinical care for older patients in long-term care or outpatient settings.
• Oversees Geriatrics and Extended Care programs to ensure high-quality care.
• Supervises fellows, residents and trainees; collaborates with Medical Director on QA.
• Coordinates clinical care with nursing, PA/NP staff and other VA teams.
• Manages credentialing, privileges and performance evaluation for ECS personnel.
• Develops policies to align care with the facility's mission and strategic plan.

Skills

Leadership experience

Supervisory experience

Geriatrics experience

Home-based care experience

Long-term care experience

Hospice experience

English proficiency

Education

MD or DO degree

Board certification eligibility

Residency in core specialty

Current US medical license

Job description

Summary

The Marion - IL VA Medical Center is seeking a Physician to serve as the Chief of Geriatrics and Extended Care Service!

Qualifications

To qualify for this position - you must meet the basic requirements as well as any additional requirements (if applicable) listed in the job announcement. Applicants pending the completion of training or license requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. Currently employed physician(s) in VA who met the requirements for appointment under the previous qualification standard at the time of their initial appointment are deemed to have met the basic requirements of the occupation.

Basic Requirements

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy
• Degree of doctor of medicine or an equivalent degree resulting from a course of education in allopathic medicine or osteopathic medicine
• The degree must have been obtained from one of the schools approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs for the year in which the course of study was completed
• Current - full and unrestricted license to practice medicine or surgery in a State - Territory - or Commonwealth of the United States - or in the District of Columbia
• Residency Training: Physicians must have completed residency training - approved by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in an accredited core specialty training program leading to eligibility for board certification
• (NOTE: VA physicians involved in academic training programs may be required to be board certified for faculty status.) Approved residencies are: (1) Those approved by the accrediting bodies for graduate medical education - the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or American Osteopathic Association (AOA) - in the list published for the year the residency - or fellowship if applicable - was completed
• OR (2) One year of post medical school training (internship - first year of residency - or transitional year residency) approved by ACGME or AOA followed by two years of post-training independent practice (performing under a full and unrestricted license) in the United States
• OR (3) Non-US residency training programs followed by a minimum of three years of verified independent practice in the United States (performing under a full and unrestricted license) performing duties related to the position they are applying for (United States fellowships would be creditable towards this requirement) - which the local Medical Staff Executive Committee deems to have provided the applicant with appropriate professional training and believes has exposed the Physician to an appropriate range of patient care experiences
• Exceptions: Residents currently enrolled in ACGME/AOA accredited residency training programs and who would otherwise meet the basic requirements for appointment are eligible to be appointed as "Physician Resident Providers" (PRPs)
• PRPs must be fully licensed physicians (i.e. - not a training license) and may only be appointed on an intermittent basis
• PRPs are not considered independent practitioners and will not be privileged
• rather - they are to have a "scope of practice" that allows them to perform certain restricted duties under supervision
• Additionally - surgery residents in gap years may also be appointed as PRPs
• In rare and unusual circumstances - the Facility Director can submit a memo to the VISN Director through the VISN Chief Medical Officer - who may approve requests for reasonable exceptions to the residency training requirement for Physicians whose composite record of experience - accomplishments - performance - and qualifications warrant such action
• Proficiency in spoken and written English
• Preferred Experience: Previous leadership experience
• Preference will be given to candidates with long term care - hospice - and home based care experience
• Preference will be given to those with supervisory and administrative experience
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• Physical Requirements: Position requires a pre-employment evaluation
• See VA Handbook and Directive 5019 for more information.

Duties

• VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package
• VHA Physician Total Rewards
• Duties include but are not limited to the following: Performs palliative and hospice clinical care of older patients with multiple complex health problems in a long-term care setting or OP clinic
• Ensures that comprehensive - coordinated - and timely - long term health care of excellent quality is provided for every geriatric Veteran
• Works collaboratively with other physicians - Nurse Practitioners - physician assistants - and nurses
• Will supervise/teach geriatric or palliative fellows - medical residents - and trainees in other health related disciplines
• Collaborates with the Medical Director in maintaining quality assurance and administrative needs in the nursing home care setting
• Communicates and treats customers (veterans - their representatives - visitors - and all VA staff) in a courteous - tactful - and respectful manner
• Provides the customer with consistent information according to established policies and procedures
• Handles conflict and problems in dealing with the customer constructively and appropriately
• Assigns physician coverage for the nursing home units - designating alternates as necessary to promote appropriate intermediate bed utilization
• Protects printed and electronic files containing sensitive data in accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974 and other applicable laws - Federal regulations - VA statutes and policy - and VHA policy
• Uses the Veterans Health Information and Technology Architecture (VistA) to access information in the Medical Center Computer System
• Demonstrates infection control practices for disease prevention
• Apprises patients and their families and/or significant others of significant findings - diagnoses and prognoses and collaborates with them on treatment and continuity of care plans and end-of-life planning
• participates in interdisciplinary patient education delivery and documentation
• Administrative Responsibilities: The Chief is responsible for oversight of CLC - HBPC - HPC programs and other services that could be developed - such as Geriatric clinic or GeriPACT
• Ensures that extended care services are aligned with the facility's mission - vision and strategic plan
• Provides input as requested to the strategic plan
• Provides for the integration of medical care with other services and programs within and outside Extended Care
• Develops and implements appropriate policies and procedures to provide guidance in and ensure coordination of care
• Directs and supervises the Section Chiefs for all programs in Extended Care - the HPC providers - and the Extended Care support staff of AO and/or PSA
• The ECS Chief is ultimately responsible for the overall care and quality provided in the department
• Ensures that all CLC - HBPC - HPC policies are effectively implemented and maintained and are updated as necessary
• Attends and provides input into - as appropriate - the Executive Leadership Committee - the Strategic Planning Committee - the Clinical Executive Board - the Professional Standards and Credentialing Board - Peer Review Committee and all QM/GEC performance improvement projects
• Assesses needs for - develops - implements - and evaluates the GEC performance improvement plan
• Participates in wide-ranging and higher-level management functions for GEC through participation and planning in operational boards - councils - and committees within the Marion VA HCS - the VISN and VHA
• Manages all personnel management of GEC - including credentialing and privileging - defining scope of practice/privileges for medicine personnel - focused and ongoing professional practice evaluations - ongoing performance evaluations and assures the maintenance of continuing education for staff physicians
• Oversees competencies for direct report staff - along with the development and completion of performance standards and appraisals
• Responsible for successful external reviews - including TJC - CLC oversight reviews and implementation of approved recommendations
• Work Schedule: Mon- Fri - 7:30am to 4:00pm
• Incumbent may be expected to respond to events or emergencies on weekends - evenings - and holidays
• Pay: Competitive salary - annual performance bonus - regular salary increases Paid Time Off: 50-55 days of paid time off per year (26 days of annual leave - 13 days of sick leave - 11 paid Federal holidays per year and possible 5 day paid absence for CME) Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Licensure: 1 full and unrestricted license from any US State or territory CME: Possible $1 -000 per year reimbursement (must be full-time with board certification) Malpractice: Free liability protection with tail coverage provided Contract: No Physician Employment Contract and no significant restriction on moonlighting