Physician - Chief of Geriatrics and Extended Care

The Chief of Geriatrics and Extended Care Physician provides direct patient/resident care including comprehensive management of the physical, psychological, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of the veteran and families.

The Physician will collaborate with the Admissions Coordinator to ensure safe and appropriate CLC admissions, maximize the utilization of CLC beds, and maintain transparency in the admission process.

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package. VHA Physician Total Rewards.

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
Statement of Duties:
Chief is responsible for oversight of MOD staff and operations.

• Supervises the other CLC physicians, NP, and staff.
• Leads weekly meetings.
• Participates in performance improvement and contributes to improved quality of care through mortality and morbidity reviews, peer reviews, and occurrence screens. Participate in preparation for surveys.
• Support and direct the teaching mission at the CLC in coordination with the Medical Facility and any outside teaching organizations.
• Participates in service and/or medical center committees as assigned.
• Complies with all quality performance measures and improvement programs.
• Exercises full professional responsibilities for their findings, interpretations, decisions, recommendations, and reports in accordance with the clinical privileges this institution provided to them.
• Responsible for meeting all clinical performance measures.
• Participates in wide-ranging and higher-level management functions for GEC through participation and planning in operational boards, councils, and committees within NMVAHCS, 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.
• Addresses grievances, administers disciplinary actions and nominates incentive awards in all matters concerning GEC.
• Responsible for successful external reviews, including TJC, CLC oversight reviews and implementation of approved recommendations.
• Provides clinical oversight for MDS findings and process improvements including board reviews and approved actions as indicated.
• Performs other duties assigned by the Deputy Chief of Staff or Chief of Staff.

Work Schedule: Monday to Friday - 8:00 am to 4:30 pm - Work Schedule subject to change based on needs of the facility.

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

To qualify for appointment to this position, all applicants must possess the following:

a. Citizenship

• Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.) in accordance with section38 U.S.C. § 7402(c).
• Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens according to 38 U.S.C. § 7407(a).

b. Education

• 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 an institution whose accreditation was in place for the year in which the course of study was completed.

Approved schools are:

(1) Schools of medicine accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) for the year in which the degree was granted, or
(2) Schools of osteopathic medicine approved by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation of the American Osteopathic Association for the year in which the degree was granted.

For foreign medical graduates not covered in (1) or (2) above, facility officials must confirm that the medical school meets (or met) Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) eligibility requirements for the year the candidate graduated.

c. Licensure/Registration

• Physicians must possess a 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.
• The Physician must maintain current registration in the state of licensure if this is a requirement for continuing active, current licensure.

d. Residency Training

• Physicians must have successfully completed residency training, approved by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in an accredited core specialty training program
• 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 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) leading to eligibility for board certification,
OR
(2) Those approved by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) leading to eligibility for board certification,
OR
(3) 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
(4) Non-US residency training programs followed by a minimum of three years of 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.

e. Board Certification

Physicians are generally not required to be board certified for employment in VA; however, three circumstances in VA require Physician board certification:

(1) If the position being filled is required to be a supervisor for medical students or Physician residents (including fellows), the LCME, ACGME, or AOA standards requiring a particular board certification credential will apply.

(2) If the position being filled will have faculty status with an affiliated medical school (for example, in joint recruitments with affiliated medical schools), then a medical school requirement for board certification will apply to the jointly recruited position.

(3) If the position being filled is required to be board certified by virtue of specific VHA policy (for example, as director of a cardiac catheterization laboratory or Director of Clinical Laboratory Medicine), then VHA policy requiring board certification will apply.

NOTE: Board certification must be maintained for the duration of time that the employee is serving in a position that meets the circumstances listed above.

f. Grandfathering Provision

Employees in VHA in this occupation, under a permanent, appropriate, and legal placement on the effective date of the qualification standard, are considered to have met all basic requirements for the occupation.

For employees who do not meet all the basic or assignment-specific requirements in this standard but met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed, the following provisions apply:

(1) Such employees are considered to have met the basic qualification requirements for the purposes of transferring or reassignment to another Physician position within VA.

(2) Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.

(3) Employees retained in this occupation under this provision who subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation.

(4) Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation who subsequently obtain additional certification that meet all the basic or assignment-specific qualification requirements of this standard must maintain the required credential as a condition of employment in the assignment.

Preferred Experience:

• This physician must be board certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatrics or Hospice & Palliative Medicine.
• We strongly believe that having a physician who is Board Certified in Geriatrics and/or Hospice & Palliative Medicine will greatly enhance our ability to meet the unique needs of our patients.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Physical Requirements: Be physically and mentally able to efficiently perform the essential functions of the position, with or without reasonable accommodation, without hazard to themselves or others. Depending on the essential duties of a specific position, usable vision, color vision, hearing, or speech may be required. However, in most cases, a specific physical condition or impairment will not automatically disqualify an applicant for appointment. The loss or impairment of a specific function may be compensated for by the satisfactory use of a prosthetic or mechanical aid.

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 an institution whose accreditation was in place for the year in which the course of study was completed. Approved schools are:

1. Schools of medicine accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) for the year in which the degree was granted, or
2. Schools of osteopathic medicine approved by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation of the American Osteopathic Association for the year in which the degree was granted.
3. For foreign medical graduates not covered in (1) or (2) above, facility officials must verify with the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) that the applicant has met requirements for certification, and must obtain a copy of the ECFMG certificate, if claimed by the applicant.
   • If the applicant does not claim an ECFMG certificate, facility officials must still confirm that the medical school meets (or met) ECFMG eligibility requirements for the year the candidate graduated.

NOTE: The Under Secretary of Health or designee in the VHA Central Office may approve the appointment under authority of 38 U.S.C. 7405 of a physician graduate of a school of medicine not covered above if the candidate is to be assigned to a research, academic, or administrative position with no patient care responsibilities. The appointment will be made only in exceptional circumstances where the candidate's credentials clearly demonstrate high professional attainment or expertise in the specialty area.