Physician - Surgery Specialty Care Integrated Clinical Community Director (Chief of Surgery)

About the role

The St. Cloud VA Health Care System is seeking a Surgery Specialty Care (SSC) Integrated Clinical Community (ICC) Director in St. Cloud, MN. The incumbent must have strong managerial and organizational skills as well as extensive clinical knowledge in the area of surgery.

Responsibilities

• Must be credentialed and privileged in the practice of surgery in an Operating Room setting at the VA medical facility.
• Provides leadership and oversight to ensure effective management of the Facility Surgical Work Group (FSWG) activities.
• Serves as a member of relevant committees and workgroups, representing the surgical service and contributing to facility-wide initiatives.
• Oversees and responds to issues, concerns and deficiencies in clinical outcomes, surgical standards of care, and coordination of surgical care with the VA medical facility.
• Ensures dissemination of information provided by NSO or the VISN leadership to FSWG members and others as appropriate.
• Facilitates and participates in VA medical facility surgical mortality and morbidity review conferences.
• Collaborates with the facility surgical quality nurse to ensure the validity of surgical data entered into the VistA Surgery Package (or equivalent electronic health record surgery platform) for each procedure performed in an operating room.
• Coordinates ongoing functions of the facility surgical quality nurse, including timely VA Surgical Quality Improvement Program (VASQIP) data submission and compliance with other VASQIP requirements.
• Assists in the assessment and management of all faculty, students, residents and staff in the SSC ICC.
• Provides oversight of all items relating to Employee Relations / Labor Relations, Equal Employment Opportunity, patient advocate issues, Joint Patient Safety reports, etc.
• Provides guidance and clinical supervision for the nurse practitioners, nurses, physician assistants, and health technicians assigned to Surgery and Specialty Care (SSC), and Ambulatory Care Services (ASC).
• Maintains and evaluates the performance of surgical staff, promoting professional development and ensuring compliance with VA regulations and standards.
• Aids in the development, implementation, and expansion of programs in the SSC/ASC. Oversees the SSC ICC budget.
• Participates in various facility programs designed to enhance and improve the delivery of patient care services, to include but not limited to Process Improvement Action Teams, Root Cause Analysis, and Peer Review.
• Exhibits leadership in initiating change in patient care programs based on current concepts and findings from evidence-based research and studies.
• Keeps informed of developments in the management treatment of diseases and illness through continuing medical education, both formal and informal.
• Actively participates in external review bodies: Joint Commission, Office of Inspector General, Office of Medical Investigation, Annual Workplace Evaluation and others as appropriate.

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.

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Graduate of an approved medical school with a degree of doctor of medicine or an equivalent degree resulting from a course of education in allopathic medicine or osteopathic medicine.
• 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.
• Completed residency training, approved by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in an accredited core specialty training program leading to eligibility for board certification.

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)

Benefits

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

Application Information

All qualified candidates encouraged to apply. Open to U.S. Citizens but non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.