Associate Chief of Staff for Spinal Cord Injury - St. Louis, MO - 54 Days Paid Time Off!
The VA St. Louis Health Care System is actively seeking an experienced BC Physiatrist/PM&R physician, Neurologist, or Internal Medicine physician or to serve our Veterans as the Associate Chief of Staff for Spinal Cord Injury at the Jefferson Barracks Division in St. Louis, MO.
The Associate Chief of Staff for Spinal Cord Injury oversees management of the Spinal Cord Injury program. Incumbent is responsible for working with medicine and surgical services to develop and maintain service agreements to ensure high quality of care to SCI Veterans. In addition, promotes quality patient-centered health services through a seamless continuum of care. Establishes and maintains a climate that fosters patient-centered services. Will support and promote, within the Spinal Cord Injury Service, full implementation of all local, VISN and national policies.
Additional Details:
Relocation expenses are authorized for this position. The Department of Veterans Affairs offers Permanent Change of Station (PCS) relocation services. Permanent Change of Station is the relocation of a household due to government convenience in connection with a transfer between duty stations or facilities. For more information go to
Sign-on bonus approved!
Student Loan Repayment: The Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) maximum loan repayment amount is $120,000 over a five year period or up to $24,000 per year.
Qualifications: Must be BC in physiatry/PM&R, neurology, or internal medicine. Must be BE/BC in SCI
Licensure: Any full and unrestricted license from any US state or territory is acceptable
Malpractice: VA physicians have free liability protection by virtue of the federal Tort Reform Act
Preferred qualifications: Educational experience plus clinical and/or research experience to qualify for an academic appointment is preferred. In addition administrative management experience is preferred
Location of position: VA St. Louis Health Care System, Jefferson Barracks Division
Hours: 8am 4:30pm, Monday - Friday
Academic appointment: Academic appointment based on educational experience and clinical and/or research experience
Call Requirements: Shared night & weekend telephone call call is shared with the 3 other SCI Physicians
Staffing in the department: 20.2 (MDs, Therapists, Psychology, Social Worker, Administrative) and 50.5 SCI Nursing Staff
CME: $1,000 per year stipend for reimbursement + 1 week paid authorized absence (subject to availability)
Nature of work: 60% Admin time and 40% clinical (SCI inpatient & outpatient)
Medical infrastructure: New renovated inpatient facility and new 6 bed satellite unit
Additional Benefits:
Paid Time Off:
26 Days paid annual (vacation/personal) leave you can carry over up to 688 hours into a new year
Paid sick leave available for valid use - no limit on accumulation unused sick leave can be used to extend creditable service time at retirement!
10 Federal holidays with pay
5 Days paid absence to attend approved CME (dependent on availability of funds)
Insurance:
Health Insurance: VA employees have an outstanding number of health insurance plans from which to choose (premiums are partially paid by VA)
Dental & Vision: Insurance options also include exceptional vision and dental plans (premiums are partially paid by VA)
VA employees have the option to use Flexible Spending Accounts, which allow you to use tax-free dollars to pay for medical, dental, and vision care expenses that are not reimbursed by your health insurance plan
Term life insurance, family, and additional coverage options are available with the cost shared by the Federal Government
Long-term care insurance is available as an option
Federal Retirement Plan:
VA employees are covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). FERS is a three-tiered retirement plan composed of 1) Social Security benefits; 2) FERS-RAE basic benefits (pension); and 3) Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) which is a 401K-type plan
How is the pension funded? VA employees hired after January 1, 2014 automatically contribute 4.4% of their salary each pay period and the VA contributes 8.3% of the employees salary each pay period for a total annual contribution percentage equal to 12.7% of the employees salary
Similar to the 401(k) savings plans widely available in the private sector, the TSP allows employees to tax defer a portion of their income each year, subject to the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service. For calendar year 2014, employees under the age of 50 may contribute up to $17,500, while those over age 50 are eligible to make catch-up contributions that allow them to defer up to $23,000
The Federal Government also provides an automatic basic contribution (1% of salary) and up to 4% of salary in matching contributions, depending on the amount of the employee contribution
For retired military personnel, these benefits are in addition to full monthly retirement pay or pension
In addition to FERS, VA provides health care insurance coverage for retired personnel
Disability Retirement
Employees are vested in a federal pension after only 5 years service