Pulmonary/Critical Care Chief Opportunity - Denver, CO

As the Chief of Pulmonary/Critical Care, you will clinically and administratively direct and supervise a large group of pulmonary/critical care physicians, nurse practitioners, the ICU Medical Director, the bronchoscopy suite director, and the inpatient and outpatient Respiratory Therapy supervisors. You will be responsible for ensuring that high-quality care is provided consistently in the outpatient setting, for inpatient consults, in the bronchoscopy/procedural suite, and within the ICU. As an active affiliate site of the University of Colorado School of Medicine and its training programs, the position provides an outstanding opportunity for individuals committed to an academic career in clinical care, teaching, and research. You will be involved with educating and teaching medical students, residents, fellows, and other providers and so must qualify for an academic appointment at our affiliated university, University of Colorado (CU), Denver.

The ideal candidate must be a highly effective communicator, comfortable interacting with all levels of the organization, and able to successfully partner with facility leadership and other services. They should have a passion for maintaining the highest quality standards and developing a team for growth.  A history of successful Quality Improvement initiatives that improve resource utilization and proactively prevent safety events is preferred. Additionally, the position will:

• Oversee the administrative team responsible for clinical operations of the pulmonary section, respiratory therapy, PFT laboratory, sleep lab, and home oxygen programs.
• Oversee the educational and training activities of the Pulmonary/CC/Sleep Section.
• Report to the Chief of the Medicine Service.
• Perform high impact, extramurally funded biomedical research.
• Support the professional development of junior faculty in the Pulmonary Section.
• Maintain a strong relationship with the Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Division at the University of Colorado, including meetings with their Division Chief and Fellowship Director, and playing a role in faculty appointment decisions, especially with optimizing fellow-to-faculty transitions.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 40hrs/wk; In addition to regular clinic and administrative presence, the attending faculty rotate one week-long coverage of inpatient services providing inpatient consults or intensive care unit coverage, including evening home call, weekend coverage, and holiday coverage.

Recruitment or Relocation Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized

Candidates must be: 1) US Citizen or PRA, 2) Residency trained in Internal Medicine and Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine, and 3) Have a full, unrestricted medical license in any State Preferred Experience: Board Certified in Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine with leadership and academic experience; VA experience a plus. Candidates with an active extramurally funded research program are preferred as part of the role is also providing research mentorship for junior faculty.

Facility Information: 

The Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center is a welcomed step forward in meeting the increased health care needs of today's Veteran population. This facility replaced the Denver facility of 670,000 square feet with a new state of the art campus of approximately 1.2 million square feet on 31 acres, providing many new services to Veterans. The Aurora, Colorado location is ideally located on the southeast corner of the former Fitzsimons Army Base just off Interstate 225, immediately west of RTD's light rail station and neighboring Children's Hospital and the University of Colorado Anschutz Health Care Campus. Leading edge technology is designed into every aspect of the new campus, bringing Veterans high quality health care well into the 21st century. Guiding principles for the new campus include patient safety, improving the Veteran's health care experience, promoting the family's role in care delivery, and protecting our environment through green design. The VA Eastern Colorado Healthcare System's specialized personal care epitomizes excellence in health care, delivered through a unique combination of medical center-based and local community-focused medicine, that brings innovative and leading-edge care to Veterans throughout the region. 

Benefits Information:

• The VA supports healthy work-life-family balance by offering a robust menu of employee benefits and features
• The expected range of annual salary is $285,000 to $377,000 and includes biennial longevity pay increases
• Physician staff may be considered for an annual performance pay bonus up to $15,000.00 or 7.5% (whichever is less) 
• Annual Paid time off includes 26 days’ of vacation with pay, 13 days sick leave, 11 federal holidays observed and CME
• Health-Dental-Vision-Life Insurance with premiums partially offset or paid by the government with retirement portability
• Retirement Plans includes Federal Employee Retirement System (DB) and Thrift Savings Plan (DC) with 5% matching

The NEW Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center is a welcomed step forward in meeting the increased health care needs of today's Veteran population. This new facility replaces the Denver facility of 670,000 square feet with a new state of the art campus of approximately 1.2 million square feet on 31 acres, providing many new services to Veterans.The new Aurora, Colorado location is ideally located on the southeast corner of the former Fitzsimons Army Base just off Interstate 225, immediately west of RTD's light rail station and neighboring Children's Hospital and the University of Colorado Anschutz Health Care Campus. 

Leading edge technology is designed into every aspect of the new campus, bringing Veterans high quality health care well into the 21st century. Guiding principles for the new campus include patient safety, improving the Veteran's health care experience, promoting the family's role in care delivery, and protecting our environment through green design.

The VA and the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center exemplify President Lincoln's promise "to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan" by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans.

We are particularly honored and committed to serving Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Region Veterans. The VA Eastern Colorado Healthcare System's specialized personal care epitomizes excellence in health care. Through a unique combination of medical center-based and local community-focused medicine, we bring innovative and leading-edge care to Veterans throughout the region.  Last year, the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System supported 1,033,000 outpatient health care visits.

Click HERE to see a virtual tour video of the NEW RMRVAMC!

Paid Time Off:

• 26 Days paid annual (vacation/personal) leave
• 13 Days paid sick leave each year with no limit on accumulation
• 11 Federal holidays with pay annually
• 5 Days paid absence to attend approved CME courses

Insurance:

• Health Insurance: VA employees have an outstanding number of health insurance plans from which to choose (premiums are partially paid by VA) Lifetime Healthcare Insurance options available
• Dental & Vision: Our 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 automatically contribute 4.4% of their salary each pay period and the VA contributes 12.2% of the employee’s salary each pay period for a total annual contribution percentage equal to 16.6% of the employee’s 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 2020, employees under the age of 50 may contribute up to $19,500, while those over age 50 are eligible to make catch-up contributions that allow them to defer up to $25,500.
• 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

It’s no accident that Denver is called “the Mile High City”: When you climb up to the State Capitol, you’re precisely 5,280 feet above sea level when you reach the 13th step. Denver’s location at this altitude was purely coincidental; Denver is one of the few cities not built on an ocean, a lake, a navigable river, or even (at the time) an existing road or railroad.

The U.S. Mint, built in 1906, established Denver as a banking and financial center.

In the years following World War II, Denver mushroomed to become the largest city between the Great Plains and the Pacific Coast, with almost 600,000 residents within the city limits and over three million in the metropolitan area. It remains a growing city, with a booming downtown and suburbs. Denver is noted for its tree-lined boulevards, 200 city parks that cover more than 20,000 acres, and architecture ranging from Victorian to postmodern.