Opening Chief of Pain Medicine, Lovely Harlingen, Texas

Chief of Pain Medicine

Oversees all staff specialists in treatment for (Pain Specialist Non-Interventional) provides comprehensive care for patients who have illnesses within the scope of acute and chronic pain. The scope of these activities covers all phases of ambulatory care. Other responsibilities may include education of medical students and residents and/or supervision of other providers. The majority of the Pain specialist's time is devoted to patient care and education, with the remaining time set aside for performance improvement activities, creative research to improve patient care, activities sufficient to maintain proficiency in state-of-the-art pain care.

The Chief of Pain Medicine should have experience in managing patients within the full spectrum of pain disorders and other organ systems as they contribute to pain. Further, the Pain specialist should demonstrate knowledge of preventive medicine and primary care as related to Pain (e.g. complications of disorders & treatments, side effects of medications used), the role of non-physician health care professionals and health care evaluation.

Department of Veterans Affairs offers Veterans the largest, most technologically advanced integrated health care system in the United States. We operate more than 1,400 sites of care, including 153 medical centers, 909 ambulatory and community-based outpatient clinics, 135 nursing homes, 232 Veterans centers, 47 readjustment counseling centers, and 108 comprehensive home-care programs, across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S.Territories.

More than 7.9 million Veterans, their family members, and survivors are enrolled in the VA Health System, with more than 6.3 million seeking treatment each year. Currently, that annual treatment involves 773,600 inpatient visits and 60 million outpatient visits. About 250,000 full-time employees and 90,000 health professional trainees work in interdisciplinary care teams to deliver those patient services daily.

VA's patient population crosses a wide spectrum of individuals, from elderly World War II Veterans, to baby boomer Vietnam Vets, to today's younger heroes who served during the Gulf War era and in the present day Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. VA also serves a growing number of women Veterans, who currently account for seven percent of the total Veteran population.

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

Features

• Three level center providing Specialty outpatient care & surgical services for Veterans in the Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System area.
• First Floor: Patient Resource Center (Centro de Rescursos), Medical Administration (Administration Medica), MyHealtheVet, Prosthetics/Amputee Clinic (Protesis)
• Second floor: Cardiology  (Cardiologia), ENT, Eye Clinic (Clinica de ojos), Gastroenterology (GI - Gastroenterologia), Lab (Laboratorio), Behavioral Health  (Salud mental), Orthopedics  (Ortoedicos), Physical Medicine & Rehab (Terapia fisica y rehabilitacion), Podiatry (Podologia), Pulmonary (Pulmonar), Rheumatology (Reumatologia), Urology (Urologia), GU Clinic, Infectious Disease (las enfermedades infecciosas), General Surgery (cirugia general), Home Health (includes CCHT, Community Nursing Home, and other Home Health programs), Anesthesia (anestesia), and Dermatology (dermatologia).
• In July 2012, ambulatory surgery procedures began at the HCC.
• Prescriptions: Routine prescriptions processed through the mail or My HealtheVet. Visit our Pharmacy page for details on requesting prescription refills.
• Open Access Scheduling System with the goal to schedule appointments within five to seven days of request.
• Handicapped Accessible: full and easy access for all veterans. 
• Personal Care: Highly qualified specialty care providers.