Psychiatrist Opportunity

Psychiatrist Needed – Wilkes-Barre, PA VAMC – Up to 55 Days off Annually.

Serve Those Who’ve Served

Caring for our nation’s Veterans is among the most noble of callings.

How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate care to Veterans?

The Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania VA Medical Center is seeking a full-time BC/BE Psychiatrist:

The Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania VA Medical Center is currently seeking a highly qualified Psychiatrist to work in the inpatient/outpatient clinic. The ideal candidate will be assigned to the Behavioral Health Care Line where you will have the opportunity to perform clinical psychiatrist duties involving the collaboration of interdisciplinary clinical team (Psychiatrists, Physician Assistants, Nurses, Social Workers, Psychologists, etc..) in the delivery of services related to mental health treatments.

Your primary duties will include:

• Performs psychiatric evaluations for a diverse population, including geriatric and post deployment combat Veterans, who are mentally ill and have psychosocial issues such as homelessness, unemployment, and poor family support network.
• Provides a full range of therapeutic interventions including diagnostic assessment, medication evaluation and management, suicide risk assessments, crisis intervention, and overall care of patients with psychiatric disorders.
• Ensures practice of psychiatric medicine is consistent with TJC, CARF, HIPAA, VA policies and procedures, clinical practice guidelines, national statutes and regulations, medical record documentation, and mandatory continuing education.
• Provides a full range of psycho-diagnostic services including assessment and the most appropriate psychotherapeutic techniques in providing quality care.
• The Psychiatrist may serve as a mental health team leader with responsibilities for coordinating consults and triage of specialty clinic referrals.
• Participates effectively in team meetings and treatment planning conferences and collaborates with multidisciplinary team members that enhances coordination of comprehensive patient care.
• Will work in a team environment with nursing support.
• Orders diagnostic tests and consultations and discriminates between normal and abnormal findings and makes appropriate treatment decisions.
• May participate in supervision and teaching in support of the psychiatric residency program, performs on call duties, and performs other directly related duties as assigned.
• Areas which the psychiatrist is assigned and has clinical privileges to practice may include depression, anxiety, psychosis, PTSD, substance abuse, and other psychiatric disorders in various clinical settings (outpatient, inpatient, ED)
• Workload can be distributed between outpatient clinics and inpatient consults, according to the need of the Service Line or preference of the provider.

• Hours: Monday - Friday 8:00am to 4:30pm. Call is rotated.

Key Requirements:

• Must be a U.S. Citizen. (Non-citizens J-1 and H-1B may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.)
• Must be Board Certified or Board Eligible.

• Must have full and unrestricted license to practice medicine in ANY U.S. State.
• A current certification to prescribe and manage Suboxone is a preferred, but not required.

Paid Time Off:

• 26 Days paid annual (vacation/personal) leave – you can carry over up to 86 days into a new year
• 13 Days paid sick leave each year with no limit on accumulation – unused sick leave can be used to extend creditable service time at retirement!
• 11 Federal holidays per year with pay
• 10 Days paid absence to attend approved CME courses (subject to budget availability)

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 basic benefits (pension); and 3) Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) which is a 401K-type plan
• 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

Facility Information

Wilkes-Barre is proud of its medical affiliations with top medical schools, supporting the VA's educational mission. Major medical affiliations are maintained with Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and the University of Maryland. More than 200 medical residents receive part of their training at this facility every year.

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.

VA Benefits

If you or anyone you know may be interested in this opportunity, please submit CV to Trina Foley catrina.foley@va.gov or call 302-267-0251 (C)

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

For over 50 years, VAMC Wilkes-Barre has been improving the health of the men and women who have so proudly served our nation. We consider it our privilege to serve your health care needs in any way we can. Services are available but not limited to Veterans living in 18 counties in Pennsylvania and one county in New York.