Paid Time Off:

• 26 Days paid annual (vacation/personal) leave
• 13 Days paid sick leave each year with no limit on accumulation
• 11 paid Federal holidays per year
• 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

Facility Information:

Located in the historic part of the city of Charleston, the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center is an authorized 145 bed primary, secondary and tertiary care medical center that provides acute medical, surgical and psychiatric inpatient care, and both primary and specialized outpatient services in southeastern South Carolina and Chatham County, Georgia. The medical center supports the Vet Centers in North Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia, and operates the outpatient clinics in Savannah, Georgia and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Currently, the medical center is operating 98 beds and a 20-bed nursing home.        

 The medical center is closely affiliated with the Medical University of South Carolina and supports 84 resident FTEE in medical and dental specialties, as well students from nursing, pharmacy, social work and allied health disciplines. Charleston VAMC is a partnership site for the VA Nursing Academy in collaboration with the MUSC School of Nursing.  The Research Service has more than 100 research investigators involved in more than 300 research projects concerned with a broad range of health problems, most of which are prevalent in the Veteran patient population.  Areas of research include cardiology, endocrinology, diabetes mellitus, hematology/oncology, rheumatology, nephrology and alcohol-related disorders, and clinical and health service research in mental health, PTSD, hypertension and aging.

Affiliations

• Medical University of South Carolina
• Trident Technical College
• Armstrong University
• Savannah State University
• Midlands Technical College
• University of South Carolina

Authorized Beds

• 145

Type of Facility

• Primary
• Secondary
• Tertiary Care

Special Programs

• Primary Care
• Women’s Program
• VIST Program Smoking Cessation
• Research Service
• Interventional Radiology
• General Surgery
• Cardio-thoracic Surgery
• Vascular Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Urology
• ENT
• Ophthalmology
• Podiatry
• Orthopedics
• Audiology
• Speech Pathology
• Inpatient Mental Health
• PTSD
• Veterans Enrichment Center 
• Substance Abuse
• Mental Health Intensive Case Management (MHICM)
• Electroconvulsive Therapy
• Compensated Work Therapy (CWT)
• Community Residential Care
• Geriatrics
• Care Unit (NUCU)
• Homemaker Health Aide
• Adult Day Care
• Home Based Primary Care (HBPC)
• Community Living Center (Nursing Home)
• Interventional Cardiology
• Palliative Care
• Pulmonary Services
• Pulmonary Function Test
• Sleep Studies
• Endocrinology
• Infectious Disease
• Dermatology
• Neurology
• Gastroenterology
• Hematology/Oncology
• Nephrology
• Hemodialysis
• Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
• Orthopedics Center of Excellence
• Bariatric Surgery
• Tele-Mental Health