Chief of Staff

The George E. Whalen VA Medical Center is a short-term acute care hospital, and a designated medical training and research facility located at the base of the Wasatch Mountains. We provide our Veterans with state-of-the-art care across the state of Utah, as well as parts of Idaho and Nevada.

The Salt Lake City VA Medical Center is actively seeking applicants for the Chief of Staff position. We offer both a mission you can put your heart into and a home for fun, new experiences.

Enjoy all that Salt Lake City has to offer, from downtown dining, theatre, and sporting events to miles of hiking and biking trails just up the road from the VA hospital. Salt Lake City is central to four national parks, all within a five-hour drive and several ski resorts within a short 45-minute drive, including Park City, Snowbird, and Alta. Outdoor concerts and festivals at these ski resorts have become popular summer activities, attracting some of the best musicians in the country. Whether you’re looking to spend time relaxing in the mountains or hitting the slopes, Salt Lake City has something for everyone.

The George E. Whalen VA Medical Center is a short-term acute care hospital, and a designated medical training and research facility located at the base of the Wasatch Mountains. We provide our Veterans with state-of-the-art care across the state of Utah, as well as parts of Idaho and Nevada.

Duties to include:

• Oversee the allocation and management of healthcare resources
• Work to enhance hospital performance and ensure both patient and employee satisfaction
• Participate in the development and implementation of strategic plans
• Foster strong relationships with academic affiliates, research initiatives, and community partners
• Promotes and uphold standards of clinical competence and conduct for staff, ensuring compliance with credentialing, privileging, and quality assurance processes
• Monitor and ensure staff adherence to agency regulations, medical staff by-laws, VA facility policies, Joint Commission standards, and other relevant regulations
• Ensure high performance levels among medical staff through clinical privilege delineation, ongoing evaluations, orientation, and continuous quality improvement practices
• Ensure the integration of medical care standards across various service lines
• Oversee operations for multiple medical services to ensure efficient and effective delivery of care

Qualifications:

• Minimum 5-10 years of progressive clinical and leadership experience in a large, high-complexity healthcare setting
• Proven ability to collaborate effectively with leadership
• Experience overseeing interdisciplinary programs across diverse populations
• Demonstrated success in strategic planning and performance improvement
• Board certification
• Current full and unrestricted medical license

  VA offers... a comprehensive total rewards package:

Pay: Competitive salary, annual performance bonus, regular salary increases. Recruitment and relocation incentives may be available. For internal candidates PCS may be authorized.

Paid Time Off: 50–55 days (8-hour shifts estimated) of paid time off per year (26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year and possible up to 5 day paid absence for CME

Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA

Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)

CME: Possible $1,000 per year reimbursement

Malpractice: Free liability protection with tail coverage provided

The VA Salt Lake City Health Care System (VASLCHCS) consists of the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) in Utah, Idaho, and Nevada.

The George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center is a mid-sized affiliated tertiary care facility with 121 authorized active beds. It is a teaching facility, providing a full range of patient care services, with state-of-the-art technology as well as education and research. Comprehensive health care is provided through primary care, tertiary care, and long-term care in areas of medicine, surgery, psychiatry, physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology, oncology, dentistry, and geriatrics. The VASLCHCS is part of the VA Network 19, which includes facilities in Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Idaho, and Nevada.

Affiliations
VASLCHCS has a major affiliation with the University of Utah School of Medicine. Over 500 University of Utah residents, interns, and students are trained at the VASLCHCS each year. Additional Special Fellowship programs affiliated with the University of Utah are ongoing in Ambulatory Care and Medical Informatics Training Programs. Currently there are 115 physician resident positions funded at the VASLCHCS. There are also nursing student affiliations with numerous colleges and universities throughout the United States, including local Intermountain West affiliations with the University of Utah, Brigham Young University and Westminster College. The VASLCHCS has ongoing training programs and affiliations with numerous colleges and university throughout the United States involving our Associated Health Training Program. The associated health training includes dentistry, pharmacy, social work, psychology, occupational and physical rehabilitation, audiology, physician assistant, dietetics, and podiatry training programs. Many of these training programs have been integrated into our Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC).

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 2025, employees under the age of 50 may contribute up to $23,500, while those over age 50 are eligible to make catch-up contributions that allow them to defer up to $31,000.
• 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

Salt Lake City is the cultural and political center of Utah. With a metro area of 1 million residents, Salt Lake is Utah's most populous city by a significant amount, yet remains remarkably pleasant and livable. It has plenty of cultural offerings, numerous parks and some inspiring buildings, including the splendid structures of the Mormon Temple Square and the historic This is the Place Monument.

Some of the other spectacular draws of the city include the Clark Planetarium, which includes Utah's very first 3-D IMAX Theater. Surrounding the Planetarium is Downtown's Gateway, a partly open air shopping center that spans blocks. Hogle Zoo and Tracy Aviary are delightful for wildlife lovers, if the Zoo can be very crowded on the weekends. The Museum of Fine Arts has a beautiful wide range of works and performance landmarks such as Hale Theatre and Ballet West are well worth seeing.

Salt Lake City sits very attractively in a valley beneath the Wasatch Mountains. The mountains provide a wonderful backdrop and a variety of great recreational opportunities. In winter, piles of dry snow smother the Wasatch, providing excellent downhill skiing at 7 large resorts within 45 minutes of downtown, including Alta, Solitude, Snowbird and Brighton. In summer, there is good hiking and mountain biking. Wasatch's Little and Big Cottonwood Canyons are known for their rockclimbing spots. Head a little farther north to the delightful water and amusement park Lagoon to cool off after a day of exercise. Salt Lake City is part of the Wasatch Front, the name given to the string of cities and suburbs that forms a continuous urban area along the Wasatch Mountains from Ogden to Provo. Visit Salt Lake City.