Chief of Psychiatry

The Chief of Psychiatry will split time between administrative/supervisory duties (49%) and clinical duties (51%).Duties include but are not limited to:

• Participate in Mental Health meetings, leadership meetings, and facility committees as a representative of Mental Health Service and/or Psychiatry Service as requested.
• Management and Supervision of staff within Psychiatry Service.
• Provide clinical services as a Psychiatrist to patients including but not limited to assessing, diagnosing, and treating Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders as per facility expectations and as assigned
• Completion of proficiency reports, personnel actions, recruitment and retention, and all related personnel tasks with support and guidance from the ACOS for Mental health.
• Admit, evaluate, diagnose, treat, and provide consultation to adult patients, presenting with mental, behavioral, addictive or emotional disorders.
• Provide consultation regarding mental, behavioral, or emotional disorders; pharmacotherapy; psychotherapy; family therapy; behavior modification; consultation to the courts; and emergency psychiatry, as well as the ordering of diagnostic, laboratory tests, and prescribing medications.
• Supervise and ensure quality and timely completion in oversight of Compensation and Pension Mental Health evaluations.
• Provide Mental Health oversight to National Utilization Management Integration (NUMI) to complete appropriate and timely clinical reviews of ongoing acute psychiatric admissions.
• Development, implementation and oversight of operational policies and procedures for Psychiatry Service
• Serve as the Psychiatry Resident Clinical Training Director for all approved Battle Creek VAMC affiliations with accredited Psychiatry training programs
• Serve as a member of the Mental Health leadership team, including providing coverage for the ACOS for Mental Health as needed.

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Approved!
Education Debt Reduction Program (Student Loan Repayment): Authorized Learn more.
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive.  
Pay: Competitive salary, annual performance bonus, regular salary increases
Paid Time Off: 50-55 days of paid time off per year (26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year and possible 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/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Licensure: 1 full and unrestricted license from any US State or territory
CME: Possible $1,000 per year reimbursement (must be full-time with board certification)
Malpractice: Free liability protection with tail coverage provided
Contract: No Physician Employment Contract and no significant restriction on moonlighting
Work Schedule: Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

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

The Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center provides comprehensive tertiary psychiatric care, primary and secondary medical care, specialty care, extended and long-term care, preventive medicine, and related social support services for Veterans in the western and lower peninsula of Michigan, as well as a variety of outpatient services. As a member of an integrated healthcare delivery system the, 484-bed facility includes nursing home care, a medical care unit, a primary care clinic, physical medicine, and a mental health clinic. A Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC), which opened in April 1992, is located 60 miles northwest in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Three new CBOCs have been opened in Muskegon, Lansing, and Benton Harbor, Michigan. The Medical Center is situated on 206 park-like acres with easy access to both downtown Battle Creek and Kalamazoo.

This Medical Center has 40 academic affiliations with 18 colleges for a variety of health occupations. These colleges and universities include: Andrews University, Lansing Community College, Ohio University, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of St. Francis, Central Michigan University, Davenport College, Eastern Michigan University, Ferris State University, Grand Rapids Community College, Grand Valley State University, Illinois College of Optometry, Kellogg Community College, Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Michigan State University, Toledo University, University of Michigan, and Western Michigan University.

Affiliations

Michigan State University

Authorized Beds

243 Hospital
241 NHCU

Type of Facility

Mental Health, Primary Care, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Extended Care, and Long-term Care.

Special Programs

Palliative Care Program
Substance Abuse Residential Treatment Program
Veterans Outreach Program
Outpatient Alcohol/Drug Abuse Treatment Program
Geriatric Evaluation Unit
Residential and Outpatient Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Program
Mental Health Clinics
Residential Care Program
Primary Care Clinic
Contract Nursing Homes and Alcohol Halfway Houses