Chief of Staff

The Syracuse VAMC is seeking an experienced, quality, and patient focused Physician with an Administrative background to serve as our Chief of Staff. Syracuse is a tertiary, Tier 1C facility in the heart of New York state, with 11 satellite Community Based Outpatient Clinics and a teaching partnership with co-located SUNY Upstate Medical University.

The Syracuse VAMC: The Syracuse VA Medical Center is part of VA Health Care New York/New Jersey Healthcare System - VISN 2. The Medical Center utilizes state-of-the-art technology to provide a full range of patient care services, education and research. The 106 bed general medical and surgical facility provides comprehensive: primary care, mental health care, tertiary care, 32 bed long-term care, physical medicine, rehabilitation, comprehensive medical and surgical subspecialty services, dentistry and geriatrics.

Serving all of Upstate New York and Northern Pennsylvania Veterans. The Syracuse VA Medical Center has an active affiliation with the State University of New York Upstate Medical University with over 1000 of their students, residents and fellows receiving training each year. It has a fully accredited $2.5 million research and development program. The Medical Center houses a 30 bed Regional Spinal Cord Injury/Disease Center which includes a therapeutic pool, expanded outpatient surgical services, dialysis and infusion program and seven new operating rooms.

Responsibilities:

As the Chief of Staff of the Syracuse VA Medical Center, you will serve in an executive leadership role. As the facility's senior medical executive, you will be responsible to the Medical Center Director for all clinical patient care programs and services, as well as for related provider recruitment, retention, performance, and educational activities of the clinical services. To carry out these responsibilities you will:

• Develop and support plans for a comprehensive, integrated program of medical care
• Formulate the staffing, facilities, equipment and related requirements needed to carry forward such an integrated program, utilizing necessary oversight processes, reviews and controls
• Appraise the ongoing effectiveness of the various medical programs in meeting the needs of patient care
• Work with the Medical Center Director and other members of the senior leadership team to ensure Syracuse's veterans receive the highest quality care possible.

The Chief of Staff is aligned under the Office of the Medical Center Director and is responsible for the overall leadership, guidance, coordination, and evaluation of clinical programs at the Syracuse VA Medical Center and its associated community based outpatient clinics. They serve as a member of the Executive Leadership Team ensuring high quality patient care is delivered to our Veterans and that facility programs reflect the mission and priorities of the VA.

The Chief of Staff is:

• Directly responsible to the Medical Center Director for programs of patient care and for the educational and research activities of the clinical services at the Syracuse VA Medical Center.
• The Chair of the Medical Executive Board, Medical Staff President, and ex officio member of the Academic Affairs Council.
• Responsible for providing leadership, clinical coordination and evaluation of clinical programs while promoting the recruitment, retention and development of health care professionals.
• The primary liaison to our affiliate the State University of New York Upstate Medical University.
• Develops and presents the budgetary requirements of the clinical services and assists in the formulation of the annual budget program.
• Provides oversight of the Clinical Service Chiefs through the Associate Chiefs of Staffs and will work with them to develop and maintain currently accepted management practices throughout the clinical services, including development and presentation of the budgetary requirements for the clinical services to senior facility leadership.

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package. VHA Physician Total Rewards.

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: Full Time, Monday to Friday.

About the Syracuse VA Medical Center The Syracuse VA Medical Center, part of VA Healthcare Network Upstate New York opened its doors on June 14, 1953. The Medical Center utilizes state-of-the-art technology to provide a full range of patient care services, education and research. The 106-bed general medical and surgical facility provides comprehensive:

• Primary Care
• Mental Health
• Tertiary care
• Long-term care
• Physical Medicine
• Rehabilitation
• Neurology
• Oncology
• Dentistry
• Geriatrics

The Syracuse VA Medical Center also operates a Community Care Center that provides a community day program, mental health intensive case management program, homeless veteran program, and vocational services.

The Department of Veterans Affairs named the Syracuse VA Medical Center as a Center of Excellence for its Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom and Polytrauma programs. The Syracuse facility is also the principal referral center for neurosurgery and urological renal stone treatment, serving all of upstate New York and northern Pennsylvania veterans.

Syracuse VA provides primary and behavioral health care in a 13-county area of Central New York through eight community based outpatient clinics in Auburn, Binghampton, Carthage, Cortland, Ithaca, Massena, Oswego, and Rome.

The Syracuse VA Medical Center has an active affiliation with the State University of New York Upstate Medical University where over 650 of their students, residents, interns, and fellows receive training at the Medical Center each year. The Syracuse VA has eight affiliated nursing education programs and a physician assistant externship with LeMoyne College and a long-standing educational partnership with Syracuse University for field experience for audiology, speech pathology and social work students.

There is a $2.5 million research and development program that includes 95 studies on a variety of topics. The research program is fully accredited by the National Commission of Quality Assurance.

Syracuse recently completed a six-floor addition that houses a new spinal cord injury/disease center with a therapeutic pool, expanded outpatient services, dialysis program, and six new operating rooms. The Medical Center continues renovations for an expanded parking garage and recently completed construction on a new MRI suite, heart catheterization suite and a state-of-the-art emergency department. Information about the Syracuse area can be found at the Chamber of Commerce.

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