Pulmonologist/Critical Care Physician

Pulmonologist/Critical Care Physician with the VA - Answer the Call to Care for our Veterans

Salisbury W.G. (Bill) Hefner  VA Medical Center

Salisbury, North Carolina

You are invited to join the collegial team at the Salisbury VA Medical Center where you’ll enjoy an excellent work/life balance and have quality time to spend with each of your patients, providing pulmonary care in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Occasionally, outpatient clinic responsibilities may include seeing patients at an off-site multi-specialty clinic located in Charlotte, NC.

You should have expertise in general pulmonary, critical care, elective and emergent bronchoscopy procedures  and, advanced bronchoscopy (EBUS, navigational bronchoscopy) or sleep medicine is desired but not essential.

You will see inpatient consults and provide ICU/critical care coverage in Salisbury and provide first on-call coverage during evenings, nights and weekend hours and on holidays on a rotating basis (distributed across 5 FTE).  Call is not inhouse and is shared equally among the team.

Salisbury VAMC is a training site for Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellows so an academic interest in teaching fellows, residents, medical students and physician assistant students is essential as is having an active interest in clinical research and being willing to participate regularly in the CME program organized by the Medicine Service. Academic affiliation and faculty appointment are available with Wake Forest School of Medicine and Edwards Via College of Osteopathic Medicine.

The Medical Center is a 484-bed medical center that supports community-based outpatient clinics in nearby Charlotte and Winston-Salem, NC. Winston-Salem is the compensation and pension (C&P) clinic of jurisdiction for the State of North Carolina, facilitating the rating of veterans for compensation and pension purposes. Inpatient services are provided for acute medicine, cardiology, surgery, psychiatry, physical rehabilitation, subacute and extended care, neuropsychiatry services, psychiatric intensive care, and geropsychiatry. Primary and specialized outpatient services are provided at the medical center and outpatient clinics. The medical center is affiliated with Wake Forest University School of Medicine, with a focus on resident involvement in primary care, dermatology, rehabilitation, ophthalmology, and psychiatry. Salisbury VAMC is recognized as one of the largest employers in Rowan County and enjoys the recognition and respect of the community through an active outreach program. The Salisbury VA National Cemetery has expanded to the grounds of the Medical Center, creating sufficient space for veteran burials for the next 50 years.

Medical and educational affiliation is through Wake Forest University and Wake Forest Baptist Health. Academic appointments are available.  The medical center has 31 Med/Surg beds, 8 ICU beds, 18 beds in same-day surgery and 1 endoscopy suite.  Special programs include a Dementia Unit, Home Based Primary Care, a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Clinic Team, a Substance Abuse Treatment Program, Adult Day Health Care, Mental Health Intensive Case Management, and Combat Veterans Treatment.

Nestled in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, Salisbury provides citizens and visitors with a premier location for enjoying a blend of urban and rural lifestyles. Residents benefit from the quiet more relaxed atmosphere of a smaller community, while appreciating the quick access to the larger metro areas of Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and High Point. With direct availability to major interstates and highways, the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and the sandy beaches along the Atlantic coastline become an easy and enjoyable drive for a quick get-away. And Rowan County is strategically located close to three international airports and numerous regional airports, in addition to being a frequent stop for the Amtrak rail service.

Salisbury is just an hour’s drive from Charlotte and the Greensboro and Winston-Salem areas where you’ll find both a quiet countryside filled with wineries and pick-your-own farms, and a bustling downtown district with breweries, historic trolleys, a thriving arts scene, and more.  Salisbury is the home to famed North Carolina soft drink, Cheerwine, and the regional supermarket Food Lion. Salisbury is the birthplace of former US Senator Elizabeth Dole, financier and philanthropist Julian H. Robertson and retired NBA player Bobby Jackson.  Salisbury is the site of a noted prisoner of war camp during the American Civil War and has ten National Register historic districts with many historic homes and commercial buildings dating from the 19th century and early 20th century, several of which are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Salisbury also has a strong record of historic preservation.

So, if you’re interested in caring for veterans in a beautiful setting, while enjoying a work/life balance difficult to find in the private sector, this is an opportunity you need to check out.  For more information, Email your CV to Don Rainwater, National Healthcare Recruitment Consultant at don.rainwater@va.gov.  Your inquiry will be held in confidence.

The VA offers benefits that are had to match in the private sector and include:

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 per year with unlimited carry over! Unused sick leave can be used to extend creditable service time at retirement! 
• 10 Paid federal holidays with pay
• Possible 5 Days paid Authorized Absence to attend CME

Insurance:

• Health Insurance: VA employees have an outstanding number of health insurance plans from which to choose (premiums are partially paid by VA)
• 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-FRAE basic benefits (pension); and 3) Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) which is a 401K-type plan
• How is the pension funded? VA employees hired after January 1, 2014 automatically contribute 4.4% of their salary each pay period and the VA contributes 8.3% of the employee's salary each pay period for a total annual contribution percentage equal to 12.7% of the employee's salary
• Like 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 2016, employees under the age of 50 may contribute up to $18,000, while those over age 50 are eligible to make catch-up contributions that allow them to defer up to $24,000
• 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