High need for geriatrics professionals as number of aging Veterans rises

With VA planning to expand several programs that allow aging Veterans to stay in their homes or live in home-like settings, positions with our geriatrics and extended care teams have more value than ever.

While there’s something to be said for the ability to stay in your own home and maintain your independence, we also operate facilities for those Veterans who need more support.

Working within any of these programs gives you a chance to offer a Veteran something they earned with their service: care with respect.

Investing in the future

Expansions of the Home-Based Primary Care (HBPC) and Veteran-Directed Care programs were announced in late January. These expanded services will provide medical care and caregiver services to housebound older Veterans. The Medical Foster Home program, which provides housing and services to Veterans who otherwise would be in nursing homes, will also be expanded.

The expansion ensures that our Office of Geriatrics and Extended Care can support a growing number of Veterans eligible for nursing home care. That number, they shared, is expected to double from 2 million to 4 million by 2039.

Investing in staff

Expanding these programs will undoubtedly result in more opportunities for a VA career serving elderly Veterans, but there are already hundreds of jobs available for those looking to specialize in geriatrics and extended care.

On the clinical side, we’re looking for physicians, physician assistants, registered nurses, nursing assistants and occupational therapists who want to assist Veterans with their health care needs. If a role exists as part of a Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT), it’s likely you’ll find that same role inside one of our extended care facilities or as part of a HBPC team.

However, there are other roles that work behind the scenes to keep these facilities and programs running. Administrative assistants, business managers, accountants, food service workers and even chaplains support the work done in our facilities and devote themselves to our mission. While these roles may not be part of clinical care, they are still valuable to those Veterans we serve, as well as their families.

Investing in you

Careers at VA come with strong starting salaries based on education, training, and experience. We also offer incentives for qualifying applicants, including recruitment bonuses, relocation bonuses and retention allowances, each providing up to 25% of the rate of basic pay.

In addition to competitive pay, we know that your time is valuable to you, so we offer 13 to 26 days of paid annual leave, as well as 13 sick days annually with no limit on accumulation, and 11 paid federal holidays each year.

We’ll also help you care for yourself and your family with Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB), which allow you to choose from a variety of health plans that all cover preexisting conditions.

Work at VA

If you have an interest in working with older Veterans, whether in one of our facilities or in their own homes, VA has an opportunity for you.

• READ about our residential settings and nursing homes.
• LEARN more about home- and community-based services.
• EXPLORE our hiring incentives.
• APPLY for a VA career.

NOTE: Positions listed in this post were open at the time of publication. All current available positions are listed at USAJobs.gov.