Cardiothoracic Physician Assistant

Full Job Description

Medcentrek is seeking a Cardiothoracic Physician Assistant (CTPA) to perform on-site Cardiothoracic Physician Assistant (CTPA) Services to beneficiaries of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center (Milwaukee VAMC). The contracted care shall cover the range of services to support a cardiothoracic surgery program.

The term of the contract is from April 1, 2025, through September 30, 2025, plus one 6-month option to extend through March 31, 2026. There are an estimated 611 workable hours in the time of each 6 months. The Cardiothoracic Physician Assistant will work 3 days per week (Tues, Wed, Thurs) and will provide on-call services on Tues, Wed, and Thurs night.

Work Schedule:

Contractor CTPA services will be provided Tuesdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Wednesdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Thursdays from 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. CTPAs shall be on time, in location, and available to perform services as scheduled.

On-Call Coverage: The contractor shall also be responsible for providing on-call coverage Tuesday 4:30 p.m. to Wednesday 8:30 a.m., Wednesday 5:30 p.m. to Thursday 7:30 a.m., and Thursday 1:00 p.m. to Friday 12:00 a.m. On-call means the scheduled CTPA will carry a cellular phone/pager and is able to report to the Milwaukee VAMC within 30 minutes. While on-call for the Milwaukee VAMC, the CTPAs covered by this task order are not to be concurrently on-call to both the Milwaukee VAMC and another institution for the same period. The contractor shall create a call schedule with a primary CTPA and a secondary CTPA on-call, thus always having someone available for VA call.

Qualifications:

License: CTPA shall have a current license to practice as a Physician Assistant in any State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States or the District of Columbia) when services are performed onsite on VA property.

All licenses held by the personnel working on this task order shall be full and unrestricted licenses. Contractor’s CTPAs who have current, full, and unrestricted licenses in one or more states, but who have, or ever had, a license restricted, suspended, revoked, voluntarily revoked, voluntarily surrendered pending action, or denied upon application may not be considered for the purposes of this task order.

Board Certification: CTPAs shall be Board Certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physicians Assistants (NCPPA).

Other Certifications: BLS and ACLS required.

Experience: Cardiothoracic Physician Assistants shall have a minimum of 1 year experience performing as the first or second surgical assistant to the resident or staff physician.

Job Duties:

Direct Patient Care: estimated 98% of total time

Scope of Care: Contractor’s CTPAs shall be responsible for providing the following duties within their Scope of Practice and possessing the skills below, including but not limited to:

· Assist in the operating room as the first or second surgical assistant to the resident or staff physician to help open and close all incisions pertinent to CT surgery, harvest veins and other duties as directed.

· In an emergency, pending arrival of a physician, the CTPA may perform emergency care within their Scope of Practice and according to the Milwaukee VAMC policies and procedures. The CTPA may perform any procedure; administer or order any medications that would normally be ordered; order any emergency resuscitative drugs required during an attempted Code procedure until a senior staff physician or resident physician is present; and perform CPR and assist in any capacity, including mechanical resuscitation or surgical operative resuscitation in accordance with current Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation standards, required by the physician at hand. The CTPA shall also perform Basic Life Support (BLS in accordance with BLS protocols, to include defibrillation and cardioversion IF the CTPA has current documentation of successful BLS course completion.

· Patient treatment documentation to any/all clinical records will occur immediately following the procedure and may include documenting in the patient’s electronic medical record. VA uses an electronic medical record system and therefore, electronic signatures will be required. The CTPA will document and sign all patient notes within 4 hours of the encounter.

· Comply with appropriate and applicable policies, procedures, rules, and regulations of the Milwaukee VAMC. Examples include narcotic control and use, personnel policies, infection control, and medical records.

· The CTPA shall be physically present in the facility to perform the required services as specified in this task order. All patient encounters are entered into the VA electronic health record and shall provide documentation of workload.

· Communication of Test Results: Mechanisms must be in-place to provide notification of test results for patients receiving care in accordance with VHA Directive 1088, Communicating Test Results to Providers and Patients.

· Patient Safety Compliance and Reporting: Contractor’s CTPAs shall follow all established patient safety and infection control standards of care. Contractor’s CTPAs shall make every effort to prevent medication errors, falls, and patient injury caused by acts of commission or omission in the delivery of care. All events related to patient injury, medication errors, and other breeches of patient safety shall be documented in the medical record of those impacted and disclosed to the patient or surrogate. As soon as practicable (but within 24 hours) Contractor’s CTPAs shall notify COR of incident and submit an entry in the VA Patient Safety Reporting System, following up with COR as required or requested.

Job Types: Full-time, Contract

Pay: $115.00 – $130.00 per hour

Expected hours: 23.5 per week

Medical Specialty:

• Cardiology
• Cardiothoracic Critical & Intensive Care
• Cardiovascular Surgery
• Interventional Cardiology

Schedule:

• 10 hour shift
• 8 hour shift
• Day shift
• Monday to Friday

Work Location: In person