Physician Specialist, Adult Primary Care

Ambulatory Care Network – Metro Health Center Group
Star Clinic & H. Claude Hudson Comprehensive Health Center

Salary Ranges: $21, 069.24 – $28,248.99 Monthly
$252,830.88 -$338,987.88 Annually

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS) is the second largest municipal health system in the nation. Through its integrated system of 25 health centers and four (4) hospitals– DHS annually provides direct primary care to nearly 500,000 patients, employs over 23,000 staff, and has an annual budget of over $6.9 billion. For additional information regarding DHS please visit www.dhs.lacounty.gov.

The Primary Care Clinics at Star Clinic and H. Claude Hudson Comprehensive Health Center is seeking a highly qualified Physician Specialist. This position will be co-located at both clinics.

Position:

The physician specialist position is assigned to two facilities within the Ambulatory Care Network (ACN): Star Clinic and H. Claude Hudson Comprehensive Health Center. The Star Clinic is located in the Skid Row area. It is uniquely situated as a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) providing integrated primary care to individuals experiencing homelessness or are housing insecure and have complex medical and behavioral health conditions. H. Claude Hudson Comprehensive Health Center is a long-standing community health center nearby in South Los Angeles that provides comprehensive services, including primary care, specialty care, urgent care, and ancillary services. The physician specialist will spend 80% of their time providing direct patient care to empaneled patients at both sites, with non-direct patient care for the remaining time. The position is envisioned to be evenly split between both sites, but some variation may be possible upon agreement between the physician and site leadership. The physician specialist will have the flexibility to participate in and/or lead Quality Improvement projects surrounding operations at Star Clinic. Ongoing projects at Star Clinic the clinician can become involved in include our Transitions of Care Program, our long-acting injection program, our MAT program, our Hepatitis C program and our Home Visit program.

Responsibilities include but not limited to the following:

• Perform all duties associated with direct primary care patient activities, including: assessment and management of primacy care patient concerns; use trauma informed communication in patient interactions; order, review, and assess diagnostic test results; coordinate care with subspecialist colleagues, housing case managers, and outside hospitals; document patient encounters in electronic health record (EHR ORCHID); and manage EHR inbox messages in a timely manner.
• Conduct social and behavioral determinants of health (SBDOH) screening for all patients; participate in weekly huddles and case conferences with a multi-disciplinary team, inclusive of nurse care managers, health educators, community health workers, and behavioral health professionals to address SBDOH.
• Complete expected diagnostic screening assessments for routine health maintenance including vaccine preventable disease, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and osteoporosis as well as cervical, breast, colon, and prostate cancer.
• Provide evaluation and treatment for urgent conditions as they arise, including viral infections, minor injuries, joint complaints, rashes, gastrointestinal complaints, and skin and soft tissue infections.
• Provide comprehensive substance use disorder treatment and support for conditions such as alcohol use disorder, methamphetamine use disorder and opioid use disorder including comprehensive medication assisted treatment.
• Provide routine treatment for mild to moderate behavioral health conditions including depression, anxiety, and grief and coordinate with mental health providers for linkage to psychiatric care for psychotic illness and other serious persistent mental illness
• Develop individualized treatment plans for patients with primary care conditions common to vulnerable and underserved populations
• Provide comprehensive care coordination to patient’s care teams including coordination with CHWs, MCWs, LCSWs, assigned ICMS, housing coordinators, mental health providers, medical specialists and more.
• The majority of direct patient care will be provided during scheduled face-to-face patient encounters, but will also include a mixture of telephone visits, home/shelter visits (at Star), and unscheduled walk-in visits.
• Positive care is provided at Star Clinic with a Primary Care HIV specialist. Options to expand HIV training and AAHIVS certification are available for interested providers.
• Supervisory Patient Care:
  • Supervise and train residents, medical students, NP, or PA students if/when they are rotating through for educational experiences.
  • Oversee all clinical care rendered by reviewing individual patient cases, repeating key exam components, signing off on all documentation.
  • Champion providing culturally tailored, trauma informed care to vulnerable populations with structural competencies to navigate housing and social resources along HUD’s continuum of care.
  • Offer assessment of individual resident and student record of achievement as needed.

Minimum Requirements:

• To be eligible to apply, the physician specialist will complete resident and have board eligibility in internal medicine or family medicine and have experience working with vulnerable populations with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders as well as experience leading QI initiatives.
• California State Physician and Surgeon’s Certificate authorized by the Board of Medical Examiners of the State of California

Benefits include:

• Medical, Dental, Life Insurance, Accidental Death Insurance, Dependent Term Life Insurance, Medical Coverage Protection (LTD Health Insurance), Health Care and Dependent Care Spending Accounts.
• Horizons 457 Company Contribution
• Holidays – Enjoy an average of 13 paid holidays each year
• Paid Vacation – You receive 80 hours per year after your first year of service, 120 hours per year after 4 years and an additional 8 hours each year until 200 hours annual amount is reached.
• Sick Leave – You can receive 80 hours per year in your 1st year, 88 hours from your 2nd to 4th year, and 96 hours from your 5th year onwards.
• Board Certification Bonus (5.5% of base salary monthly)
• Primary Care Differential: Within 30 days of pensionability determination, full-time DHS Physicians responsible for providing (1.0 FTE) direct patient care in primary care for their panel (i.e., 8 scheduled and 2 unscheduled half-day sessions of primary care work/panel case management duties per week) shall receive 10% of the base salary
• Non-MegaFlex (NMF) Retention Bonus – $14,000: Annual bonus paid within 60 days of pensionability determination and available to all permanent and full-time employees within this class
• Eligibility for Loan Forgiveness: Position may be eligible for loan forgiveness through certain state or federal programs. Additional information about loan forgiveness can be found at: Student Loan Opportunities​ – LADHS
• Medical, Dental, Life Insurance, Accidental Death Insurance, Dependent Term Life Insurance, Medical Coverage Protection (LTD Health Insurance), Health Care and Dependent Care Spending Accounts
• Horizons 457 Company Contribution
• Holidays – Enjoy an average of 13 paid holidays each year
• Paid Vacation – You receive 80 hours per year after your first year of service, 120 hours per year after 4 years and an additional 8 hours each year until 200 hours annual amount is reached
• Sick Leave – You can receive 80 hours per year in your 1st year, 88 hours from your 2nd to 4th year, and 96 hours from your 5th year onwards
• Board Certification Bonus (5.5% of base salary monthly)
•  Primary Care Differential: Within 30 days of pensionability determination, full-time DHS Physicians responsible for providing (1.0 FTE) direct patient care in primary care for their panel (i.e., 8 scheduled and 2 unscheduled half-day sessions of primary care work/panel case management duties per week) shall receive 10% of the base salary
• Non-MegaFlex (NMF) Retention Bonus – $14,000: Annual bonus paid within 60 days of pensionability determination and available to all permanent and full-time employees within this class
• Eligibility for Loan Forgiveness: Position may be eligible for loan forgiveness through certain state or federal programs. Additional information about loan forgiveness can be found at: Student Loan Opportunities – LADHS

Candidates must currently 1. Hold a permanent County of Los Angeles payroll title of Physician Specialist to be considered for transfer 2. Reachable on a DHS certification list to be considered for a promotion OR 3. Be willing to submit new LA County employment application to become a new hire.

Interested candidates must complete the following to apply:

1. Submit a cover letter referencing position and resume below to:

Semaj Hughes
Staff Analyst, Primary Care Physician Recruitment and Retention
Phone: (213)691-3542
E-mail: Shughes2@dhs.lacounty.gov

2. Apply at: PHYSICIAN SPECIALIST (NON-MEGAFLEX) (VARIOUS SPECIALTIES) JOB POSTING to be eligible for county employment. Successful candidates will remain on the eligible register for a period of twelve (12) months. Please contact Semaj Hughes once application results are received.

RESUMES WILL BE ACCEPTED UNTIL THE NEEDS OF THE DEPARTMENT ARE MET
ONLY THE MOST QUALIFIED CANDIDATES WILL BE SCHEDULED FOR AN INTERVIEW
THIS IS NOT A CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATION