Patient Representative

Full Job Description

This position is located within the VA Long Beach Healthcare System (VALBHS), Executive Leadership Office, and serves as the Patient Representative (Patient Advocate) to the Facility Director.

This position covers a variety of difficult and/or complex patient concerns, issues, and contacts for the Facility with the goal of providing resolution.

Welcome to VA Long Beach Tibor Rubin - History To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/31/2026.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service.

An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials.

If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement.

In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade.

Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

GS-11 You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Federal Laws, VA eligibility regulations and directives governing medical benefits for Veterans and changes which affect these benefits; facility policies, procedures, and organizational structure; services available; Privacy Act, Freedom of Information Act, Advance Directives Act, and capabilities of clinics.

(must be in resume) OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D.

or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related..

OR, (attach transcripts) Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education.

Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Analytical Reasoning Conflict Management Customer Service Organizational Awareness Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social).

Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment.

You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week.

Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities.

Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

Physical Requirements: The work includes walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items, and occasionally assisting with a wheelchair.

In some instances, relationships with patients and caregivers can become intense and the incumbent is constantly exposed to high levels of stress and anxiety.

This position demands emotional stability, as the incumbent is deeply involved with many challenging, seriously ill, and/or dying patients and their caregivers.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Major Duties:

Duties include but are not limited to: Manage the facility VCCR process, including complaint resolution, data capture and analysis of issues/complaints to make system improvements.

Assist SLAs and front-line staff in resolving issues that occur at the point of service, while also addressing more complex complaints that were not able to be resolved at the point of service.

Explore all avenues, crossing all lines of authority and responsibility within the medical facility, in order to properly identify the nature and scope of the problem and to initiate appropriate action to expedite a resolution.

Review appropriate documentation and records, and discusses with personnel or witnesses regarding any practice that appears to violate the patient's rights or which cause unnecessary discomfort or embarrassment to patients, their family, or the health care facility and reports such findings with recommendations for improvement to the Facility Director and/or the Facility Quad/Pentad.

Comprehend and explain numerous government laws, directives, and policies is required to provide information to individuals representing various levels of educational and cultural backgrounds.

Serve as the liaison between the Facility, patients, staff, and the community, ensuring Patient Rights and Responsibilities, advocacy, and services are available.

Assist patients in understanding their rights, in addition to, their responsibilities.

Provide a channel through which patients can seek solutions to problems, concerns, and unmet needs, recognizing that complaints are a gap between service expectations and the actual experience of the patient.

Collaborate with health care teams, Service Chiefs, and management to facilitate resolution to problems beyond the capability of front-line staff and participate in resolution of system problems by presenting the patient's perspective of the problem and the desired resolution.

Ensure VHA Patient Advocacy goals, policy and requirements are met by collecting, analyzing, and evaluating relevant data, and preparing meaningful reports based on that data.

Maintain the attitude of taking a negative experience and turning it into a positive, memorable experience for patients and employees.

Collaborate with Public Affairs to include patients' feedback and increase community and Veteran awareness of VA health care resources.

Work Schedule: Full Time, Monday to Friday 7:00am to 3:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Telework: Not Available Position Description/PD#: Patient Representative/PD13077A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Available