Iowa City Veterans Affairs to hire 11 mental health professionals

From a press release

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki recently announced the department would add approximately 1,600 mental health clinicians as well as nearly 300 support staff to its existing workforce.  The VA estimates that 10 clinicians and 1 support personnel will be hired to support mental health operations at the Iowa City VA Health Care System. 

VA has an existing workforce of 20,696 mental health staff that includes nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers. Currently, 123 mental health clinicians and support staff work locally supporting Veterans in the Iowa City VA coverage area of eastern Iowa and western Illinois.

VA anticipates the majority of mental health clinicians and support staff will be hired locally within approximately six months and the most hard-to-fill positions filled by the end of the second quarter of 2013. 

“Mental health services must be closely aligned with Veterans' needs and fully integrated with health care facility operations,” said VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Robert Petzel. “Improving access to mental health services will help support the current and future Veterans who depend on VA for these vital services.”

Interested mental health care providers can find additional information about VA careers online at

www.va.careers.va.gov.  Open positions will be announced online at USA Jobs (

www.usajobs.gov).