Patient Relations Assistant

Summary

West Palm Beach VA Medical Center is looking for Program Support Assistant Guest Relations for Patient Advocacy with primary duties and responsibilities supporting the Veteran Experience Officer. The position is in Patient Advocate Section under the Veteran Experience Officer. They are physically located at or near a main entrance of the campus and/or supporting the Information Desk. This position has the direct support for Guest Relations Information, Escort Services and wheelchair management.

Duties

The Patient Relations Assistant performs the required duties for the Guest Relations Program in the Patient Advocate office. The program provides Veterans, their families, and visitors with staff who can quickly respond to inquiries, identify problems, and help improve the experience of those visiting the campus. The services are designed to meet customers' immediate needs, including navigation, directions, and information assistance. Because navigating the campus is a key challenge for patients, staff will focus on providing a positive first impression. For those who do not know how to access medical center programs and/or services, staff will provide personal assistance. Additional Duties Include But Not Limited To: Serves as the initial and final point of contact for guests entering and leaving the facility and is a key influence on patient/public perception. Performs these responsibilities using skills that will foster a culture of care at the VA facility. Assigned to the Patient Advocate Office, which reports to the Medical Center Director. Provides customer service and guest relations, showing understanding, friendliness, courtesy, tact, empathy, cooperation, concern, politeness, respect, and dignity to others; relates well to people from varied backgrounds and different situations. Receive, greet, and direct callers by phone and in person with precise, clear instructions. Provide information about the organization, its functions, and activities. Provide requested assistance to ease the customer experience. Direct Veterans, visitors, and callers to the appropriate staff member and/or department based on the request or by determining the nature of the need, and initiate service recovery when needed. Takes accurate messages and ensures their delivery to support a responsive culture to the customer. Provide personal wayfinding assistance and often take Veterans and visitors to locations when they have difficulty following instructions. Provide excellent customer service by phone and face-to-face. Ensure customers are greeted with respect and dignity. Inquiries vary widely, and the information provided requires explaining office functions, describing specific requirements, providing basic instructions, or a similar level of detail. Inquiries received sometimes require evaluation to determine the most useful appropriate information, resolve inconsistencies in available information, or provide alternatives. Addresses customers by answering questions concerning the location of outpatient clinics, inpatient area pharmacy, radiology and lab services, and other areas of the medical center. Ability to calmly and courteously assist individuals who are upset or irate and demonstrate the ability to manage challenging situations and diffuse potentially volatile situations with customers using proper resources (i.e., campus police). Meets the demands of a busy facility by providing simple, understandable instructions and/or directions. Communicate effectively with individuals from varied backgrounds, including those with mental and/or physical health problems. Use interpersonal communication skills that foster effective working relationships with Veterans, volunteers, staff, community groups, students, business associates, and the general public. Two Different Work Schedules Being Offered: Monday - Friday, 7:30 am to 4:00 pm. OR Wednesday- Sunday, Nights, Weekends, and Holidays. Rotating tours of duty as needed. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Patient Relations Assistant/PD03140A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized. Requirements

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/19/2026. 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-05 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-04. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education s described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-04 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: answering phones and log calls; provides directions and assistance to patients and guests; provides friendly, excellent customer service; greeting patients and offering assistance for appointments; locates appointments in computer system; reports safety concerns. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed four (4) years above high school. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond the first 60 semester hours is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Veteran and Customer Focus: Understands the VA's mission and uses this knowledge to guide actions; provides outstanding customer service and represents the organization effectively. Customer Service: Works and communicates with clients and customers (e.g., any individuals who use or receive the services or products that your work unit provides, including individuals who work in your agency or in other agencies or organizations outside the Government) to satisfy their expectations. Committed to quality services. Interpersonal Skills: Shows understanding, friendliness, courtesy, tact, empathy, concern, and politeness to others; develops and maintains effective relationships with others; may include effectively dealing with individuals who are difficult, hostile, or distressed; relates well to people from varied backgrounds and different situations; is sensitive to cultural diversity, race, gender, disabilities, and other individual differences. Information Management: Identifies a need for and knows where or how to gather information, organizes and maintains information or information management systems. 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: Required to stand and walk for prolonged periods of time along with sitting at computer for extended periods of time to perform work. May be required to push a wheelchair, bend or kneel to obtain information or assist patients. Is required to carry light objects such as files, clipboards, medical records, etc. 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/.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. How You Will Be Evaluated

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment. The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position. For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document. Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position. It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment. Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members. Other Information

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act. Whole Health Statement: The VA Sunshine Healthcare Network (VISN 8) advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model that is based in a partnership across time, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being.