The Department of Veterans Affairs announces the detail of Dr. Skye McDougall as the acting director of the New Mexico VA Health Care System, following the planned departure of Dr. Jamie Robbins. Dr. Robbins will return to his permanent duties as the VISN 18 Chief Medical Officer.
“Dr. McDougall will provide exceptional leadership to the New Mexico VA Health Care System during this extremely important time,” said Lisa Freeman, Acting Director for Veterans Integrated Service Network 18. “Her experience and leadership will be valuable assets as we continue to improve access and quality of health care for the Veterans who entrust us with their health and well being.” She will begin her detail in Albuquerque on September 14, 2014.
Dr. McDougall is currently the Chief Medical Officer for VA’s Desert Pacific Health Care Network, also known as Veterans Integrated Service Network 22. The Desert Pacific Health Care Network provides health care to some 1.2 million Veterans through five hospitals and 29 clinics in Southern California and Southern Nevada.
Dr. McDougall is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and completed her post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Dr. McDougall has over 24 years of VA experience. She currently serves on national Veterans Health Administration committees focused on quality, systems improvement and research. In addition, she has served in varying acting Executive Leadership positions, most recently serving as the Acting Medical Center Director of VA Long Beach Healthcare System earlier this year.
The New Mexico Veterans Affairs Health Care System serves Veterans in New Mexico, southern Colorado, and west Texas. The Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center in Albuquerque is a Joint Commission accredited, VHA complexity level 1a, tertiary care referral center with a 24-hour Emergency Room. VA staffed Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) are located in: Artesia, Farmington, Gallup, Silver City, Raton, Santa Fe, and Northwest Metropolitan with Contract CBOCs in Alamogordo, Truth or Consequences, Espanola, Las Vegas, Taos, and Durango, Colorado.
Information from: New Mexico Veterans Affairs Health Care System