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Please be aware of the current renovations for the Birmingham Outpatient Clinic (Annex) Parking deck over the next six to seven months. Contractors will initiate construction from the top of the parking deck, progressing downwards through each floor in the following weeks and months.

Interim Assistant Medical Center Director

Jay Cohen PhD

Interim Assistant Director

VA Birmingham health care

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We are pleased to announce that Jay L. Cohen, PhD, is joining us as the Interim Assistant Director of the Birmingham VA Health Care System.

Dr. Cohen has proudly served with the Department of Veterans Affairs since 2006 in various roles, and we are delighted to welcome him to our leadership team.

Dr. Cohen brings a wealth of experience, most recently serving as Chief of Staff for the VHA Office of Mental Health & Suicide Prevention (OMHSP) since 2020. In that role, he oversaw business operations, managed a $250 million budget, developed and implemented standard work processes and procedures for strategic action planning, budget and resource management, and office modernization. His efforts also focused on employee development and engagement, with a specific emphasis on diversity and inclusion, and fostering a culture of high reliability.

Dr. Cohen earned his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Wayne State University in 2006. His VA journey began that year as a trainee, completing his psychology residency at the VA Ann Arbor Health Care System, and then joining the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center as the Local Recovery Coordinator the following year. In 2010, he was appointed Associate Chief of Staff for Mental Health at the Battle Creek VA Medical Center in Michigan, where he served for nearly six years before joining VHA Central Office in 2016 as a Quality Improvement and Implementation Consultant. Outside of his professional life, Jay enjoys watching and playing sports, practicing kung fu, singing karaoke, and quoting movies.

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