Scott R. Isaacks FACHE

Having been appointed to this position in November 2014, Mr. Isaacks has been responsible for the operation of this 1A high complexity health care system serving more than 80,000 veterans with greater than 3,300 staff with an annual operating budget of greater than $700 million. In this role, he has lead improvements that have resulted in the Charleston VAHCS being recognized as a top performer for quality of care and efficiency, both within VA and nationally amongst public and private sector hospitals and health care systems. Mr. Isaacks has also served in a broad range of leadership positions throughout his 27-year VA career, to include roles serving as Interim Director and CEO of several other complex health care systems and as the Interim Network Director, VA Southeast Network (VISN7), from September 2019 to June 2020 with responsibility for leadership of an 8 hospital health care system serving more than 1.2 million veterans with more than 22,000 staff and an annual operating budget of $4.5 billion. Mr. Isaacks has also served on numerous national committees and boards, both within the Department of Veterans Affairs and throughout the health care industry.

The Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center and its six community-based outpatient clinic (CBOCs) serve approximately 80,000 Veterans along the South Carolina and Georgia coast, providing comprehensive primary, mental health, and specialty care. Charleston VAHCS provides nearly 1-million outpatient visits and 3,700 inpatient stays each year and serves as a regional referral center for a broad range of medical specialties. Through a close affiliation with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), Charleston VAMC is also a major teaching hospital and a top-10 funded VA research facility with more than 94 principal investigators performing more than 300 studies, funded in excess of $31.2M annually. Ralph H. Johnson VA Health Care System has received multiple 5-star rankings acknowledging Charleston as performing in the top 10% of all VA facilities for that last 4-years, according to the VA’s Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning Value (SAIL) model), as well as achieving the highest 5-star ranking for the health system’s Nursing Home/Community Living Center.

Mr. Isaacks began his VA career at the Miami VAMC in 1992 as an Administrative Resident. He has held a variety of administrative and clinical management positions in both clinical and administrative services at the Amarillo, Miami, Birmingham and Charleston VA Medical Centers to include serving as an Assistant Medical Center Director and Associate Medical Center/Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Isaacks earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and Economics with honors from the University of Miami and a Master of Business Administration Degree with a concentration in healthcare management from the University of Tennessee. Awards and honors that Mr. Isaacks has received include Fellow status in the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and American Academy of Medical Administrators (AAMA), board membership in the AAMA Federal Board of Directors, ACHE Regent Advisory Committee, South Carolina Hospital Association, South Carolina Research Foundation, Healthy SC Initiative, and the American Heart Association. Mr. Isaacks is a recipient of the SC Hospital Association Zero Harm Leadership Award, ACHE Regents Award, American Academy of Medical Administrators Young Healthcare Executive Award and the Federal Executive Association Leader of the Year.