Steven Pflanz Appointed as Syracuse VA’s Chief of Staff
PRESS RELEASE
March 1, 2024
Syracuse , NY — In this role, Dr. Pflanz will oversee all clinical operations at the medical center and its 11 satellite clinics serving veterans across a 13-county area of central New York.
Dr. Pflanz is a Veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and is a board-certified psychiatrist with over two-decades of leadership experience in military medicine and VA health care. Retiring at the rank of Colonel, Dr. Pflanz served as the U.S. Air Force’s Chief Mental Health Officer before joining the Syracuse VA Medical Center in 2019.
An upstate New York native, Dr. Pflanz holds degrees from both Cornell University and the University of Rochester School of Medicine. He is credited with writing multiple research publications focused on suicide prevention and work stress. Additionally, he has presented widely on the topics of occupational psychiatry, suicide prevention, and psychiatry in film.
With 1,700 staff, the Syracuse VA Medical Center is a 189-bed general medical and surgical facility, 30 of which are dedicated to the Spinal Cord Injury unit. It also comprises a 48-bed Community Living Center and provides comprehensive Primary and Mental health care. The medical center operates seven Community Based Outpatient Clinics geographically dispersed throughout 13-counties in Central New York. These areas include Auburn, Binghamton, Potsdam, Oswego, Rome, Tompkins/Ithaca/Cortland and Watertown. For more information, visit www.syracuse.va.gov
