As Assistant Director, Mr. Scotchlas has responsibility for community-based outpatient operations at eight sites of care across southwest Florida as part of the nation’s seventh-busiest VA healthcare system, with 12,000 admissions and 1.5 million outpatient visits annually.

Mr. Scotchlas is also the site executive for the Lee County Healthcare Center, in Cape Coral, Florida, a highly complex ambulatory care center providing outpatient medical, surgical, mental health, and sub-specialty care.

Prior to this role, Mr. Scotchlas served as the Health Systems Specialist to the Director and as Administrative Officer for the Department of Medicine, overseeing operations in emergency medicine, inpatient care, outpatient procedures, and thirteen specialty group practices. Mr. Scotchlas started with VA in 2012 as an Administrative Fellow in the Graduate Health Administration Training Program (GHATP) at the VA Sunshine Healthcare Network.

Beginning his healthcare career in 2006, he worked as both a Paramedic and an Emergency Medical Technician for several 911-based services in Northeastern Pennsylvania. He has also held an administrative intern position at the Washington DC, and Wilkes-Barre, PA, VA Medical Centers and has served an administrative resident role at Community Life Support Systems.

Mr. Scotchlas holds a Master of Healthcare Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from The University of Scranton, Pennsylvania. He is an active member of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), serving on the Western Florida Chapter Board of Directors, and is board certified in healthcare management. He is also the recipient of the Regent’s Award from ACHE in 2015 and a Distinguished Service Award from the NEPA Healthcare Management Forum in 2012.