John Patrick, director of the Portland Veterans Administration Medical Center, is leaving at the end of this month to take a new post in Nashville.

Patrick has been with the Portland VA Medical Center for nearly three years. He directed the center’s 11-facility, 4,000-employee center that provides medical care for 80,000 military veterans in the region.

Patrick will be the new director of the Department of Veterans Affairs MidSouth Healthcare Veterans Integrated Service Network 9 in Tennessee.

Brian W. Westfield, director of the Walla Walla VA Medical Center, will serve as Portland’s interim director beginning in June until the position is filled.

Patrick began his career with the VA in 1983, working in various clinical and administrative positions across the country. He has been the Medical Center Director in Portland since July 2010.