A letter from the Owner

August 29, 2007

Dear Physical Therapist:

Thank you for expressing interest in employment at Urbana Physical Therapy.  I would like to tell you a little more about our practice and the benefits, both tangible and intangible, that you would receive in working here.

I began the practice in 1989 after working in hospitals for nine years.  I wanted to own a business that honored God and that was committed to clinical excellence, especially in the areas of orthopedics and spinal pain.  I wanted to create an environment in which patients came first.  I wanted to avoid the assembly line approach to PT that I had seen in so many places. 

To a large extent we have accomplished this.  Each new patient gets a full hour for evaluation and initial treatment.  Subsequent visits usually last one hour. Each patient receives 30 minutes one-on-one time with a PT or PTA.  The patient is then escorted to our gym for 30 minutes of professionally supervised exercise.  Of course, this can change based on individual patient needs.  We get great results and our patients love coming here.

As a former workaholic, I wanted to start a business in which it was possible to keep a balance between professional and personal life, so that family time would not take a back seat to business/professional activities.  We do not work weekends! We schedule each full time clinician for 35 hours of patient care in a 4-day workweek.  This gives time for documentation and a day off during the week to do whatever you want.

In 2003 we moved into our brand new, state-of-the-art 6500 square foot facility.    In addition to the usual private treatment rooms, we have a large gym and a therapeutic pool.  We are now able to provide services that have not been offered in our community, including aquatic therapy, work hardening and functional capacity evaluations, women’s health, and various wellness programs.  This is an exciting time for us!

Salaries are competitive and negotiable.  I believe the benefit package is second to none.  As I said, each contract is negotiable so if you have particular needs, we can arrive at something that works for both of us.  Please click on the benefits button. 

I should elaborate on a couple of the benefits that our employees appreciate the most.  We offer a third week of vacation in the second year of employment.  Many employers don’t offer this at all or require their employees to work 5 or even 10 years before getting a third week of vacation.  We also give time off for Good Friday and the Friday after Thanksgiving.  These are important family times for many of us.

The other benefit that our employees appreciate most is our SEP IRA retirement plan.  Unlike some plans that require an employee to make a contribution before the employer contributes, this retirement plan is completely funded by the employer.   The employee pays nothing.  The money is theirs to keep even if they work only a year.  Depending on the profitability of the company, contributions have ranged from 3% to 15% of each person’s salary.  In 2006 we contributed 10% of each person’s salary to the retirement fund.  Nobody (I mean nobody!) offers anything that good.  PTs who have come here from other facilities willingly took the same salary because they realized this benefit gave them two raises: 1. Their retirement program got lots of free money that did not depend on what they personally contributed.  2. They no longer had to contribute a percentage of their income to get a matching employer contribution in their retirement plan, so their take-home pay was higher.

Health Insurance premiums are always on the rise.  We are one of the few remaining employers that pay the full cost of health care premiums.  Virtually all of them require the employee to pay a portion of the premium.  Our insurance representative calls me a dinosaur because I still insist on doing this.  We also offer a Health Savings Account.
 
In addition to salaries and benefits, we offer many intangibles that would interest a new graduate or an experienced PT.  This developed out of my own experience as a new PT 27 years ago as well as listening to those PTs who have come on board with us.

1. A two-week orientation program: This allows the new graduate to progress to a full clinical schedule at his or her own pace.  Even those with the best clinical education have to make an adjustment in a new facility.  You will learn our policies and procedures, how we document, and even have an opportunity to shadow me (or one of the other PTs) for a day or more.  We even give you up to 1.5 hours for your first few evaluations.  We don’t believe in the sink or swim method.  It’s not good for you and it’s not good for our patients.  We want you to be comfortable and confident in your new job.

2. Continuing Education is a big part of any PT’s career, but is especially important for the new graduate.  At UPT your continuing education begins immediately.   We have bi-weekly clinical staff meetings for PTs and PTAs.  We review patient cases as well as have a clinical presentation on some aspect of patient care. 

We send our new graduates away for extensive training in neuromuscular therapy in their first six months of employment.  This course is one weekend a month for five months.

We offer onsite seminars twice a year.  This allows all staff to be on the same page clinically and eliminates the need to be away from home for extended lengths of time.  We are currently progressing through the Mulligan approach and will have our second seminar in the series this fall.

We often send our clinical staff out for other seminars as the need arises.

3. Mentoring is a hot topic in the profession these days.  I have been a PT for 27 years and in private practice for 18 years.  We have the personnel, resources, and interest to help you with your personal, clinical, and educational goals.  I want to make it much easier for you than it was for me when I first started.

4. Bi-weekly staff meetings: The entire UPT staff gets together for lunch every two weeks.  The company provides the meal.  After lunch we have a brief time of prayer and sharing followed by a review of company statistics and the written success stories of our patients.  The entire meeting is positive and fun.   

5. Morning devotional time: This is, of course, optional, but many of us get together at 7:30 AM for a brief time of scripture and prayer for our patients and for one another.  I think this gives us an edge each day.  Our patients often improve despite our clinical limitations.

Urbana Physical Therapy is truly a great place to work!

If you are at all interested in working here, I suggest that you come spend a day or half day with us.  This will allow you to get a glimpse of how we operate both clinically and interpersonally.  I must emphasize, however, that, while we have a position to be filled, we are not interested in just anybody with a license and skill.  We want a professional who is cheerful and willing to walk the second mile in patient care and in getting along with his or her co-workers.  Our work environment is too good to bring in someone who is not a good match.

If you have questions or would like to set up at time to get together, call me here at the office or at home at 937-653-8086.

Sincerely,

Chris Cotter, PT