Benefits:

401(k)
Bonus based on performance
Employee discounts
Free uniforms
Paid time off
Relocation bonus

Physical Therapist / Clinic Director

You know that little voice you have at work that says, “If they would just let me run this place…”?
We may be interested in talking to that voice.

Healing Arts Center is looking for an experienced Physical Therapist to lead one of our outpatient clinic locations.

And by “lead,” we do not mean:

Congratulations, you are now Clinic Director. Here is an extra spreadsheet and absolutely no authority.

We mean actually lead it.

You will treat patients.
You will work alongside PTAs and other members of the clinic team.
You will help set the tone.
You will know what is happening in your clinic.
You will notice when something is beginning to go sideways before somebody from another location has to discover it.
You will help solve problems.
You will help develop people.
And over time, we want you to feel some genuine ownership over whether your location succeeds.

If that sounds exciting rather than terrifying, keep reading.

First, let's acknowledge something.

The physical therapy industry has developed some fairly stupid habits.

We have somehow decided that a person with a doctorate, years of clinical education, and responsibility for actual human beings should spend large portions of the day:

racing between treatment tables,
clicking boxes,
chasing units,
fixing scheduling problems,
answering questions nobody else wants to answer,
and then finishing notes at home because apparently seeing your family is an optional benefit.

We aren't interested in building that.

We are also not interested in the opposite extreme, where "work-life balance" becomes code for nobody taking responsibility for anything.

There is a middle ground.

We call it:

Being a professional adult and running a good clinic.

That's what we are looking for.

What is this job, exactly?

The simplest description is:

You are the clinical leader responsible for the day-to-day success of our satellite clinic.

You will still be a practicing Physical Therapist.

This is not an administrative job where you slowly forget what a goniometer looks like.

Our normal clinical model is approximately 8–10 patients per provider per day , with licensed PTAs integrated into the treatment team.

As Clinic Director, however, your job is bigger than your own schedule.

You will help make sure:

Patients receive excellent care.
PTAs are appropriately utilized and supported.
Schedules make sense.
Documentation gets completed.
Clinicians communicate.
Problems don't quietly ferment for six weeks.
Patients aren't falling through cracks.
Staff understand expectations.
The clinic operates efficiently.
People are productive without becoming miserable.
The location continues to grow.

In short:

If something in your clinic is obviously stupid, we would like you to notice.

Even better, we'd like you to help fix it.

This is leadership. Not royalty.

One clarification before we get too far:
Being Clinic Director does not mean sitting in an office while everyone else works.
You will treat patients.
You will help when the clinic gets slammed.
You will answer questions.
You will coach people.
You will occasionally deal with something ridiculous because healthcare continues to involve both people and insurance companies.
You are not getting a crown.
You are getting responsibility.

But along with that responsibility comes something many healthcare organizations strangely forget to provide:
Actual influence.

We want your opinion.

We want you to identify problems.

We want you to suggest changes.

And if you can explain why something should be done differently, we will actually listen.

Wild concept.

Our Clinical Model

We are a busy outpatient practice.

But our definition of busy is not:

"How many human beings can we legally place inside one treatment area?"

Our model is built around:

Primarily one-on-one patient care
Approximately 8–10 patients per provider per day
Licensed PTAs as meaningful members of the treatment team
PT involvement beyond simply performing evaluations
Evaluations that include actual treatment
Appropriate use of manual therapy, therapeutic exercise, neuromuscular re-education, and other skilled interventions
Interdisciplinary communication
Clinical reasoning
Follow-through
Accountability

We care about productivity.

Yes, I said it.

We are still a healthcare business, and we expect clinicians to work.

We do not, however, worship units simply because a spreadsheet likes them.

If a service is clinically appropriate and the patient needs it, provide it.

Do not manufacture unnecessary care.

Also do not give away necessary skilled care because it is easier.

Those really aren't contradictory ideas.

About the Clinic

This position is based at Countryside Health & Wellness, one of our satellite locations in the Branson area. It is a 5000 sq ft stand alone PT Clinic.

The clinic is part of the larger Healing Arts Center organization, so you are not being dropped onto an island with a key, a login, and our best wishes.

You will have organizational leadership and a larger PT department behind you.

But we do want someone at Countryside who sees the clinic as their responsibility day-to-day.

Someone who walks in and naturally thinks:
Are we taking good care of people?
Is the staff functioning well?
Is the schedule working?
Are we following through?
Where are we losing opportunities?
Why are we doing that this way?
Can we make this better?

If your brain already works that way, we are interested.

What We Don't Want

We do not want someone who thinks "leadership" means telling other people what to do.

We don't want someone who waits for every decision to come from above.

We don't want someone who sees a recurring problem every day for four months and never mentions it.

We definitely don't want someone who believes:

"That's not technically my job."

Clinic Directors unfortunately encounter quite a few things that aren't technically anybody's job.

That's sort of the point.

We also don't want a leader who destroys morale in the name of accountability.

Or a leader who refuses to hold anybody accountable in the name of morale.

Both are lazy leadership.

What We DO Want

We are looking for someone who is:

An excellent Physical Therapist
Clinically curious
Organized
Calm under pressure
Comfortable making decisions
Comfortable having difficult conversations when necessary
Able to coach without being condescending
Able to hold standards without becoming insufferable
Good with patients
Good with staff
Good with communication
Able to see the bigger picture
Interested in growing a clinic
Comfortable being accountable for results
Willing to ask for help before something becomes a dumpster fire

You don't have to walk in knowing every part of our organization.

Actually, we'd be concerned if you claimed you did.

But you need to be someone who learns quickly and naturally takes ownership.

The PT Part Still Matters

Please don't mistake the leadership language for us saying clinical skill doesn't matter.

It matters enormously.

You will still evaluate and treat patients.

We want a PT who can think beyond:

Pain = 3x10 of something with a resistance band.

We see complicated patients.

We want clinicians who ask why.

We want clinicians who reassess.

We want clinicians who can change course when something isn't working.

We want clinicians who know the difference between treating a diagnosis and treating the person sitting in front of them.

If your favorite treatment plan is "the same thing I did with the last guy," we are probably going to annoy each other.

Compensation

This position pays a base salary of:

$100,000–$115,000 annually

Why higher than our standard staff-PT range?

Because this isn't our standard staff-PT job.

You are being asked to take responsibility not only for your own patients but also for helping lead an entire clinic.

Responsibility should come with compensation.

Apparently that needed to be said.

The exact salary will depend on experience, leadership ability, and how quickly we believe you can independently take ownership of the location.

Performance Bonus

This position will also be eligible for a performance bonus of up to $15,000 annually.

And no, the bonus will not be based on some corporate formula developed by a person who has never stepped inside the clinic.

It will be tied to understandable things such as:

Patient care and outcomes
Clinic growth
Appropriate productivity
Documentation
Staff development and retention
Patient experience
Operational consistency
Leadership
Follow-through
Overall success of the location

In other words:

If the clinic wins because you are doing a great job leading it, we think you should participate in that win.

Seems reasonable.

Relocation Assistance

For a qualified candidate genuinely relocating to the Branson area, we offer up to $5,000 in relocation reimbursement with receipts.

"Genuinely relocating" means actually moving here.

Moving six miles and buying a new sectional does not count.

Nice try.

Schedule

This is a full-time position.

Generally, expect something close to:

Monday–Friday, approximately 8:00–5:00

We do not routinely work weekends.

We do not routinely work holidays.

We do not believe staying at the clinic until 8:00 PM proves commitment.

We also aren't looking for someone whose soul leaves their body at precisely 4:59.

This is a leadership role.

Occasionally, something will require attention.

We want someone who takes responsibility seriously and has a real life outside work.

Those things can coexist.

Benefits

Benefits include:

Paid time off
Paid holidays
Supplemental insurance options
Life insurance
Malpractice coverage
401(k)
Uniforms
Employee and immediate-family access to many clinic services
No-cost or discounted care depending on service
Professional development opportunities
Leadership growth
A larger organization behind you rather than corporate headquarters 900 miles away

DPT vs. PT

Yes, the job title says Physical Therapist.

Most applicants today will have a DPT.

But if you are an experienced PT who graduated before the profession decided everyone needed three more letters after their name, we are not going to pretend that somehow erased your clinical ability.

If you are licensed, experienced, clinically strong, and capable of leading a clinic, apply.

Competence beats alphabet soup.

New Graduates

This is where this posting differs from our regular PT position.

A truly exceptional new graduate can certainly apply.

But realistically?

This is probably not a new-graduate position.

You aren't just learning how to become a Physical Therapist.

You will be helping lead other people.

We would strongly prefer someone with outpatient clinical experience and enough professional seasoning to recognize the difference between:

"I know how to do this."

and

"I should probably ask somebody before I do this."

Both are important leadership skills.

This Job Is Probably NOT For You If:

You mainly want the word "Director" on your résumé.
You think leadership means everyone reports to you while you report to nobody.
You need constant direction.
You avoid uncomfortable conversations indefinitely.
You think every operational problem belongs to administration.
You don't like accountability.
You believe productivity is beneath clinicians.
You think profitability and excellent patient care are mutually exclusive.
You want a low-pressure job where somebody else notices everything.
Every previous employer somehow turned out to be "toxic."
You routinely arrive with chaos and are shocked when chaos follows you.
You want authority significantly more than responsibility.

This Job MAY Be For You If:

You've caught yourself thinking, "I could run this clinic better."
You naturally take ownership.
You like mentoring clinicians.
You want to stay clinically active.
You want more influence over how care is delivered.
You like solving operational problems.
You can balance compassion with accountability.
You genuinely enjoy helping people succeed.
You want the opportunity to build something rather than merely occupy a position.
You would like your compensation to grow when the clinic succeeds.
You want to become a better clinician and a better leader.

Why Branson?

Branson is a pretty good place to build a career and an actual life at the same time.

We have Table Rock Lake, Lake Taneycomo, hiking, boating, fishing, good schools, live entertainment, restaurants, and enough tourism to keep things interesting.

We also still live in a part of the country where owning a house is theoretically possible without selling a kidney.

Springfield is about an hour away when you need a larger city.

And if you'd rather spend Saturday morning on the lake than sitting in traffic wondering why your rent is $3,400...

We understand.

How to Apply

Send us your résumé.

But because this is a leadership position, we would also like you to tell us something briefly:

If we handed you responsibility for a PT clinic tomorrow, what is the first thing you would want to understand about how it operates?

There isn't one magic answer.

We want to see how you think.

We aren't merely trying to fill another treatment schedule.

We are looking for someone we can eventually trust to say:

"I've got this clinic."

And actually mean it.

If that's the kind of opportunity you've been waiting for, we'd like to talk.

Healing Arts Center / Countryside Health & Wellness
Branson, Missouri

Physical Therapist / Clinic Director
$100,000–$115,000 base salary
Up to $15,000 annual performance bonus
Up to $5,000 relocation assistance

Learn more about this Employer on their Career Site

Physical Therapist Clinic Director