Hospital of Central Connecticut Our current opening is for a Physical Therapy Team Leader at The Hospital of Central Connecticut who will serve as the Ortho-Spine Rehab Lead for our growing orthopedic and spine rehabilitation program. This is an exciting opportunity to help lead the development and expansion of rehabilitation services in partnership with the Connecticut Orthopedic Institute (COI) and Hartford HealthCare Ayer Neuroscience Institute. The program provides specialized care across a broad orthopedic population, including hip and knee joint replacement, shoulder procedures, and spine surgery, with continued growth and a focus on developing specialized care for complex spine patients.
Position Description This is an experienced and advanced Physical Therapist position that maintains an active clinical caseload while providing clinical expertise and leadership to members of the department. The PT Team Leader will serve as the Ortho-Spine Rehab Lead, providing clinical leadership for the interdisciplinary rehabilitation team supporting orthopedic and spine patients.
The Rehab Team Leader is considered a subject matter expert in their designated clinical area. They provide coaching to clinical rehab staff including PTs, OTs, SLPs, PTAs, Rehab Aides, and students. They assist with onboarding and training of new hires.
As the Ortho-Spine program continues to grow, the Lead will play an integral role in helping develop and strengthen rehabilitation services across disciplines to meet the evolving needs of the orthopedic and spine patient population. This position offers the opportunity to help shape workflows, establish rehabilitation standards, promote best practices, and support continued program growth.
In addition to the above-mentioned responsibilities, the Rehab Team Leader maintains an active clinical caseload, independently evaluates patients' level of function, and determines, develops, and implements individualized treatment goals and plans in alignment with patient and caregiver goals. The Physical Therapist determines appropriate treatment strategies and delivers rehabilitation services to identify, prevent, remediate, and rehabilitate acute or prolonged physical dysfunction or pain.
The Lead PT will report to the Regional Orthopedic Rehabilitation Supervisor and work collaboratively with rehabilitation leadership and the interdisciplinary team to support continued program growth and development.
Additional Job Responsibilities: - Provides coaching and training to new and existing employees; assists with onboarding new staff and serves as a resource to colleagues, providing guidance and clinical support.
- Provides appropriate feedback to Supervisor regarding any concerns/issues that may arise. Provides input to performance evaluations.
- Serves as a clinical leader and Subject Matter Expert for the Ortho-Spine rehabilitation program, providing expertise to the interdisciplinary rehab team. Facilitates best practices within the HHC system, standardizes care, develops treatment guidelines, and leads special interest groups and/or councils to ensure excellence in care for the orthopedic and spine patient population.
- Collaborates with the interdisciplinary Ortho-Spine team to support POD0 mobility, patient progression, patient and caregiver education, ADLs, and timely discharge readiness.
- Supports the development and standardization of interdisciplinary rehabilitation practices and clinical pathways to maintain current Joint Commission Joint Certification and support advancement toward Advanced Certification.
- Assists with the operations and coordination of the department or site as assigned by Supervisor, including but not limited to staffing, physical plant/site maintenance, and equipment function.
- Assists with quality control, data collection, and quality assurance for regulatory compliance and accreditation. Identifies opportunities for improvement and recommends process improvements utilizing the operating model.
Qualifications:- Acute care experience required, experience working in orthopedics preferred
- Minimum 3 years' experience required, 5 years' experience preferred
- Experience as a clinical instructor or mentor required.
- Graduate of Physical Therapy Program from an accredited school, BS degree, MS degree or Doctoral Degree.
- Active PT license in the state of Connecticut
