Summary

The Supervisory Physical Therapist/ Therapy Section Chief (TSC) is responsible for the supervision, administrative management, and direction of the Physical Therapy (PT), Occupational Therapy (OT) and Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) programs at the Fredericksburg VA Health Care Clinic (FxHcc), a satellite clinic under the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service (PM&RS) at Central Virginia Veterans Health System (CVHS) in Richmond, VA, a High Complexity Level 1 facility.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

• To qualify for appointment, all applicants for the position of physical therapist in VHA must meet the following: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy
• Education and Experience: Bachelor's degree in physical therapy AND five (5) years of progressively independent experience as a physical therapist, OR Master's degree in physical therapy AND two (2) years of progressively independent experience as a physical therapist, OR Doctorate degree in physical therapy
• Licensure: Hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice physical therapy in a State, Territory or Commonwealth of the United States, or in the District of Columbia
• English Language Proficiency: Be proficient in written and spoken English
• May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria)
• Grade Determinations: In addition to meeting the basic requirements listed above, applicants must meet the minimum qualifications requirement for appointment as a GS-14 Supervisory Physical Therapist
• Experience: One (1) year of progressively complex physical therapist experience equivalent to the GS-13 grade level in Federal Service
• Examples of qualifying experience include, but are not limited to, the supervision, administrative management, and direction of the physical therapy program in a rehabilitation service or equivalent service-level department which consists of three or more physical therapists or other multi-discipline staff
• provide supervision of key clinical and training programs, including the overall technical oversight of the staff administratively supervised
• develop and implement policies and procedures to address focused clinical needs and the overall services delivered and provided within the section
• assign work to employees, monitor workload and clinical volume, review work of employees to assure accuracy and validity of submissions, assure adequate clinical staffing, impose disciplinary measures, and monitor clinical privileges
• and provide overall clinical supervision that assures the proper coordination and delivery of care within the section and the facility
• In addition, candidates must demonstrate all the knowledge, skills, and abilities listed below
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) 1
• Advanced knowledge of evidence-based practices and clinical practice guidelines in multiple professional areas
• 2
• Skill in managing interpersonal relationships and conflict resolution in dealing with a diverse range of employees, discipline lead(s), and administrators
• 3
• Ability to translate extensive rehabilitation knowledge into local policy development
• 4
• Ability to effectively supervise staff by providing clinical and administrative oversight
• This includes ability to manage resources, evaluate employees and assign work
• 5
• Ability to collaborate with strategic planning committees at local, VISN or national levels for new ventures addressing patient care delivery systems, facilities management, system reorganizations, etc
• References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G12, Physical Therapist Qualification Standard
• The full performance level of this vacancy is 14
• The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is 14.

Duties

• The incumbent provides administrative and clinical supervision of PT, OT, SLP and Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA) staff in the settings of Outpatient and Home-based care at the satellite location and reports directly to the FxHcc PM&RS Section Chief
• The TSC works closely with FxHcc PM&RS Service Chief and the PM&RS leadership of CVHS in Richmond which includes PM&RS Service Chief, PM&RS Director of Therapy Services, and the PM&RS Section Chiefs for PT, OT and SLP
• Duties include but are not limited to: ADMINISTRATIVE AND SUPERVISORY: 1) Supervises the FxHcc and Fredericksburg HBPC therapy personnel as assigned by the PM&R Service Chief
• Provides overall clinical supervision to therapy staff that ensures proper coordination and delivery of care within the therapy sections and the facility at large
• 2) The incumbent uses data analytics software and programs to identify inefficiencies in clinical care, makes recommendations for improvement and implementation when needed
• 3) The incumbent regularly and routinely assesses therapy section clinical and administrative operations and, with great autonomy, makes recommendations to alter, change or abandon processes to ensure efficient clinical operations and access of and for the therapy sections
• 4) Provides detailed analysis to the FxHcc Chief of PM&R on clinical and administrative operations of the PM&R Therapy Services and makes recommendations to improve efficiency and results of those operations
• 5) Is responsible for oversight of the daily operations of the PM&R multi-disciplinary therapy service
• These operations would include Outpatient and Home-based care (through HBPC), Fredericksburg
• 6) Is expected to have detailed knowledge of the Master Agreement, the VHA Handbook, VHA policy and PM&RS policy regarding administrative management of clinical operations and personnel
• The incumbent Is expected to effectively interact with the Union and involved staff to solve challenges at the lowest level possible but to have the insight to involve the Chief, PM&R or other management or executive level leadership should it be deemed necessary
• 7) Is actively involved in strategic planning and initiatives that support of the achievement of organizational goals and ensures that staff understand their role in achieving those goals and related missions of PM&R, CVHS and VHA
• 8) Recruits candidates for employment, receives applications, conducts pre-employment interviews, and recommends appointments, advancements, promotions, or disciplinary actions
• 9) Acts as a mentor to therapy staff regarding clinical and administrative operations and delegates supervisory/above full performance level work as needed to complete work and/or to provide opportunities for career development
• 10) With a great deal of autonomy, makes decisions about clinical and administrative work assigned to therapy staff, analyzes performance, as needed, takes corrective actions, and recommends to the Chief, PM&R any accolades, incentives or disciplinary actions based on expert knowledge of VHA policies on such tasks
• 11) at times, may be asked to serve on service, facility, VISN or VACO committees as a representative of CVHS PM&R, as an administrative leader and or as a subject matter expert in the Incumbents field(s) of specialty and/or subspecialty
• 12) Assists PM&R Service Line senior management in planning, developing, and implementing strategic initiatives in clinic management, patient care, research initiatives and education/training of clinical staff
• 13) Monitors clinical performance of therapy providers and makes recommendations to the Chief, PM&R, on actions that ensure staff are assigned appropriate work and workload
• CLINICAL: 1) This position is mostly administrative
• The incumbent will spend no more that 20% of time providing direct patient care
• 2) Evaluates and provides PT treatment to patients presenting complex problems using knowledge of PT principles and techniques consistent with current clinical standards based on PT theory and evidenced based practice
• Knowledge is inclusive of physical, occupational, cognitive, and psychosocial functional deficits
• Provides information to physicians for use in differential diagnosis
• 3) Identify and develop goals and objectives for PT in consort with the mission of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service and the Medical Center
• 4) Knowledge of evidence-based practices and clinical practice guidelines in PT and to use these resources to guide the program staff in providing clinically appropriate treatment interventions
• Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m
• to 4:30 p.m
• Telework: Ad Hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Position Title/Functional Statement #:Supervisory Physical Therapist/PD03184F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required