Physical Therapy Patient Spotlight — Olivia

Olivia is an adorable 17-month-old girl who was born 6.5 weeks early with a diagnosis of Trisomy 2 (duplication of part of chromosome #2). Olivia spent her first few months in the NICU and had a tracheotomy placed at 7 months of age.

Due to Olivia’s rare diagnosis, she has low muscle tone, which contributes to feeding difficulties, problems with breathing, and delayed development of motor skills such as sitting, standing, and walking. Olivia’s physical therapy treatment over the past 2-3 months has focused on helping her to become independent and focuses on mobility. Olivia’s most recent accomplishments are transitioning into sitting all on her own and commando crawling!

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Physical Therapist Jobs in Dallas TX | Occupational Therapy Jobs in Fort Worth TX | Speech Language Therapy Jobs In Dallas TX | Physical Therapist Jobs in Houston TX

Employee Spotlight — Lora Kirkland: Therapy 2000, Inc

Meet Lora — a self-described “West Texas girl” from Odessa who graduated from Texas Tech University in Lubbock. She, along with her husband and daughters moved to Aledo, Texas in January 2012 for a new job and great schools.

Family Life

Lora has been married to her husband, Chad, over 11 years. Together, they have two amazing and crazy girls, Kylie and Libby, as well as a rescue dog, Clara. Lora and Chad stay active by running, doing Crossfit, and they recently began biking with their daughters. Their family hobbies include taking adventures, hunting and being outdoors. Lora and Chad have passed their own love of the outdoors to their daughters, who now have memorable stories of exploring the family land and going on adventures. This fall, Kylie and Libby learned to shoot a bow. Lora said it has been fun to share a new activity they all can do while making family memories.

Volunteering in the Community

Most recently, Lora participated in the Carson Leslie Foundations annual BECK Bow Shoot, raising money for pediatric brain cancer research. This event was special to Lora because she works with a child who recently began treatment for brain cancer. Through the foundation, he has received numerous gifts and has been connected with an organization that will take him on a hunting trip geared specifically to him and his specific needs following surgery and treatment.

Green Apple Therapy

Lora’s background includes both clinic and home-health therapy with Green Apple. When offered the opportunity to help open Green Apple’s clinic in Weatherford, Texas, she was eager to bring a needed resource to the area. Lora served as Green Apple’s Clinic Director for almost four years before transitioning back into a full-time home health therapist position. Lora believes both settings are uniquely fulfilling, and she appreciates the opportunity to serve families in the more rural towns of Parker County. She treats patients in Azle, Springtown, Weatherford, and Aledo, and loves getting to know people throughout these communities. She said the children and families she serves definitely keep her days interesting!

Speech Therapy Patient Spotlight: Josue

Josue is a very happy 4-year-old boy who loves Lightning McQueen, playing games with his little sister and friends, and watching movies. Josue was diagnosed with a Specific Developmental Disorder of Motor Function and a Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorder. He started receiving speech therapy services with Therapy 2000 in May of 2018. When therapy began, Josue had a vocabulary of approximately 5 words, could not follow simple 1-2 step directions, and only communicated via gestures and single word utterances at times.

Ashley Jarrett met Josue when she was shadowing physical therapist Emily Parks, as a new employee.  Josue had been waiting for ST services for approximately 2 years, although he was out of her treatment are Ashely wanted to work with Josue over the summer.  After only 2 and a half months of services, Josue is now able to speak in three to four-word utterances, identify all his body parts, label common objects, follow 2-step directions, request help, and communicate wants/needs in English and Spanish. Josue has come a long way in such a short amount of time due to his hard work, mom’s willingness and motivation to work with him daily, and a physical therapist who went above and beyond to recommend speech/language services to help this awesome kid and family! Ashley is so proud of all the progress they were able to make and the goals they were able to accomplish in such a short time!

Ashley Jarrett, M.S. CCC-SLP

After Ashley started working with Josue, Emily was able to notice a huge increase in his talking during physical therapy sessions. Josue was able to name all the colors for the toys that we typically play with. Also, instead of pointing at the toy he wanted to play with, he would say words such as “block”, “ball”, or “step”. Prior to working with speech therapy, Josue was very quiet and shy. Emily is amazed at how quickly Josue was able to learn new words and come out of his shell!

Emily Parks, PT, DPT

Employee Spotlight – Lora Kirkland

The December Employee Spotlight of the month is Lora who describes herself as a “West Texas girl from Odessa “and graduated from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Lora husband, and daughters moved to Aledo in January 2012 for a new job and great schools.

Green Apple Therapy

Lora’s background includes both clinic and home therapy with Green Apple Therapy. When Green Apple offered her the opportunity to help open their clinic in Weatherford she was eager to help bring a needed resource to the area. She was the Clinic Director for almost 4 years before transitioning back to a full-time home health therapist. Both settings are fulfilling for different reasons and Lora appeciates the opportunity to building her case load in the more rural towns of Parker County. Lora treats patients in Azle, Springtown, Weatherford and Aledo and she loves getting to know people in all the communities. The kids and families on her caseload definitely keep my days interesting!!!

Family Life

Lora enjoys spending time with her husband over 11 years Chad, their two amazing and crazy girls, Kylie and Libby, and the family rescue dog, Clara. Both Lora and Chad stay active by running, Crossfit, and most recently, biking with their daughters. Their family hobbies include taking adventures, hunting an being outdoors. Lora and Chad have passed their love of the outdoors to their girls, who memorable stories of going out to family land and exploring or going on “adventures”. This fall, Kylie and Libby have learned to shoot “bow” and it has been fun to share an activity that they all can do together and make family memories.

Volunteering in the Community

Lora takes pleasure in volunteering and participating for organizations and events that relate to her hobbies.  Most recently, she was able to participate in the Carson Leslie Foundations annual BECK Bow Shoot for raising money for pediatric brain cancer research. This year was special as Lora had began working with a child in her community that recently began treatment for brain cancer. Through the foundation, he has received numerous gifts and we made a connection to an organization that will be able to take him on a hunt geared specifically to him that will adapt to his needs following surgery and treatment!

Before They Were SLP Interns, They Were Superheroes in Uganda

In Spring 2018, Louise Havron and Marissa Fretz had the unique opportunity to spend their final graduate school externship working with Hope Speaks, a nonprofit organization developed to provide speech therapy, advocacy, and education to children and adults across Kampala, Uganda.

While in Uganda, Louise and Marissa worked with children and families who have faced and overcome a variety of challenges. Some lived in 10×10 rooms in a slum, walking several miles each day to then sit in a waiting room until their child to be treated. Others have had to remove their kids from school because transportation became unavailable or tuition could no longer be paid.

Through speech therapy, they empowered families to help their loved ones and saw both children and adults who had a lot to say once given the means and guidance to express themselves.

Both Louise and Marissa were overwhelmed by the selflessness of the community and the motivation of their patients’ families to find help. They observed that when an individual learned something new, it spread through the community and resulted in greater education, awareness, and acceptance.

Louise and Marissa both said that seeing communities work together and take care of each other – striving to help each child reach their full potential and participate more fully in life – was indescribable.

They felt extremely blessed to have the opportunity to raise awareness about how speech therapy can increase the quality of life. Both feel that working with and growing with the families in and around Kampala was a life-changing experience.

As time goes on, Louise and Marissa pray for increased education greater accessibility to therapy services for communities across Uganda. The experience, they said, both changed and molded their perspectives on life and resilience. They learned that while we don’t get to choose the situations we are born, raised, or placed into, we can choose how to react and find a way to be optimistic, helpful, and kind.

Louise and Marissa both joined THERAPY 2000 in June 2018. Louise is now a SLP-Intern in our West Texas Division, and Marissa is a SLP-Intern in our Fort Worth Division.

Pediatric Physical Therapist Dallas

JOB OVERVIEW: The Pediatric Physical Therapist Dallas is a qualified, licensed professional who provides, evaluates and supervises physical therapy services to patients in their home as prescribed by the attending physician. Patient visits are predominately performed in private residence for home healthcare agency.

REPORTS TO:  Divisional Manager

FLSA STATUS:  Exempt

JOB TITLE:  Pediatric Physical Therapist Dallas

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:

•  Completes a minimum number of visits defined by the agency
• Performs in-depth patient evaluation, develops treatment plans and implements said plans in accordance with physician’s orders
• Instructs patients, their families and other members of the health team in regards to therapy procedures
• Reports pertinent observations and reactions regarding changes in patient status to the appropriate team person
• Maintains patient’s medical record in accordance with agency standards, completes and submits patient records in a timely manner
• Participates in patient care conferences, communicates with other members of the home health team to facilitate the coordination of patient care
• Supervises Physical Therapist Assistant in Dallas to accomplish the plan of treatment which was developed
• Participates in staff development and in-service education with the agency to learn about new treatments, procedures, developmental skills etc.
• Performs all duties in compliance with agency policies and procedures. Adheres to all rules, regulations, code of ethics, guidelines, and codes in federal, state and local laws which are concerned with the practice of physical therapy.
• May be required to meet with the supervisor, technical support personnel, staffing personnel or other support staff as needed to maintain therapy standards and patient care.
• Incidental time is a part of the Dallas physical therapist job responsibilities which includes, but not limited to, patient chart updates, patient notes and call logs, performance reviews, supervisory meetings, and drive time to patient’s home.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• A graduate of an accredited school program of physical therapy
• Currently licensed to practice as a Physical Therapist in the state of Texas
• Relevant clinical experience, 1 year or more preferred
• Must be able to lift, transfer, and position patients ranging in weight
• Must be physically and legally able to operate a vehicle
•  

OSHA:

I-Position is considered to have opportunity for routine exposure to blood borne pathogens in the normal performance of job duties.
II- Position is considered to have occasional opportunity for exposure to blood borne pathogens in the normal performance of job duties.
III-Position is considered to have no occupational exposure to blood borne pathogens in the normal performance of job duties.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a physical therapist to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this Job, the PT employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms and talk or hear. The employee must regularly lift and /or move up to 75 pounds or be able to transfer patients using appropriate techniques or equipment up to 150 pounds.

A review of this position description may have excluded some of the marginal functions of the physical therapist Dallas position that are incidental to the performance of fundamental job duties. This physical therapist position in Dallas description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee in this position.  Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by their supervisors.

I acknowledge that my employment relationship with Pediatric Staffing Services of Texas unless otherwise provided in writing, shall be defined as “employment at will”, where either party may dissolve the relationship at any time.

I have reviewed this job description and understand that it is my responsibility to perform up to the high standards set forth by Pediatric Staffing Services of Texas.

PEDIATRIC STAFFING SERVICES OF TEXAS IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

APPLY FOR THIS POSITION

Pediatric Occupational Therapist Dallas – Lewisville

JOB OVERVIEW: The Pediatric Occupational Therapist Dallas will be based on Lewisville and is a qualified, licensed professional who provides, evaluates and supervises occupational therapy services to patients in their home as prescribed by the attending physician. Patient visits are predominately performed in private residence for home health care agency.

JOB TITLE:  Pediatric Occupational Therapist Dallas – Lewisville 

REPORTS TO:  Divisional Manager

FLSA STATUS: Exempt

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:

• Completes a minimum number of visits defined by the agency
• Performs in-depth patient evaluation and develops treatment plans in accordance with physician’s orders
• Implements treatment plan, provides state of the art occupational therapy services
• Instructs patients, their families and other members of the health team in regards to therapy procedures
• Reports pertinent observations and reactions regarding changes in patient status to the appropriate team person
• Maintains patient’s medical record in accordance with agency standards, completes and submits patient records in a timely manner
  Participates in patient care conferences, communicates with other members of the home health team to facilitate the coordination of patient care
• Occupational Therapist Dallas supervises Occupational Therapy Assistant to accomplish the plan of treatment which was developed
• Participates in staff development and in-service education with the agency to learn new treatments, procedures, developmental skills etc.
• Performs all duties in compliance with agency policies and procedures. Adheres to all rules, regulations, and code of ethics, guidelines and codes in federal, state and local laws, which are concerned with the practice of occupational therapy.
• May be required to meet with a supervisor, technical support personnel, staffing personnel, or other support staff as needed to maintain therapy standards and patient care.
• Incidental time is a part of the job responsibilities which includes, but not limited to, patient chart updates, patient notes and call logs, performance reviews, supervisory meetings, and drive time to patient’s home

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Graduate of an accredited school program of occupational therapy
• Currently licensed to practice as an Occupational Therapist in the state of Texas
• Relevant clinical experience, 1 year or more preferred
• Must be physically and legally able to operate a vehicle

OSHA:
I-Position is considered to have opportunity for routine exposure to blood borne pathogens in the normal performance of job duties.
II- Position is considered to have occasional opportunity for exposure to blood borne pathogens in the normal performance of job duties.
III-Position is considered to have no occupational exposure to blood borne pathogens in the normal performance of job duties.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms and talk or hear. The employee must regularly lift and /or move up to 50 pounds.

A review of this position description may have excluded some of the marginal functions of the position that are incidental to the performance of fundamental job duties.  This occupational therapist Dallas area position description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee in this position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by their supervisors.

I acknowledge that my employment relationship with Pediatric Staffing Services of Texas unless otherwise provided in writing, shall be defined as “employment at will”, where either party may dissolve the relationship at any time.

I have reviewed this job description and understand that it is my responsibility to perform up to the high standards set forth by Pediatric Staffing Services of Texas.

PEDIATRIC STAFFING SERVICES OF TEXAS IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

APPLY FOR THIS POSITION