Covenant Health logo
Covenant Health
Knoxville, Tennessee

SR PHYSICAL THERAPIST

Physical TherapistIncludes callNo nightsFull-Time

Compensation

Pay not listed

The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed

Ask the employer about the pay range, the work setting, weekend coverage and time off.

Posted 5mo ago

Job Description

  • Senior Physical Therapist
  • Full Time, 80 Hours Per Pay Period, Day Shift

Fort Sanders Regional Overview

Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center is a 444-bed hospital recognized for pairing clinical expertise with advanced medical technology to deliver exceptional care. As a Joint Commission Comprehensive Stroke Center, we provide leading-edge treatment for stroke recovery. Our facility also offers specialized services in bariatric surgery, robotic surgery, minimally invasive spine procedures, and advanced orthopedic care.

Fort Sanders Regional is part of Covenant Health, East Tennessee’s largest nonprofit health system and a Becker’s “Top 150 Places to Work in Healthcare.” Covenant Health includes nine hospitals and nearly 150 service locations, offering employees a comprehensive benefits package with tuition reimbursement, student loan assistance, certification bonuses, and leadership development programs.

Position Summary

Under general supervision; plans, evaluates and implements treatment programs for physical therapy patients. Responsible for additional job responsibilities which may include: program development, clinical coordination of students, scheduling of supportive staff and coordinating continuing education requirements.

Responsibilities

  • Independent clinical practice - including evaluation and specialized treatment of patients
  • Performs patient evaluations (initial, progress, and discharge evaluations), establishes treatment plans, makes recommendations, and sets goals in accordance with patient needs and evidence based practice.
  • Meets established targets for passive/active treatment ratios
  • Involves patient and family in treatment, education and goal setting. Coordinates with other medical personnel regarding patient’s progress, needs and discharge planning
  • Demonstrates knowledge and competency including providing for age-specific needs of the population served.
  • Serves as a resource person for staff on an ongoing basis.
  • Provides 4 hours education/mentorship time per year. This includes:
  • Peer counseling/Mentorship
  • Community lectures/Volunteer

In-services/Case Studies

  • Participates in development, implementation and evaluation of standards of care and evidence based practice. This includes:
  • Evidence based practice protocols
  • Clinical outcomes analysis and communication to team
  • New policy development

QI/QA

Maintains and updates patient documentation in accordance with professional, departmental, organizational, and payer guidelines and timeframes. Maintains established targets for compliance with chart audits.

Meets Established Target For

  • Quality/outcome measures
  • Service/patient satisfaction measures
  • Financial/productivity measures
  • Growth/patients-per-day measures

Demonstrates Leadership Including But Not Limited To

  • Participates in development and implementation of new and current programs.
  • Participates in training, orientation and supervision of support staff

Participates in Orientation of New Licensed Staff

  • Acts as Clinical Instructor for at least one student per year as available.
  • Participates in peer evaluations for competency assessment.
  • Assists with continuing education courses hosted by Covenant Health
  • Participates in professional organization/meetings (TPTA, APTA)
  • Volunteers for Covenant Health activities such as the marathon, golf tournament, sports physicals, employee education, etc.
  • Complete partnering activities per established targets per month.
  • Physician office visits
  • Community lectures/volunteer
  • Case Manager visits/marketing

In-services

Follows policies, procedures, and safety standards. Completes required education assignments annually. Works toward achieving goals and objectives, and participates in quality improvement initiatives as requested.

Perform other related duties as assigned or requested.

Qualifications

Minimum Education:

None specified; however, must be sufficient to meet the standards for achievement of the below indicated license and/or certification as required by the issuing authority.

Minimum Experience

Two (2) years of experience with at least one (1) year experience in the specialty area.

Licensure Requirement

Current Tennessee Physical Therapy license. CPR required.

Qualifications

Education
Professional certificate or licensure
Experience
2+ years of experience

Key Skills

Patient EvaluationTreatment PlanningClinical MentorshipPatient EducationDocumentation ComplianceStaff SupervisionCase Study Analysis

Physical Therapist Career Context

In Tennessee, the Physical Therapy weighted monthly median benchmark on WeekdayDoc is ~$86k (273 salary observations; 1,833 listings), vs ~$94k nationally (13,008 salary observations; 66,534 listings). Monthly aggregates cover 2026-01-01 through 2026-11-01; these are not the modal's selected comparable-job medians.

The cost-of-living index for Tennessee is 91.9 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)). 58.6% of Tennessee clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

What does the Physical Therapy market look like in Tennessee?
MeasureThis jobMarket
Work-life score5.1 / 10 · above average in physical therapyranked against 22,012 Physical Therapy listingslisting-based score, 0–10
Tennessee vs national$86k median in Tennessee$94k nationally (−8%)273 state / 13,008 national salary observations
Cost of livingTennessee index 91.9US average = 100BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)
Physical Therapy listings in Tennessee690 active22,002 nationallylive on WeekdayDoc, Nov 2026
Work settingon-sitepeers: 2% remote · 36% no call · 74% no weekends50 benchmarked listings
Sign-on & loan repaymentnot statedTennessee physical therapist listings (all specialties): 28% state a sign-on bonus (median $15k) · 25% offer loan repayment716 active listings, Nov 2026
New Physical Therapy listings7,905 in the last 30 days4,365 the 30 days before (+81%)U.S., first seen on WeekdayDoc, Nov 2026
Physical Therapy pay trend+1.6% vs prior quarter—through Oct 2026
Sources: WeekdayDoc live listing index (22,012 Physical Therapy listings), BEA Regional Price Parities (2024); as of Nov 2026. Same values as the Weekday Verdict and Market Insights on this page.

Location & Logistics

Tennessee has no state income tax, which can significantly increase take-home pay compared to high-tax states.

Top Physical Therapist Jobs

41 matches · ranked by pay

Salary Distribution

37 jobs · 28 employers
14
<$110k
8
$110k-130k
8
$130k-150k
7
$150k-170k

Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks

36 jobs · 28 employers
401k / retirement match
92%
CME allowance
67%
Sign-on bonus
28%
Loan repayment
22% this job
Relocation assistance
6%

Share of similar jobs offering each benefit

#1

Physical Therapist

Providence · Anchorage, Alaska

$49.65-$77.08/hr
#2

Physical Therapist, PT, Flexible FT Weekday ScheduleContract

Concierge Home Care · Port St. Lucie, Florida

$70-$75/hr
#3

Travel Physical Therapist

$75/hr
#4

Physical Therapist (PT)

$70-$75/hr
+ 39 more · ranked by pay

Work-life snapshot

median 4.8this job 5.1
Better work-life than 50% of Physical Therapy listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 22,012 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

  • No nights
  • Includes call
Covenant Health logo

About Covenant Health

Hospitals and Health Care
Knoxville, TN
5,001-10,000 employees

Benefits & Perks

Tuition reimbursement
Student loan assistance
Certification bonuses
Leadership development programs

Living in Knoxville

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$356k
Typical market rent
$1,701/mo
Residents’ average commute
20 min
Metro price indexU.S. average = 100
92.6
State income tax
None
Sources & methodology

Sources: Zillow home values (Sep 2026), Zillow market rents (Sep 2026), U.S. Census ACS 2024 five-year.

BEA 2024 · Knoxville, TN metro prices. Housing figures are city-level.

City-level figures. Not a cost-of-living guarantee.