Physical Therapist - Casual/Pier Diem
Compensation
Pay not listed
The week · per this posting · Monday – Friday
Ask the employer about the pay range, the work setting, nights and shift pattern and time off.
Job Description
UPMC Harrisburg is looking for a new Casual/Pier Diem Physical Therapist to support their PICU, NICU, and Pediatric population.
It is preferred that this applicant has previous experience with the PICU, NICU, and Pediatric population.
Schedule: As needed Monday – Friday, no weekends or holidays required!
Purpose
The Staff Physical Therapist reviews patient charts, performs initial assessments, develops treatment plans, administers physical therapy treatments and modalities, monitors progress and documents treatments performed with patients (including discharge planning and patient education) in order to increase overall functioning, reduce discomfort, increase or maintain flexibility and range of motion/strength, and achieve other medical and therapeutic goals.
Responsibilities
Communicates patient's status to the referring physician and other health care team members.
May serves as a clinical instructor for physical therapy students as well as residents and fellows in a specialty area of physical therapy.
Maintains professional license/registration through steady pursuit and participation in appropriate continuing education and professional development opportunities to satisfy requirements for licensure/registration renewal.
Performs physical therapy assessment, reassessment and treatment and supervises physical therapist assistants in the treatment of pediatric, adolescent, adult, and geriatric patients referred by a physician to the clinic.
Develops plan of care including goals and treatment plan in accordance with physician referral, nature of injury/illness and results of physical therapy assessment.
- Modifies or adjusts plan of care based on patient's response to treatment and/or changes in patient's status.
- Works PTAs to adjust patient programs as patient status changes.
- Rotates through selected treatment areas when necessary to facilitate organizational needs.
- Attends and actively participates in staff meetings and in-service education programs.
- Maintains written documentation for all physical therapy services rendered including documentation of initial assessment, follow-up visits, and discharge summary consistent with department standards.
- Co-signs physical therapist assistant documentation biweekly.
- Completes necessary charge and statistical information to accurately reflect the service rendered to the patient.
- Provides verbal and/or written home instructions to patient and/or family members when applicable.
Schedules patients to achieve and maintain a level of productivity which meets or exceeds the standard established for the facility by the organization while ensuring delivery of quality patient care.
Educational/Knowledge Requirements
Graduate of an accredited program approved by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA).
Knowledge, Skills & Abilities & Interpersonal/Language Skills
Must possess knowledge and skills required to provide quality customer service. Must possess knowledge of normal human growth and development over the lifespan. Must be able to read, understand, analyze, and interpret medical record documents.
Must be skilled in planning/organization, follow up/control, delegation, problem solving, self-development orientation, organizational behaviors/competencies, and stress tolerance.
Must possess the ability to apply principles of logic and strategic thinking to a wide range of problems, and to deal with a variety of abstract and concrete variables. Must possess effective written and verbal communication skills. Must possess the ability to identify referral growth opportunities.
Demonstrated ability to interact with healthcare team, coworkers, supervisors, and all members of the Corporate Management Team. Active participation with health care industry professional organizations is preferred. May in the course of their job duties be in rooms where medications are stored. No contact with medications is allowed.
Licensure, Certifications, and Clearances
- Active license in practicing state required.
- CPR required based on AHA standards that include both a didactic and skills demonstration component within 30 days of hire.
- Basic Life Support (BLS) OR Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
- Physical Therapist (PT)
- Act 31 Child Abuse Reporting with renewal
- Act 33 with renewal
- Act 34 with renewal
- Act 73 FBI Clearance with renewal
UPMC is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Disability/Veteran
Requirements
Candidates must be graduates of an APTA-approved program and hold an active professional license in the practicing state. Required certifications include CPR/BLS and various background clearances such as Act 31, 33, 34, and 73.
Qualifications
- Education
- Professional certificate or licensure
- Experience
- 2+ years of experience
Key Skills
Physical Therapist Career Context
Of the 50 active Physical Therapy listings this role was benchmarked against, 2% are remote, 40% have no call, 72% require no weekends.
In Pennsylvania, the Physical Therapy weighted monthly median benchmark on WeekdayDoc is ~$91k (428 salary observations; 2,178 listings), vs ~$94k nationally (14,786 salary observations; 56,355 listings). Monthly aggregates cover 2026-01-01 through 2026-10-01; these are not the modal's selected comparable-job medians.
The cost-of-living index for Pennsylvania is 97.6 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)). 61.7% of Pennsylvania clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).
Work-Life Balance Analysis
WeekdayDoc's proprietary algorithm rates Physical Therapist - Casual/Pier Diem at UPMC a 6.0 out of 10 for work-life balance — classified as good. This places the position in the Above average in Physical Therapy — ranked against 22,005 active Physical Therapy listings on WeekdayDoc. Contributing factors include no weekend requirements.
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