Agency Provides Therapists to Local Schools, Offices

By Zoe Francis, Hacienda Network Staff Writer

Matching the perfect therapist with an ideal job is the secret to the success of Therapists Unlimited.

The company is a staffing agency that places physical, occupational and speech therapists, plus their assistants, wherever they are needed in Northern California, Nevada and Arizona.

"We contract with different clients and help recruit and fill their needs, whatever it may be," Kelsey McNichol, staffing manager, explained. "Sometimes it's short term when someone's on vacation. A lot of times, the census (patient load) will increase, and we'll cover a day. For schools, we'll do an entire year.We also do three-month and six-month assignments. It's also known as travel. It's common in the medical field."

The firm's clients include hospitals, schools, skilled nursing facilities, adult daycare, home healthcare, outpatient clinics and pediatric clinics.

"Home healthcare is really growing now, so we have a lot of employees working in home health," she noted.

While the company specializes in quickly filling temporary openings, it also provides long-term employees and manages all aspects of employment.

"We have a lot of employees working for Kaiser for years," McNichol said. "It sounds counter intuitive. They're paying us more hourly because we have to make money, too, but there are all these other fees. We pay their payroll taxes.We do all the (human resources) work, too. If an employee has an issue, we can help take care of that."

Some companies prefer to start with temporary therapists with an eye on adding them permanently to the staff.

"(Clients) like the temporary-to-permanent option because they can try out the therapist to see if they're a good fit before going through the hiring process," she said. "It's a nice way of having a trial period."

Therapists enjoy working through Therapists Unlimited because they earn top wages and get flexible schedules.

"It's mostly just the flexibility," McNichol said. "They can tell us when they want to work and when they don't. They can work some days in a hospital, some days in a school.We get a lot of recent graduates who aren't really sure where they want to start their career. They want to try out a couple of different things."

Therapists Unlimited was started in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1989, the same year the Pleasanton office opened. The local office relocated to Hacienda more than a year ago.

In January 2013, Therapists Unlimited was bought by Pennsylvania-based Genesis HealthCare. The company has three therapists agencies in California, but the Hacienda site is the only Northern California office.

Within the Genesis family, "we are the most successful (therapists) office in California and the second most successful in the country," McNichol said proudly.

Most of the competitors for the local Therapists Unlimited office are based in faraway states, giving Therapists Unlimited the distinct advantage of the local, personal touch.

"It's a huge advantage," McNichol said. "We go out and meet all of our clients. We interview all of our therapists in person. We've been around a really long time, so we're very familiar with this business and our clients in this area. We have a really good reputation in the therapy community, and we value customer service."

Learn more about Therapists Unlimited at therapistsunlimited.com.

Photo: Hacienda (from left to right): Kelsey McNichol, Kristin Southard, Christine Richards, Taylor Kotake

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