Dr. Ellis owns two physical therapy clinics in Meridian and Nampa, Idaho, and signed a lease for a third in Boise. The expansion meant hiring fifteen people: therapists, assistants, front desk staff, and a clinic manager.
The new landlord's lease required updated insurance, and Dr. Ellis asked us to review everything before the hiring started.
What she asked for
Updated certificates for the Boise landlord.
What the review found
No employment practices liability. With about thirty employees heading toward forty-five, the clinic had no employment practices liability. Healthcare practices face claims over scheduling, pay, leave, and terminations, and a rapid expansion with new managers raises that risk.
Her malpractice policy covered her, not the clinic. Dr. Ellis carried an individual professional liability policy. The clinic entity had no coverage of its own, and several therapists carried no individual coverage. A patient injured by an employed therapist would sue the clinic, which had nothing to respond.
The office package did not fit three locations. The business owners policy covered the first location only; the second had been added informally and the third was not on it at all. Treatment tables, ultrasound units, and gym equipment at each location were uninsured.
Idaho workers comp needed confirming. Unlike Washington, Idaho allows employers to buy workers compensation from private carriers or the state fund. Her policy was in place but would need updating for the new headcount.
What we put in place
We placed EPLI with an HR support service, including templates for offer letters, job descriptions, and a termination checklist for her new clinic manager.
We moved the practice to a group professional liability policy covering the clinic entity and every licensed therapist and assistant, with a shared limit and her prior acts coverage preserved.
We rebuilt the BOP to cover all three locations, each with its equipment scheduled, general liability for patients who fall on the premises, and each landlord named as an additional insured as its lease requires.
We updated her Idaho workers compensation for the new payroll and job classifications.
Why it mattered
In her first year in Boise, a newly hired assistant was let go during her ninety-day review and alleged the termination was related to her pregnancy. The EPLI carrier's counsel reviewed the documentation, which the clinic manager had built using the carrier's templates, and the claim was resolved early. The HR tools helped as much as the policy did.
If you run a healthcare practice that is growing
- Add EPLI before a hiring wave, not after the first claim
- Cover the practice entity and every clinician, not just the owner
- Put every location on your property and liability policies
- In Idaho, workers comp is bought privately or from the state fund; keep it current
Get a free policy review before your next location opens.