TheValleyPT's journey

I'm currently a Physical Therapist at a Level One Trauma hospital, and I genuinely love my job, my coworkers, and the work-life balance I have. However, as my wife and I plan for our future and consider having kids in the next couple of years, I've been facing a significant concern regarding parental leave. Our hospital's policy offers very little in terms of support for new parents. My wife would need to use 40 hours of PTO just to qualify for 6 weeks of short-term disability at only 60% pay, followed by more PTO to cover additional time off. For me, I'd have to exhaust all my PTO just to be there for her and our baby, and our shared FMLA bank complicates things further, as my time off would reduce her available leave. I'm exploring a potential new job in an outpatient PT setting that offers 8 weeks of fully paid parental leave, which is incredibly rare in healthcare. Although it comes with a pay cut of about $1,500 a year and I would be leaving a job I love, the benefits of better healthcare insurance and parental leave are tempting. I've got an interview lined up, but I'm torn between staying where I am, where I feel fulfilled, or moving for better family support. In my current role, I earn $105k/year with a decent benefits package, including a student loan stipend and a 403b match. The new role would pay $103.5k/year, offer BCBS insurance, and a slightly better PTO accrual rate, but I would lose the student loan stipend and might not have the same work schedule as my wife. I'm really weighing the pros and cons and trying to figure out what would be best for my family in the long run.