You already know how hard it is to keep critical roles filled. Persistent vacancies slow diagnostics, stretch teams thin, and weaken patient care. What adds to this challenge is that the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) expects a shortage of up to 86,000 doctors by 2036, which will make the fight for talent even tougher.
That’s why choosing the right healthcare recruiting services partner is important. To help you with that decision, we’ll share the top 10 healthcare recruiting companies that stand out in 2025.
What Are Healthcare Recruiting Companies?
A healthcare recruiting company connects hospitals, imaging centers, and private practices with qualified healthcare professionals. These firms manage the full recruitment process, from candidate sourcing and vetting to long-term placement. The result is less strain on your internal HR teams and stronger alignment with your clinical goals.
According to Mordor Intelligence, the healthcare staffing market is valued at USD 45.24 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach USD 62.77 billion by 2030, growing at a 6.77% CAGR. This steady growth shows how important recruiting partners have become for meeting future workforce demands.
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Next, let's see how these partners can benefit your organization.
Why Partnering with Specialized Healthcare Recruiters Matters
Recruiting for healthcare means finding professionals who will strengthen your teams, protect outcomes, and fit your long-term strategy. To achieve this more effectively, specialized recruiters give you reach, insight, and tools that your in-house HR team may not always have.
With that in mind, below are the main reasons why these partnerships make a measurable difference.
Overcome Workforce Shortages With Wider Talent Access
You’re already aware that shortages across nursing, radiology, allied health, and physician roles are at record highs. More than 138,000 nurses have left since 2022, and nearly 40% plan to leave by 2029. At the same time, physician burnout costs the system around $4.6 billion each year.
Specialized recruiters can counter this by reaching out to candidates who aren’t actively job hunting. They engage passive candidates, leverage niche networks, and use advanced recruiting services platforms that expand your access to qualified healthcare talent.
Accelerate Hiring With Faster Time-to-Fill
Healthcare has one of the longest time-to-fill rates of any industry. It averages 49 days, with critical positions sometimes open for 250 days or more. Every delay hits both quality metrics and the revenue cycle.
Recruiters can shorten that window with pre-vetted pipelines, streamlined credentialing, and compliance expertise. This means less disruption to patient flow and faster onboarding of the right professionals.
Provide Comprehensive Coverage
Specialized firms don’t stop at a single hire. They provide market benchmarking, succession planning, and advisory support on workforce design.
Some hybrid models also combine permanent placements with interim or locum tenens options. This can give you flexibility when leadership transitions or unplanned vacancies occur.
Improve Retention With Better Candidate Fit
Short-term fixes typically create long-term turnover. To prevent that cycle, recruiters focus on cultural alignment and role fit to reduce that risk. They place candidates who connect with your mission and values, which lowers rehiring costs and protects continuity of care.
For you, that means less disruption and stronger performance at both clinical and organizational levels. The truth is that the right recruiting partner influences your hiring speed and also shapes your workforce stability.
If interested, here’s how to solve some of the healthcare recruitment challenges:
Now let's see which firms stand out in this space and how they compare on experience, reach, and services.
TL;DR: Top Healthcare Recruiting Companies, Agencies, and Services
- AAG Health: ASA member with 55–90 day placements, 80% success rate, and 400+ daily candidate inquiries. Backed by real-time market data and a 90-day replacement guarantee.
- Merritt Hawkins: The firm is recognized for physician and advanced practitioner recruitment. It also provides leadership searches and industry reports.
- CHG Healthcare: CHG offers staffing solutions across locum tenens, permanent roles, and allied health. Its large network supports clients nationwide.
- Jackson Healthcare: This company brings together multiple recruiting brands under one group. Its reach covers physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals.
- CompHealth: CompHealth provides locum tenens and permanent recruitment for healthcare facilities. The firm works with many specialties and practice settings.
Top 10 Healthcare Recruiting Agencies You Can Rely On
Recruiting shapes the future of your teams and directly affects patient outcomes. Below, we have shared the leading healthcare recruiting firms with proven expertise in talent acquisition. Each firm helps you address physician shortages, reduce staffing gaps, and strengthen your healthcare system’s ability to deliver
consistent, high-quality care.
1. AAG Health
At AAG Health, we focus on both short and long-term healthcare recruitment that strengthens your teams and protects continuity of care. Our membership in the American Staffing Association (ASA) reflects our commitment to best practices and national standards.
With an average placement time of 55-90 days and an 80% success rate, we deliver faster, more reliable results than the industry average. Our healthcare recruiting services generate over 400 qualified candidate inquiries daily, to give our clients unmatched reach.
AAG Health's exclusive partnerships usually bring 50-70% savings compared to contingent models. At the same time, our 90-day replacement guarantee provides more security and confidence in every hire we make.
For example, when a regional veterinary system in Alabama struggled for months to fill a Supervising Veterinarian role, we stepped in with real-time market data and targeted outreach. Within 70 days, the hire was completed, which led to a 22% drop in appointment backlogs and restored continuity of care across their network.
Industries:
Hospitals, Imaging Centers, Life Sciences, Government Agencies, Outpatient Clinics
Key Services:
- Executive & C-Suite search.
- Physician and advanced practice recruitment.
- Nursing and allied health placement.
- Healthcare IT and digital health recruiting.
- Interim leadership solutions.
Why Work with AAG Health:
Choosing us means gaining a partner who moves fast without sacrificing precision. We combine advanced sourcing tools, real-time market intelligence, and consultative guidance to secure clinicians who stay and perform.
Instead of volume for volume’s sake, our approach delivers mission-aligned talent that fits your culture. It also helps you reduce turnover and drive measurable improvements across your patient care and financial outcomes.
2. Merritt Hawkins
Merritt Hawkins, now part of AMN Healthcare Physician Solutions, focuses on permanent physician and advanced practitioner searches. Their 44-step recruitment process delivers structure. It gives clients a clear roadmap from first outreach to final placement.
Public sources place their direct placement fees between $18,000 and $30,000 per physician. The fee structure adjusts based on the volume and complexity of your searches.
Alongside search services, they also provide physician leadership recruitment and produce national reports on compensation and incentive trends. These reports are used across the industry. They give hospitals and clinics clear benchmarks to guide pay and staffing plans.
Industries:
Hospitals, Health Systems, Physician Groups, Academic Centers, Community Health Centers, Telehealth Providers
Key Services:
- Permanent physician and advanced practitioner search.
- Executive and medical leadership recruitment.
- Compensation and incentive reporting.
- Thought leadership surveys and market analysis.
Why Work with Merritt Hawkins:
Merritt Hawkins offers national reach, published benchmarks, and a formal search process that keeps assignments consistent. The structured approach provides a clear path from search to hire with steady results.
3. CHG Healthcare
CHG Healthcare, founded in 1979, is known for pioneering the locum tenens model but has since expanded into permanent physician and advanced practice recruitment. Its scale provides access to large candidate networks and allows clients to work with specialized teams across different areas of healthcare staffing.
In one case, CHG reduced credentialing timelines from 112 to 90 days to support faster starts for long-term hires. This shows their ability to speed up a process that is usually lengthy across the industry.
Industries:
Hospitals, Community Health Centers, Clinics, Imaging Centers, Government Agencies
Key Services:
- Permanent physician search
- Locum tenens physician and APP placement
- Travel nurse and allied health recruiting
- Workforce management and technology solutions
Why Work with CHG Healthcare:
CHG Healthcare offers permanent placement, locum tenens coverage, and services across several brands that extend nationally. Their broad focus on both temporary and permanent roles gives organizations flexibility to meet a variety of staffing needs.
4. Jackson Healthcare
Jackson Healthcare, founded in 2000 and based in Georgia, is the parent company of more than 20 recruiting and workforce brands. The group offers a wide range of services, from permanent physician search to allied health staffing and IT.
Together, these companies serve patients nationwide through partnerships with hospitals, clinics, imaging centers, education providers, and government entities. Jackson Physician Search, for example, is one of the largest privately held permanent physician recruitment firms in the U.S. The firm is supported by a candidate pool of more than 400,000 physicians.
Its other brands cover nursing, allied health, international recruitment, and workforce management. This gives the organization broad coverage across healthcare staffing needs.
Industries:
Hospitals, Imaging Centers, Community Health Clinics, Government Agencies, Surgery Centers
Key Services:
- Physician and advanced practice recruitment
- Travel nursing and allied health placement
- Anesthesia services and therapy staffing
- Workforce technology and MSP programs
Why Work with Jackson Healthcare:
The firm brings permanent search, multi-brand resources, and broad human capital coverage. Its size also allows it to serve a wide range of organizations with different staffing needs.
5. CompHealth
CompHealth was founded in 1979 and now operates as a recruiting firm for both temporary and permanent clinical roles. The company introduced the locum tenens model nationally but has since expanded to include physician recruitment and allied health placements.
Its 1,300 tenured recruiters, leaders, and business partners handle assignments for hospitals, health systems, and smaller facilities across the country. With multiple decades in the market, CompHealth relies on a large locums database to match providers with facilities that need coverage or long-term hires.
The company’s broad reach allows for a variety of placements. Its roots remain in temporary physician assignments, with permanent searches representing only part of its portfolio.
Industries:
Hospitals, community health centers, rural clinics, health systems, and academic institutions
Key Services:
- Locum tenens and contract placements.
- Permanent physician recruitment.
- Allied health and advanced practice provider recruitment.
- Specialty coverage for rural facilities and non-clinical settings.
Why Work with CompHealth:
The firm offers locum tenens, permanent search, and access to a broad candidate network across the U.S. Its reach spans physician specialties, allied health, and advanced practice roles. By consolidating these services under one roof, CompHealth gives you a single point of contact for multiple hiring needs.
6. HealthTrust Workforce Solutions (HWS)
HealthTrust Workforce Solutions (HWS) is the recruitment arm of HCA Healthcare. It operates nationally to support both HCA hospitals and external clients. It’s services cover nursing, physicians, and allied health, but also extend into leadership and international recruitment.
In one example, the firm partnered with St. Luke’s University Health Network to review staffing patterns. When benchmarking scheduling and labor distribution, HWS identified ways to improve balance and reduce inefficiencies. This helped the university save $16 million annually.
The organization is backed by HCA’s infrastructure. It combines recruitment with workforce management, supply chain, and advisory services.
Industries:
Hospitals, health systems, outpatient centers, government facilities, international healthcare providers
Key Services:
- Travel nurse and per diem pools.
- Physician and locum tenens placements.
- Vendor-neutral MSP programs for contingent labor.
- International nurse recruitment.
Why Work with HealthTrust Workforce Solutions:
HWS gives access to large clinical pools, vendor management through MSP platforms, and solutions that combine recruitment and workforce operations. Its link to HCA Healthcare supports scale while extending services to other systems nationwide.
7. MSH Healthcare
MSH Healthcare operates as both a recruiting firm and a talent advisory partner. Its model combines recruitment process outsourcing with executive and clinical searches. This allows health systems and insurers to scale hiring efforts efficiently. The firm also invests in technology, using its Aeon platform to streamline sourcing, screening, and reporting.
In one example, MSH supported Prospero Health during a period of shortages. MSH delivered over 800 full-time clinical hires nationwide. The average time-to-fill was 43 days. This result showed how process-driven hiring at scale improves workforce stability and patient care delivery.
Industries:
Hospitals, health systems, insurers, outpatient centers, palliative care providers
Key Services:
- Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO).
- Executive and clinical leadership search.
- Nursing and allied health hiring.
- Talent advisory services.
- Tech-enabled sourcing via Aeon platform.
Why Work with MSH Healthcare:
MSH offers scalable recruitment models, a proprietary technology platform, and advisory services that extend beyond filling roles. This combination allows organizations to manage high-volume needs while also supporting leadership search.
8. All Medical Personnel
All Medical Personnel is based in Florida and delivers healthcare recruitment services nationwide. The firm operates across multiple divisions by covering physicians, nursing, therapy, laboratory, and allied health.
Its scope includes both temporary coverage and permanent placements. This gives you access to a wide range of candidate pipelines.
A point of focus is selectivity because from 100 physician CVs submitted, about 17 advance to interviews, with only 5 moving forward to placements. That filtering approach is designed to reduce mismatches and align hiring more closely with client requirements.
Industries:
Hospitals, laboratories, outpatient clinics, and government healthcare programs
Key Services:
- Physician and advanced practice recruitment.
- Travel nurse and therapy assignments (PT, OT, SLP).
- Allied health and laboratory staffing.
- Government contract workforce solutions.
Why Work with All Medical Personnel:
Organizations can expect multi-disciplinary recruitment, selective candidate screening, and long-standing nationwide coverage. These combined capabilities allow you to manage both immediate needs and longer-term hiring goals through a single firm.
9. Triage Staffing
Triage Staffing began with travel nursing and has since expanded to allied health and therapy staffing. Its focus remains on temporary assignments, typically structured in 13-week placements. Clinicians are placed across nursing, laboratory, and radiology specialties.
The company has appeared multiple times on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing firms. And in 2024, Triage acquired RTG Medical, which broadened its footprint in nursing, radiology, and long-term care.
That acquisition also introduced Triage Plus. This is a managed service program designed to streamline staffing operations across partner facilities.
Industries:
Hospitals, outpatient clinics, laboratories, imaging centers, long-term care facilities
Key Services:
- Travel nurse staffing across specialties.
- Allied health and therapy placements.
- Radiology and laboratory staffing.
- Managed Service Program (MSP) through Triage Plus.
Why Work with Triage Staffing:
Triage offers access to travel nurse networks, integrated allied health resources, and expanded long-term care staffing capabilities. These services give your organization multiple options to address clinical coverage through one partner.
10. Maxim Healthcare Services (Amergis)
Maxim Healthcare Services was rebranded as Amergis and has operated in healthcare staffing for more than three decades. It was founded in 1988 during a national nursing shortage. Since then, the company has grown from a nurse-focused agency into a broad provider of workforce solutions.
With over 140 offices nationwide, Amergis combines local presence with national scale. In 2024, its healthcare staffing division officially adopted the Amergis name. This created a distinct identity while continuing to serve hospitals, schools, and government health programs.
Industries:
Hospitals, government health programs, correctional facilities, schools, managed care organizations, clinics
Key Services:
- Nursing staffing (travel and per diem).
- Allied health and therapy staffing.
- Locum tenens for physicians and advanced practitioners.
- Healthcare support staff placement.
Why Work with Amergis:
The company’s long history and broad scope mean access to local offices, walk-in onboarding, and a national network of healthcare professionals. Its rebranding marks a shift toward a more defined healthcare identity, with services designed to cover both clinical and support staffing.
How to Choose the Right Healthcare Recruiting Partner
Selecting a recruiting partner involves more than comparing price and time-to-fill. The true impact shows up in how vacancies affect operations, revenue, and care delivery.
These are the factors you should weigh:
- Candidate pipeline health: Look at whether the firm provides engaged, qualified professionals or mostly “cold” resumes pulled from job boards. A strong pipeline saves months of delays.
- Subspecialty expertise: Ask if they can source niche roles such as neuro-interventional radiology or oncology nursing. Generalist networks usually fall short for these positions.
- Locum-to-perm conversion success: For roles where temporary coverage is necessary, review how frequently placements lead to permanent hires. Low conversion rates can mean recurring gaps.
- ROI framing: Request clear models that show the daily revenue lost when roles remain open. For example, a vacant interventional cardiologist post can cost tens of thousands per week.
- Vendor differentiation: Compare firms on compliance history, use of tech platforms for credentialing, and whether they provide consultative support beyond transactional placements.
When you assess these dimensions, you reduce the risk of repeating hires. You also gain a partner that aligns more closely with your organizational priorities.
Why AAG Health Is the Right Partner for Your Future
The right healthcare recruiting partner does more than fill today’s hiring. It secures the long-term stability of your workforce. With AAG Health, you gain client-first focus, precision recruiting, and tailored strategies that align with your mission and priorities. This combination helps reduce costly vacancies and improve continuity of care.
Contact AAG Health today to see how a strategic recruiting partnership can strengthen your organization’s future.
FAQs
How are healthcare recruiting agencies different from staffing firms?
Recruiting agencies focus on permanent placements for physicians, nurses, and executives. Staffing firms typically cover short-term assignments like per diem shifts. The difference matters because long-term hires need deeper vetting, credentialing, and alignment with organizational culture.
What matters most when hiring for hard-to-fill subspecialties?
The key is access to engaged candidate pipelines beyond job boards, including professionals not actively seeking roles. Subspecialty recruiting also requires precise market intelligence so you can align offers with realistic compensation and location expectations.
How do agencies handle credentialing and compliance?
Most agencies like AAG Health manage credentialing through structured processes that cover licensing, background checks, and hospital privileging. That oversight helps you avoid costly delays in onboarding and lowers regulatory risk for your organization.
What is the best healthcare recruiting company?
The right partner depends on your priorities, such as executive search, physician recruitment, or allied health placements. AAG Health is typically chosen by organizations seeking precision-driven strategies and client-first models for long-term workforce needs.
What are the top healthcare recruitment firms?
Some of the top healthcare recruitment firms are AAG Health, Merritt Hawkins, CHG Healthcare, and Jackson Healthcare. These agencies provide nationwide expertise in physician search, nursing, allied health, and leadership recruitment. They help healthcare organizations close staffing gaps and secure long-term workforce stability.
