Healthcare Staffing Industry Digest: August 31-September 4, 2026

Executive Summary

The Platform Realignment and the Health System Leadership Churn: Before you dive into this week’s intelligence digest, here are the macro trends actively reshaping our industry today:

• The staffing industry confirms its first growth cycle in three years: SIA’s September 2026 forecast projects 2.4% revenue growth to $183.1 billion in 2026, with the SIA/Bullhorn Staffing Indicator showing staffing hours up 10% year-over-year for the week ending August 22. For healthcare staffing executives heading into fall contract cycles, the macro case has never been stronger.

• Elite365 and Stone Harbor define this week’s platform strategy: Elite365 launched Navigator, a new MSP built for the rural and mid-size health systems that larger platforms have historically ignored, while Epic Staffing Group formally rebranded as Stone Harbor Staffing Group to signal a multi-brand portfolio identity. Both moves are proof that differentiated market focus, not scale alone, will determine which mid-tier firms survive consolidation.

• CHG’s new CFO and Viventium’s platform expansion signal accelerating infrastructure investment: CHG Healthcare named Ryan Solomon Chief Financial Officer weeks after closing its KREWE Anesthesia acquisition, confirming an active growth posture, while Viventium extended its HCM platform into scheduling and time and attendance for skilled nursing and senior living providers. Both moves demonstrate that firms and technology providers alike are building the operational infrastructure to capture the demand surge.

• Health system leadership churn hits a cycle peak, and the executive search window is open: ChristianaCare, Mount Carmel Health System, Albany Med Health System, Johns Hopkins Health Plan, and Teladoc Health all announced CEO or CFO transitions this week. The velocity of C-suite change creates the strongest demand environment for executive search in years and the most complex relationship terrain for staffing firms whose key contacts are turning over.

Dive into this week’s digest below to see exactly how the market’s biggest players are navigating these shifts.

M&A / Partnerships

• Elite365 Launches Navigator MSP, Targets Rural and Mid-Size Health Systems
  Elite365 launched Navigator Workforce Solutions, an MSP built specifically for rural and regional health systems that larger platforms have historically underserved, led by SVP Hamilton Doty. The rural whitespace is real and financially constrained. Watch for Navigator’s first named health system client to show the model works.
  Read about the Elite365 Navigator launch

• Korn Ferry Closes AMS Acquisition, Building a 17,000-Employee Global MSP Platform
  Korn Ferry officially closed its acquisition of AMS, a London-based MSP and RPO provider, creating a combined firm of nearly 17,000 employees across more than 130 offices. Health systems evaluating workforce partnerships now have access to a single vendor spanning search, RPO, and MSP at enterprise scale.
  Read about the Korn Ferry AMS acquisition

• ALKU Makes First Acquisition in Nearly a Decade With rockITdata
  ALKU acquired data and AI solutions provider rockITdata, its first deal in nearly ten years. CEO Andrew Bull said clients now want project ownership, not just talent supply, signaling that hybrid staffing-plus-solutions models are gaining ground in healthcare IT.
  Read about the ALKU acquisition

Financial Results

• SIA Raises 2026 Staffing Forecast to 2.4% Growth, First Expansion in Three Years
  SIA’s September update projects 2.4% revenue growth to $183.1 billion in 2026 and 2.2% growth in 2027, the first projected growth cycle for staffing in three years. For PE-backed platforms still in hold positions, this is macro confirmation that the recovery is durable and the capital events window is open.
  Read about the SIA staffing forecast

Product / Platform News

• Viventium Adds Scheduling and Time and Attendance to Its Senior Living HCM Platform
  Viventium expanded its HCM platform with integrated scheduling and time and attendance for skilled nursing and senior living providers, closing the loop from applicant to paycheck in one system. CEO Navin Gupta said the goal is more informed staffing decisions.
  Read about the Viventium platform expansion

• Epic Staffing Group Rebrands as Stone Harbor Staffing Group
  Epic Staffing Group publicly rebranded as Stone Harbor Staffing Group, uniting Tidepoint Healthcare Staffing, Orbis Clinical, PharmaLogics Recruiting, and its other portfolio brands under one group identity. The move points to a shift from a single brand to a multi-specialist platform positioned for institutional clients and further M&A.
  Read about the Stone Harbor rebrand

Executive Commentary / Industry Trends

• Healthcare IT Deal Count on Pace for a Decade High, Carta Data Shows
  Carta’s September analysis found healthcare IT private equity deal count in 2026 on pace for a decade high, with more than $24 billion deployed in the first half of the year. Staffing companies and outsourced service providers are named explicitly as PE targets addressing labor shortages.
  Read about the Carta PE healthcare analysis

• DEA Sends Final Telehealth Prescribing Rule to the White House for Review
  The DEA submitted its final rule on telehealth prescribing of controlled substances to the White House. The outcome will determine whether pandemic-era prescribing flexibilities become permanent, a decision that directly affects demand for telepsychiatry and behavioral health staffing platforms.
  Read about the DEA telehealth rule

Leadership Changes

• CHG Healthcare Names Ryan Solomon Chief Financial Officer
  CHG Healthcare appointed Ryan Solomon, who brings more than two decades of financial leadership experience, as CFO. The hire follows CHG’s KREWE Anesthesia acquisition and is a sign that the company is building financial infrastructure to support further M&A.
  Read about the CHG Healthcare CFO appointment

• ChristianaCare Names Jenn Schwartz President and CEO
  ChristianaCare appointed Jenn Schwartz, previously its Chief Legal Officer and Chief Strategy Officer, as President and CEO effective September 1, succeeding founding CEO Janice Nevin after 23 years. A legal and strategy background at the helm reflects a potential shift in vendor management priorities.
  Read about the ChristianaCare CEO appointment

• Mount Carmel Health System CEO Tauana McDonald to Retire at Year-End
  Tauana McDonald, the first African American woman to lead the 140-year-old system, will retire at the end of 2026 after two years as CEO. Trinity Health is conducting a search, and the transition typically triggers a vendor review cycle within twelve to eighteen months.
  Read about the Mount Carmel CEO retirement

• Albany Med Names Andrew DeVoe CFO Effective October 5
  Albany Medical Center Health System named Andrew DeVoe, most recently CFO of Tufts Medicine, as its new enterprise CFO. His arrival suggests the system is investing in financial leadership to execute its First Choice 2030 strategy.
  Read about the Albany Med CFO appointment

• Teladoc Health Names Michael Grasher Chief Financial Officer
  Teladoc Health named Michael Grasher, a 30-year financial services veteran, as its new CFO. Teladoc’s virtual care platform is deployed across health systems and employers, increasingly overlapping with the clinical workforce decisions staffing firms compete to influence.
  Read about the Teladoc CFO appointment

• Johns Hopkins Health Plan Names Daniel Chojnowski Interim CEO
  Johns Hopkins Health Plan named seven-year CFO Daniel Chojnowski interim CEO after former CEO James Holland departed for Humana. Leadership transitions at a payer of this scale directly affect staffing firm contracts with facilities that depend on JHHP reimbursement.
  Read about the Johns Hopkins Health Plan leadership change

On Our Radar

These are the developments we are tracking closely heading into next week and why they matter for the sector.

• The Navigator MSP Play: Elite365’s rural-focused MSP launch targets a segment larger platforms have overlooked, but the real test is whether it can land a named health system client before Ingenovis, CHG, or AMN build a comparable offering.

• CHG’s Active M&A Pipeline: A new CFO arriving weeks after the KREWE Anesthesia close suggests CHG is still building. Watch for additional specialty-specific acquisitions in behavioral health, hospital medicine, or interventional radiology.

• The Executive Search Window Health System Churn Opens: Five major health systems announced CEO or CFO transitions this week alone. Firms that engage new leadership in their first ninety days will set the terms of the next multi-year contract conversation.

• Rural Health Transformation Dollars Are Deploying: With multiple states now receiving awards from the fifty-billion-dollar RHTP program, each award creates a structured, multi-year workforce partnership opportunity that favors managed programs over transactional placements.

• Korn Ferry-AMS Raises the Competitive Bar: The newly combined 17,000-employee platform gives health system buyers a single vendor spanning search, RPO, and MSP. Healthcare-specific depth, not breadth, is the credible counter-strategy for specialist firms.

• Behavioral Health Staffing Is the Next Acute Segment: Product moves from Medely and Viventium, alongside the pending DEA telehealth prescribing rule, point to facility-based behavioral health staffing as deeply underserved and structurally set for demand growth.