Healthcare Staffing Sector M&A Update – November 2026

Persistent Staffing Shortages Support Continued M&A Investment in Healthcare Staffing Sector

Healthcare Staffing sector merger and acquisition (M&A) activity has increased 36.4% year-over-year (YOY), underpinned by durable demographic tailwinds, growing utilization across outpatient and community-based care settings, and persistent shortages of qualified healthcare professionals. Buyers have increasingly prioritized businesses with specialized clinical capabilities, geographic density, and scalable technology. Over the past several years, healthcare staffing M&A activity has increasingly centered on faster-growing and more specialized segments including school-based therapy and behavioral health, locum tenens, per diem staffing, workforce technology, and highly specialized outsourced clinical services such as perfusion. As travel nursing continues to rebound from its post-pandemic correction, improving demand and renewed revenue growth are expected to drive increased buyer interest and transaction activity in the segment. Sponsor-backed platforms remain active acquirers, while public-company performance increasingly reflects both improving core volume trends and the ability to deploy technology, manage leverage, and serve clients across multiple staffing channels.

Buyers have increasingly focused on healthcare staffing businesses that combine specialized clinical expertise and strong recruiting capabilities with technology that improves service delivery. Demand for these differentiated businesses, together with the emerging recovery in travel nursing, will bolster continued investment and M&A activity across the sector.

Eric WilliamsManaging Director and Head of Healthcare Investment Banking

Technology Offers Some Relief to Healthcare Staffing Shortages

Outsourced providers have embraced technology as a critical tool for addressing persistent staffing shortages and delivering more efficient workforce solutions to healthcare organizations. The chronic U.S. medical labor shortage is expected to remain a defining characteristic of the healthcare system over the next decade as marginal improvements in supply across key roles have largely failed to match expanding demand levels. This dynamic has positioned technology integration as an opportunity to alleviate staffing pressures for strained healthcare operators competing for a limited number of professionals. Registered nurses (RNs) have historically represented the lion’s share of the Nursing segment, eclipsing the second-largest category, licensed practical nurses (LPNs), by ~2.4 million personnel, according to the Health Resources & Services Administration’s (HRSA) December 2025 National Center for Health Workforce Analysis (NCHWA).¹ This essential cohort of the U.S. healthcare system is expected to remain understaffed in both the near term (meeting 92% of demand capacity in 2028) and longer term (97% of demand capacity in 2033). Other care provider categories are also anticipated to experience worsening labor dynamics. Most notably, the country’s stock of LPNs is forecasted to meet just 70% of required demand by 2038.

Technology has become an increasingly important differentiator in healthcare staffing, enabling providers to streamline clinician sourcing, credentialing, compliance, scheduling, and onboarding while improving workforce visibility. Staffing firms that combine recruiter expertise and clinical oversight with automation are better positioned to accelerate fulfillment, strengthen compliance, optimize clinician utilization, and scale efficiently. In response, sector participants have increasingly integrated workforce-management technology into their service offerings, including data-driven scheduling, real-time labor visibility, and predictive workforce-planning capabilities. Established providers such as AMN Healthcare (NYSE: AMN) and Aya Healthcare have developed technology solutions that complement their core staffing services, while newer market entrants such as Care Career have positioned technology enablement as a central component of their value proposition. Growing demand for these solutions has begun to influence dealmaking and portfolio positioning in the sector. Historically, competitive differentiation in healthcare staffing has centered on depth of clinical specialization, strength of recruiting capabilities, and geographic reach. However, differentiated technology capabilities have increasingly emerged as a source of strategic value, enabling healthcare staffing firms to strengthen their competitive positioning, enhance service delivery, and expand their customer base. Technology has served as a driving force behind multiple transactions to date, including Phoebe’s acquisition of Alden (July 2026, undisclosed) and IntelyCare’s acquisition of CareRev (January 2026, undisclosed).

Prior-Year Platform Creation and Strong End Market Demand Support Significant Jump in Healthcare Staffing M&A

Healthcare staffing M&A has accelerated in YTD 2026, building on the platform formation and add-on activity of prior years. Capstone’s transaction dataset has identified 30 announced or completed transactions to date, up 36.4% YOY. The Locum Tenens and Nursing segments have been particularly active, with M&A volume doubling across both spaces. Healthcare operators have increasingly relied on locum tenens providers to address critical coverage gaps, supporting strong buyer interest in the subsector. Persistent shortages across specialized clinical roles have made flexible staffing solutions particularly valuable in rural and other underserved markets, where recruiting and retaining qualified professionals can be especially challenging. Travel nursing has also displayed signs of a sustained rebound, with AMN Healthcare reporting 10% YOY revenue growth and 6% volume growth within the segment in the second quarter of 2026, according to the company’s Q2 2026 earnings report.² These results have marked AMN’s strongest travel nursing volume growth in four years, which is expected to support renewed buyer interest and transaction activity. In addition, demand for technology-enabled solutions has also contributed to deal volume growth as sector participants have sought to bolster staffing services with workforce management software. Of note, Interlock Equity-backed staffing firm VeloSource acquired workforce management platform Syncx in June 2026 (undisclosed). The deal was driven by recognition of technology as a tool to optimize clinical labor management. “By combining advanced, vendor-neutral technology with deep clinical staffing expertise, we are building a unified platform that resolves modern workforce gaps and clinician shortages,” stated Jeff Schaal, President and CEO of VeloSource, in a press release.³

Strategic buyers have accounted for 53.3% of YTD 2026 Healthcare Staffing M&A activity, up from 40.9% in the prior-year period. Buyers have prioritized clinical specialization, recruiting capabilities, and geographic expansion. Care Career’s acquisitions of MAS Medical Staffing in July 2026 (undisclosed) and IDR Healthcare in February 2026 (undisclosed) expanded the company’s presence across the Northeast and Southeast regions of the U.S., strengthening regional market coverage. Likewise, footprint expansion was a key driver behind Strata Critical Medical’s (Nasdaq:SRTA) recent acquisitions of Louisville Perfusion Services in June 2026 for an enterprise value of $20 million (~2.0x EV/Revenue, ~6.7x EV/EBITDA), and Ohio Valley Perfusion Services (April 2026, $1 million). Strata has invested heavily in expanding its capabilities within the highly specialized Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP) and Blood Management markets. As part of its expansion initiative, Strata outlined ~$200 million in liquid cash reserves for potential M&A deployment, according to its November 2025 Investor Day presentation.⁴ Both 2026 transactions follow Strata’s Capstone-advised acquisition of Keystone Perfusion Services in September 2025 for an enterprise value of $147 million.

Sponsors have displayed similar appetite for geographic expansion, continuing active buy-and-build strategies within the Healthcare Staffing sector. Add-ons have led sector sponsor M&A to date, posting a 100% YOY gain to 12 deals and accounting for 85.7% of private equity (PE) M&A activity to date. This expansion in bolt-on activity has been uplifted by heightened platform creation in recent years as sponsors have rapidly scaled new investments to meet the critical staffing demands of the Healthcare industry. The shift in focus toward buy-and-build growth has slowed new platform formations to date, falling 71.4% YOY to just two deals. However, YTD 2026 has seen one of the most significant platform investments in recent years. Notably, Knox Lane is likely to deploy the typical PE roll-up growth strategy in its stewardship of Cross Country Healthcare (formerly Nasdaq:CCRN), while also positioning the platform as an innovative workforce solutions provider through technology investments. The addition of a scaled, sponsor-backed platform could increase competition for differentiated healthcare staffing assets, supporting transaction activity and valuations through 2027.

Strong End Market Fundamentals, Public Player Consolidation Boosts Share Price Performance

Public-market developments have reinforced investor interest in scaled healthcare workforce platforms. PE firm Knox Lane took Cross Country Healthcare private in a May 2026 tranasction at an enterprise value of $333.8 million, equivalent to 0.4x EV/Revenue, 15.9x EV/EBITDA, and a ~31% premium over the prior-day close. The acquisition was accompanied by a smaller carveout of Cross Country’s Locum Tenens division, which Knox Lanes’ portfolio company, All Star Recruiting Locums, acquired in July 2026 for an undisclosed sum. The announcement of these transactions generated a positive market response towards the remaining publicly-traded healthcare staffing companies. AMN Healthcare’s share-price recovery has coincided with improving core trends across nursing, allied health, schools, and search⁴ These Public market trends have validated the opportunities offered by workforce tailwinds and large-scale consolidation, driving continued investor activity within the Healthcare Staffing sector.

M&A Pricing Remains Elevated as Acquirers Target Technology Enablement and Care Specialization

Recent M&A valuations have remained above historical averages, reflecting renewed acquirer interest in the Healthcare Staffing sector. From 2024 through YTD 2026, the average disclosed EV/EBITDA multiple has reached 12.3x, approximately three turns above the prior three-year average. However, differences in target scale, business mix, growth, and profitability warrant caution when drawing broader conclusions from disclosed transaction data Revenue multiples have displayed more stability since 2021, remaining flat at an average of 1.5x over the six-year period. The landmark Cross Country Healthcare transaction has provided acquirers with a valuation benchmark, commanding a premium 15.9x EV/EBITDA multiple. Heightened demand from competing PE buy-and-build initiatives is likely to uplift Healthcare Staffing sector M&A pricing, while expansion efforts in key regional markets, demand for specialized clinicians, and technology-enablement opportunities continue to promote robust consolidation activity. Notable transaction examples targeting technology enablement and care specialization are outlined below.

• Care Career Acquires MAS Medical Staffing (July 2026, Undisclosed) – Care Career acquired MAS Medical Staffing in July 2026 for an undisclosed sum. MAS, a staffing firm specializing in filling nursing per-diem roles in New Hampshire and Rhode Island, joins six existing brands operating under the Care Career name, according to the company’s website.⁵ Care Career’s portfolio spans multiple U.S. regions and service lines, offering hiring support for frontline care roles as well as back-office support. Care Career has been an active consolidator in the Healthcare Staffing sector, rolling up seven companies since May 2025 representing ~$150 million in annual revenue, according to a press release.⁶ The company expects to surpass $250 million in annual revenue by the end of 2026 through both organic growth and acquisitions. Integration opportunities between Care Career’s AI-enabled workforce platform and MAS’ MAESTRA management software also represented a key strategic rationale for the transaction, with the combined capabilities expected to enhance workforce visibility, streamline staffing workflows, and support continued platform growth

“Our vision is to build the AI-powered infrastructure that modernizes healthcare workforce management…Care Career is focused on transforming a fragmented, labor-intensive industry into a data-driven, technology-enabled ecosystem that improves speed, efficiency, and workforce visibility for healthcare providers,” stated Siva Konatham, CEO of Care Career, in the press release.

• Strata Critical Acquires Louisville Perfusion Services (June 2026, $20 Million) – In June 2026, Strata Critical Medical acquired Louisville Perfusion Services for an enterprise value of $20 million, equivalent to ~2.0x EV/Revenue and ~6.7x EV/EBITDA. The transaction marks Strata’s third transaction in the Perfusion space to date as part of a geographic expansion initiative. Louisville Perfusion Services expands its coverage in the Midwest and Southern regions, adding to Strata’s existing cardiac perfusion customer base of 275 hospitals, according to a deal press release.⁷

“This all-cash acquisition is consistent with our M&A strategy of deploying capital towards bolt-on acquisitions at accretive, mid-single digit adjusted EBITDA multiples that both strengthen our existing service offerings and position Strata for growth,” said Strata CEO, Will Heyburn, in the press release.

The Healthcare Staffing sector is entering a more selective growth phase. Structural shortages have remained significant, but buyers have focused on assets that can demonstrate defensible clinician access, strong compliance and credentialing processes, measurable fill performance, customer retention, and disciplined economics. School-based therapy and behavioral health staffing have benefitted from persistent shortages and growing demand outside traditional hospital settings, while niche outsourced clinical services such as perfusion have offered essential-service characteristics and fragmented regional markets. Technology enablement will remain an important competitive factor, though software investments must translate into better fulfillment, clinician engagement, compliance, or client economics. Together, Capstone expects these dynamics to provide a favorable backdrop for Healthcare Staffing M&A through year-end 2026 and into 2027.

To discuss the market implications of public consolidation, provide an update on your business, or learn about Capstone’s wide range of advisory services and Healthcare Staffing sector knowledge, please contact us.

Brendan Bradley, Associate, was the lead Market Intelligence contributor to this article.

Endnotes

1. Health Resources & Services Administration, “Health Workforce Projections,” hrsa.gov/data-research/projecting-health-workforce-supply-demand, accessed September 13, 2026.

2. AMN Healthcare, “Q2 2026 10-Q,” amnhealthcare.com/quarterly-results, accessed September 13, 2026.

3. Interlock Equity, “Locum Tenens Staffing Leader VeloSource Announces Strategic Acquisitions of Quest and Syncx to Build Enterprise Healthcare Workforce Ecosystem,” com/locum-tenens-staffing-leader-velosource-announces-strategic-acquisitions-of-quest-and-syncx-to-build-enterprise-healthcare-workforce-ecosystem/, accessed September 13, 2026.

4. Strata Critical Medical, “Investor Day Presentation,” stratacritical.com/company-information/presentations, accessed September 13, 2026.

5. Care Career, “Enabling Careers Nationwide,” carecareer.com/, accessed September 22, 2026.

6. PR Newswire, “Care Career Announces Acquisition of MAS Medical Staffing, Completing Its First Acquisition Phase and Expanding Annual Revenue Beyond $150 Million, with a Path to Exceed a Quarter Billion by the End of 2026 Through Additional Acquisitions and Organic Growth,” prnewswire.com/news-releases/care-career-announces-acquisition-of-mas-medical-staffing-completing-its-first-acquisition-phase-and-expanding-annual-revenue-beyond-150-million-with-a-path-to-exceed-a-quarter-billion-by-the-end-of-2026-through-additional-acqu-302834472.html, accessed September 13, 2026.

7. Strata Critical Medical, “Strata Acquires Louisville Perfusion Services,” stratacritical.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/142/strata-acquires-louisville-perfusion-services, accessed September 13, 2026.