Healthcare Staffing M&A Status Report

Covid-19 is changing the landscape of the healthcare industry at a remarkable pace. While ICU’s continue to inch toward capacity and recorded cases spike to new highs, many healthcare organizations have struggled to turn a profit as the number of non-Covid related visits and elective procedures plummeted. Medical staffing agencies have felt the pinch as hospital have cut jobs and tightened budgets.

While the general atmosphere in the medical staffing industry is dour, the good news is that several key players are taking the opportunity to consolidate their position and form companies better equipped to deal with the challenges that lay ahead.

An article from Healthcare Dive explores the ways in which several top members of the industry are navigating their way through these challenges. Between stepping up collections, furloughing non-essential workers, and exploring telehealth, companies such as Aya Healthcare, AMN Healthcare, and CHG Healthcare were able to carve out enough room to prepare for the long haul back to more stable conditions.

When will that be exactly? Most analysts at S&P Global do not expect to see a return to pre-pandemic volumes until mid-way through 2021, a daunting challenge for companies with a weak balance sheet and liquidity issues. Both Envision Healthcare and ASP Napa, along with a slew of other staffing companies, have been dealt CCC credit scores and are regarded with a negative outlook by S&P Global Ratings.

Despite this, key players are pursuing acquisitions as a means of getting a leg up on the competition. On Jun 18, 2020 Doximity, a professional medical network, completed the acquisition of THMED, a medical staffing company. Together they make up Curative, a new telehealth platform that utilizes both staffing and healthcare technologies to meet patient’s needs. Even as recent as June 30th, Aya Healthcare announced their acquisition of the staffing division of APS in an effort to adapt to the fluid demands of hospital across the nation.

For business owners looking at the uphill battle back to normalcy, such partnerships could simultaneously provide the liquidity and synergies needed to be competitive in the current healthcare environment. Plethora Businesses is no stranger to this space, having brokered major medical staffing transactions between groups such as PE firm Gencap of America and Core Medical Group. Whether it’s an exit strategy or a growth initiative, our knowledge and experience will be the foundation that will help you build towards your goals.