Where are Travel Nursing Agencies Located and Does It Matter?
Many travel nurses wonder where travel nursing agencies are located. While agencies are located all across the United States, there are few hotbeds which are interesting to know about. Perhaps the more intriguing question for us to consider is whether or not location matters.
Omaha, Nebraska – The Healthcare Staffing Capital of the World
Have you ever heard of the PayPal Mafia? Basically, it’s a bunch of cofounders and early employees of PayPal that went on to achieve further success in entrepreneurial ventures and/or tech investing.
It’s quite remarkable. From that one group came companies like Yelp, Yammer, YouTube, LinkedIn, Palantir, Tesla, SpaceX and Affirm.
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We tell this story here because many people in the healthcare staffing industry refer to Omaha, NE as the Healthcare Staffing Capital of the World. We at BluePipes affectionately refer to the companies based in Omaha as the “Omaha Mafia”, not to be confused with the actual Omaha Mafia of course.
The healthcare staffing companies located in Omaha, NE include, but are not limited to:
- Medical Solutions
- Aureus (now part of Medical Solutions)
- Fusion Medical Staffing
- Triage Staffing
- LRS Healthcare
- Cariant Health Partners
- Ventura Medstaff
- Atlas MedStaff
- Prime Time Healthcare
- Magnet Medical
- Skyline Med Staff
- GetMed Medical Staffing
How did it happen?
We can’t be certain how this happened. However, Larry Courtnage founded C&A Industries in the basement of a home in 1969. The company originally focused on recruiting engineers. They eventually branched out to cover several industries. Aureus is their healthcare brand.
Medical Solutions started in 2001. The cofounders included Scott Anderson among others.
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Many of the founders and cofounders of the remaining companies got their start in the healthcare staffing industry with either Aureus or Medical Solutions.
Travel Nursing Companies in San Diego and Los Angeles, California
While there might not be a large number of healthcare staffing companies in Southern California, the ones that are there are massive. In fact, by some accounts, at least 25% of all travel nurses work for a company based in San Diego, CA.
That’s because San Diego is home to AMN Healthcare, Aya Healthcare and Host Healthcare. AMN is the largest healthcare staffing company in the nation. Aya healthcare is one of the five largest companies in the nation. Host Healthcare is growing very quickly.
Travel nursing companies in Southern California include:
- AMN Healthcare
- AYA Healthcare
- Host Healthcare
- United Staffing Solutions, Inc (USSI)
- KPG Healthcare
- Healthcare Pros
How did it Happen?
One of the earliest travel nurses founded American Mobile Healthcare in Las Vegas, NV in 1985. They moved the company to San Diego in 1987. Today, the company trades publicly at a valuation of $3.4 billion.
Aya Healthcare began operations in San Diego in 2001. Host Healthcare began operations in 2012. The company’s CEO, Adam Francis, is the son of the founder of American Mobile Healthcare.
Travel Nursing Companies in Florida
It’s probably not fair to list the entire state of Florida given that the other locations on our list are cities or regions. However, everyone knows Florida has a slew of healthcare staffing companies.
Florida is home to 2 of the 5 largest healthcare staffing companies, Cross Country Healthcare and Jackson Healthcare. Oddly enough, Boca Raton, FL, population 98,000, is home to Cross County, American Traveler, RN Network, Accountable Healthcare Staffing and Nightingale Nurses.
Travel nursing companies in Florida include but are not limited to:
- Cross Country Healthcare
- Jackson Healthcare
- American Traveler
- MedPro Healthcare Staffing
- PPR Travel Nursing (owned by Medical Solutions)
- RN Network (owned by CHG Healthcare Services)
- Accountable Healthcare Staffing
- Nightingale Nurses
- Voyage Healthcare Staffing
- Loyal Source
- Alegiant Healthcare
Travel Nursing Companies in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio tends to surprise people as a hotbed of travel nursing companies. However, Cincinnati is home to Trustaff and Health Carousel. These are 2 of the 20 largest healthcare staffing companies in the country. Moreover, they’re two of the 15 largest travel nursing companies in the country.
Companies located in and around Cincinnati, Ohio include, but are not limited to:
- Trustaff
- Health Carousel (Tailored Healthcare Staffing)
- Talemed
- Vero RN
- Prolink Staffing
- Advantage RN – Bought by Cross Country in 2017
Does it Matter Where Travel Nursing Agencies are Located?
As you can see, the hotbeds of travel nursing companies are scattered across the country. That’s even more true of healthcare staffing companies in general.
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But, does it even matter where a healthcare staffing agency is located? Like most things in the travel healthcare industry, it depends.
Agency Access to Local Travel Nursing Jobs
In some cases, agencies can have better access to travel nursing jobs with hospitals in their local market. This is because it’s often easier for agencies to nurture relationships with hospitals in their local markets.
We sometimes speak with agencies large and small who have exclusive job orders with hospitals in their hometown or home-state. That said, this type of exclusive access to the local market is becoming increasingly rare.
Typically, these relationships exist when hospitals sign contracts directly with agencies. However, hospitals have been experiencing a major shift toward the use of “Vendor Management Services” to fill their travel healthcare needs. These services often prohibit hospitals from offering special considerations to any one agency.
Should You Work with Travel Nursing Agencies in Your Local Market?
Many travel healthcare professionals wonder if they should work with agencies located in their own local market. In fact, Google even tries to steer its users in that direction. If you google “travel nursing companies”, then Google will ask you for your location if they don’t have access to it already. Then, they will serve up results for local agencies first.
Perhaps it might be nice for you to work with a local agency because you can physically visit the office. However, that is most likely the extent of the guaranteed benefits of working with a local agency.
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We covered how to choose travel nursing agencies in a previous article. We also provided tips for finding travel nursing companies that can get you jobs in your desired destinations. We also provide an annual list of the best travel nursing agencies based on reviews we aggregate from 6 reputable review sources. Please review those articles to help you find the perfect agency for you.
Does the Travel Nursing Agency’s Location Matter for Tax Purposes?
Many travel healthcare professionals wonder if the agency’s location has any impact on the taxes that travelers pay. Simply put, an agency’s location does not affect the taxes that a travel nurse pays. Instead, the state in which you actually work will affect the state taxes you pay.
A Travel Nursing Agency’s Location Can Affect Their Expenses
A healthcare staffing agency’s location can certainly affect the agency’s expenses. The cost of office space and internal staff are both significantly lower in Omaha, Nebraska than they are in San Diego, California.
However, this really only matters for the travel healthcare professional if the agency passes the savings into the traveler’s pay. It’s near impossible for us to determine if that is happening. However, our experience indicates it is not.
By our own account, it appears as though most agencies operate with gross profit margins around 20-25% depending on how they calculate their gross profit. It appears as though companies located in less expensive markets tend to operate with larger internal staffs relative to the number of travelers they have on contract.
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That said, you may find otherwise. The only way to know for sure is to compare the pay quotes that agencies send you.
Conclusion
As you can see, a travel nursing agency’s location might affect their pay rates and their access to jobs in their local market. However, neither of these are a given. Therefore, we recommend that you view location as only a minor consideration when evaluating travel nursing companies.
On another note, we’d love to know if you know of any hotbeds for travel nursing agencies that we missed. Please contact us to let us know!
