Why market access beats agency size in today's healthcare staffing environment

Think about what a school office looked like twenty years ago. Filing cabinets lining the walls. Paper gradebooks. Attendance taken by hand and calendars filled in with pencil. A fax machine humming in the corner, still somehow essential.

As healthcare organizations continue to modernize their contingent labor strategy, Vendor Management Systems (VMS) have become a critical piece of infrastructure, particularly for complex labor categories like locum tenens and travel nursing.

For decades, school districts have relied on staffing partners to help solve workforce challenges. When a teacher resigns, a substitute is needed, or a specialized therapist position opens unexpectedly, staffing agencies step in to help fill critical gaps. That approach has served districts well and continues to play an important role in supporting schools.

Healthcare organizations are increasingly exploring Employer of Record (EOR) services as a way to reduce labor costs, expand access to talent, and create more flexible workforce models.

Not all staffing solutions are built equal. And in healthcare, that difference isn't just operational. It's personal.

For more than 15 years, I built my career on the staffing side of healthcare.

As an MSP/VMS partner, we operate at a unique intersection — supporting healthcare organizations under workforce pressure while collaborating closely with agencies delivering care across nursing, rehab, and support services.

2026 marks a major milestone for HWL.

For today’s nursing leaders, clinical excellence depends on getting the right clinicians into the right units — all while maintaining compliance, controlling labor costs, and supporting care teams in a challenging workforce landscape.

When was the last time your nurse managers had bandwidth to focus on retention strategies, quality initiatives, or staff development without being buried in candidate phone screens?

HWL is thrilled to welcome Jamie Herold, M. Ed., to our leadership team as Senior Vice President of Education. She is a strategic education leader with deep experience across K-12 schools, program development, and education workforce strategy. Her career spans a range of school and organizational settings, including work in school formation, instructional and organizational design, leadership development, educator professional practice, and education staffing and services. 

The workforce management landscape in 2025 told a story of both challenge and transformation. Healthcare organizations spent over 50% of their budgets on labor costs while facing unprecedented staffing shortages, according to Redesign Health analysis. Education wasn't far behind, with 1 in 8 teaching positions either vacant or filled by uncertified educators, reports the Learning Policy Institute. Yet amid these challenges, innovative solutions emerged that are reshaping how organizations approach workforce strategy.