10 Best Locum Tenens Agencies for 2026 (Ranked)

Key takeaway: The 10 best locum tenens agencies for 2026 are: CompHealth, Weatherby Healthcare, LocumTenens.com, AMN Healthcare Locums, Hayes Locums, Barton Associates, Medicus Healthcare Solutions, Cross Country Locums, Consilium Staffing, and Jackson + Coker. CompHealth and Weatherby (both CHG Healthcare) and LocumTenens.com (Jackson Healthcare) are the volume leaders; AMN and Cross Country suit systems that already use them as MSPs; Hayes, Barton, Medicus, Consilium, and Jackson + Coker are strong specialists with fast coverage and competitive rates.

Locum tenens agencies place physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, CRNAs, and dentists on temporary assignments that cover vacancies, leaves, seasonal volume, and rural shortages. The agency recruits and credentials the clinician, arranges licensing, travel, and malpractice coverage, and bills the facility a daily or hourly rate; the clinician is typically an independent contractor paid by the agency.

The physician shortage keeps the model growing. The Association of American Medical Colleges projected in 2024 that the United States will face a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036, and Staffing Industry Analysts estimates the US locum tenens segment at roughly $7 billion a year, making it the fastest-growing part of healthcare staffing even as travel nursing contracted. CHG Healthcare's industry surveys estimate that about 50,000 physicians, roughly 7 percent of the active workforce, take at least one locum assignment each year.

This list ranks agencies by specialty coverage, credentialing speed, malpractice and compliance handling, clinician experience, and pricing clarity. For nursing coverage, see our travel nurse agencies list; for permanent physician search, see healthcare recruiting firms.

How did we evaluate locum tenens agencies?

The 10 agencies at a glance

The 10 best locum tenens agencies

1. CompHealth

Type: Locum tenens and permanent physician staffing (CHG Healthcare) Headquarters: Salt Lake City, UT Best for: Hospitals and groups that want the largest locum tenens agency with coverage across nearly every specialty

CompHealth, part of CHG Healthcare, pioneered locum tenens staffing in 1979 and remains the largest locum agency in the United States, placing physicians, advanced practice providers, and allied clinicians across more than 100 specialties. It runs in-house licensing and credentialing teams, provides A-rated malpractice coverage, and also offers permanent physician placement.

Strengths:

• Largest provider pool and specialty breadth
• In-house licensing and credentialing
• Permanent and locum placement under one roof

Limitations:

• Premium rates
• Large organization; recruiter responsiveness varies

2. Weatherby Healthcare

Type: Locum tenens staffing (CHG Healthcare) Headquarters: Fort Lauderdale, FL Best for: Facilities and clinicians that want CHG's infrastructure with a consultant-led, relationship-driven service model

Weatherby Healthcare, also part of CHG Healthcare, is one of the largest locum tenens agencies and is known for assigning a single consultant to each clinician and facility, strong physician satisfaction scores, and comprehensive travel and licensing support. It covers physicians and advanced practice providers across most specialties.

Strengths:

• Consultant model with single point of contact
• High clinician satisfaction and retention
• CHG credentialing and malpractice backing

Limitations:

• Rates at the high end of the market
• Overlaps with CompHealth in many specialties

3. LocumTenens.com

Type: Locum tenens staffing and job board (Jackson Healthcare) Headquarters: Alpharetta, GA Best for: Facilities that want a top three agency with a large open job marketplace and strong psychiatry, anesthesia, and surgery coverage

LocumTenens.com, a Jackson Healthcare company, combines a large locum tenens staffing operation with the industry's most visited locum job board, giving it deep candidate flow in psychiatry, anesthesiology, surgery, hospital medicine, and advanced practice. It publishes an annual compensation and employment report widely cited in the industry.

Strengths:

• Large candidate flow from its job marketplace
• Strong psychiatry, anesthesia, and surgical coverage
• Annual industry compensation data

Limitations:

• Marketplace volume can mean less curated submittals
• Jackson Healthcare sister brands overlap in some specialties

4. AMN Healthcare Locums

Type: Locum tenens staffing (formerly Staff Care) Headquarters: Dallas, TX Best for: Health systems that already use AMN as an MSP and want locums, nursing, and allied under one contract

AMN Healthcare Locums, formerly branded Staff Care, is AMN's locum tenens division and one of the largest in the country. It integrates with AMN's MSP and VMS programs, which lets systems manage physician coverage alongside travel nursing and allied staffing, and it publishes a widely cited annual survey of temporary physician staffing trends.

Strengths:

• Integration with AMN MSP and workforce technology
• Scale across physician and advanced practice specialties
• Industry survey data

Limitations:

• Enterprise focus
• Less personal than boutique agencies

5. Hayes Locums

Type: Locum tenens staffing Headquarters: Fort Lauderdale, FL Best for: Facilities that want a fast-growing, physician-focused agency with strong anesthesia, surgery, and hospitalist coverage

Hayes Locums is a physician-focused locum tenens agency that has grown rapidly on the strength of its recruiter culture, consistent top rankings in physician satisfaction surveys, and depth in anesthesiology, surgery, hospital medicine, and emergency medicine. It provides A-rated malpractice coverage and in-house credentialing.

Strengths:

• Repeatedly ranked near the top for physician satisfaction
• Strong anesthesia and surgical specialties
• Responsive mid-size organization

Limitations:

• Smaller advanced practice bench
• Less MSP integration than AMN or Cross Country

6. Barton Associates

Type: Locum tenens staffing for physicians, NPs, PAs, CRNAs, and dentists Headquarters: Peabody, MA Best for: Facilities that need advanced practice providers and dentists as well as physicians, with aggressive sourcing

Barton Associates is a large national locum tenens agency with offices across the US and particular depth in nurse practitioners, physician assistants, CRNAs, and dentists in addition to physicians. It is known for high-volume recruiting and fast presentation of candidates, with in-house licensing and credentialing teams.

Strengths:

• Strong advanced practice and dental coverage
• Fast candidate presentation
• Multiple regional offices

Limitations:

• High-volume outreach style can feel aggressive to clinicians
• Rate negotiation can be opaque

7. Medicus Healthcare Solutions

Type: Locum tenens and permanent physician staffing Headquarters: Windham, NH Best for: Hospitals and health systems that want a consultative locum partner with strong hospitalist, emergency, and surgical programs

Medicus Healthcare Solutions is a privately held locum tenens and permanent staffing firm that has grown into one of the ten largest locum agencies, with strengths in hospital medicine, emergency medicine, surgery, and advanced practice. It emphasizes program-level solutions for systems with recurring coverage needs and consistently earns strong clinician and client reviews.

Strengths:

• Program-level coverage for recurring needs
• Strong hospitalist and emergency medicine bench
• High client retention

Limitations:

• Smaller specialty breadth than CHG brands
• Primarily US domestic

8. Cross Country Locums

Type: Locum tenens staffing (Cross Country Healthcare, formerly Medical Doctor Associates) Headquarters: Norcross, GA Best for: Systems that use Cross Country for nursing and want integrated physician and advanced practice coverage

Cross Country Locums, formerly Medical Doctor Associates, is the locum tenens division of Cross Country Healthcare and places physicians and advanced practice providers across most specialties. It integrates with Cross Country's MSP and Intellify VMS, making it a natural choice for systems that already use Cross Country for nursing.

Strengths:

• Integration with Cross Country MSP and VMS
• Decades of locum history as MDA
• Broad specialty coverage

Limitations:

• Smaller locum pool than CHG or Jackson brands
• Brand transition from MDA still settling

9. Consilium Staffing

Type: Locum tenens staffing Headquarters: Irving, TX Best for: Rural hospitals, community health centers, and correctional facilities that need reliable primary care and behavioral health coverage

Consilium Staffing is a mid-size locum tenens agency with notable strength in primary care, psychiatry and behavioral health, and coverage for rural, community health, Indian Health Service, and correctional facilities. It is known for competitive rates and consistent recruiter relationships.

Strengths:

• Rural, FQHC, and correctional coverage experience
• Strong psychiatry and primary care bench
• Competitive pricing

Limitations:

• Less depth in surgical subspecialties
• Smaller national brand

10. Jackson + Coker

Type: Locum tenens staffing (Jackson Healthcare) Headquarters: Alpharetta, GA Best for: Hospitals and groups that want a long-established, physician-focused locum agency with strong psychiatry, anesthesia, and surgical coverage

Jackson + Coker is one of the oldest locum tenens agencies in the United States and a sister company to LocumTenens.com within Jackson Healthcare. It focuses on physicians and advanced practice providers across most specialties, with notable depth in psychiatry, anesthesiology, surgery, and emergency medicine, and provides in-house licensing, credentialing, travel, and A-rated malpractice coverage.

Strengths:

• Decades of locum history and Jackson Healthcare backing
• Strong psychiatry, anesthesia, and surgical bench
• Full-service licensing and travel support

Limitations:

• Overlaps with LocumTenens.com in specialties and clients
• Premium rates

How to choose a locum tenens agency

Start with specialty and lead time. Hospital medicine, emergency medicine, and primary care fill quickly through almost any agency on this list; anesthesia, surgical subspecialties, and psychiatry require agencies with deep benches such as CompHealth, LocumTenens.com, Hayes, or Jackson + Coker. Confirm the agency is a NALTO member, ask who carries the malpractice policy and whether tail coverage is included, and verify how licensing and privileging are handled, since credentialing is the usual source of delay.

On price, request the daily or hourly rate, the travel and housing pass-through, the cancellation window, and the conversion fee if you later hire the clinician permanently. Locum physician daily rates in 2025 ranged from roughly $1,200 for primary care to $3,000 or more for anesthesia and surgical specialties, with agency margin typically 25 to 35 percent of the bill rate. Systems with many sites often consolidate locum spend under an MSP run by AMN or Cross Country or through a locum-specific VMS.

For broader clinical staffing, see our healthcare staffing agencies list; for software that supports provider recruiting, see healthcare recruiting software.

How Noon fits alongside locum tenens agencies

Locums buy time, but every open physician or advanced practice position eventually needs a permanent hire, and in-house provider recruiters are stretched thin. Noon is an AI recruiter that helps provider recruitment teams work the permanent side: it sources physicians and advanced practice candidates across the open web and licensing registries, screens them against role requirements, and runs personalized email and SMS outreach so recruiters focus on conversations and site visits.

Noon offers one flat plan with unlimited roles and seats. See pricing or read how an AI agent compares with a recruiting agency.

FAQ

What does a locum tenens agency do? A locum tenens agency recruits, credentials, and places physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, CRNAs, and dentists on temporary assignments at hospitals, clinics, and health systems, handling licensing, travel, housing, and malpractice coverage. The facility pays the agency a daily or hourly rate and the clinician is paid by the agency, usually as an independent contractor.

Which locum tenens agency is the largest? CompHealth and Weatherby Healthcare, both owned by CHG Healthcare, together form the largest locum tenens operation in the United States. LocumTenens.com (Jackson Healthcare) and AMN Healthcare Locums are the other volume leaders.

How much do locum tenens agencies charge? Facilities typically pay $1,200 to $3,000 or more per day depending on specialty, plus travel and housing costs. The agency keeps roughly 25 to 35 percent of the bill rate to cover recruiting, credentialing, malpractice insurance, and margin.

What is NALTO? The National Association of Locum Tenens Organizations is the industry association that sets ethical standards for locum agencies, including rules on candidate presentation and client relationships. Most reputable agencies, including every firm on this list, are members.

How quickly can a locum tenens agency provide coverage? Hospitalists, emergency physicians, and primary care providers can often start within two to four weeks once credentialing is complete, and faster if the clinician already holds a license in the state. Specialists and new state licenses typically take four to twelve weeks.

About the author

Rey Sivji is Head of Growth at Noon AI and researched and compiled this list. Have a correction, a firm that belongs on it, or a question about choosing an agency? Email rey@noon.ai.