Jim Merritt

James Merritt is a co-founder of Merritt Hawkins, the largest physician search and consulting firm in the United States.

Mr. Merritt has over 30 years of healthcare staffing and consulting experience and is a nationally acknowledged healthcare staffing leader. In 1987, he co-founded Merritt, Hawkins & Associates, which expanded into The MHA Group, a healthcare staffing organization comprised of Merritt Hawkins, Staff Care (locum tenens staffing) and Med Travelers (allied healthcare professional staffing). In 2005, The MHA Group merged with AMN Healthcare (NYSE: AMN) the largest healthcare staffing company in the nation and the innovator of healthcare workforce solutions.

Mr. Merritt continues to be actively involved in the daily management of Merritt Hawkins focusing on strategic marketing operations. Mr. Merritt is widely recognized for his expertise in a broad range of staffing issues, from physician compensation to medical staff planning. Mr. Merritt has consulted with hundreds of hospitals and medical groups regarding physician needs assessment, physician search strategies, compensation, contracts, retention and numerous other related issues. Firms founded or managed by Mr. Merritt have conducted over 30,000 physician search assignments nationwide.

Mr. Merritt has been repeatedly noted for his expertise. His comments have appeared in numerous respected publications, including The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, USA Today, Modern Healthcare, Hospitals & Health Networks, American Medical News, and many others. Mr. Merritt has written dozens of articles on health care staffing issues that have appeared in publications ranging from Modern Healthcare to The Dallas Morning News.

Mr. Merritt is co-author of the book, Will the Last Physician In America Please Turn Off the Lights? A Look at America’s Looming Doctor Shortage. This influential book has been called “a must read” by Charles Lauer, former publisher of Modern Healthcare, and “required reading,” by the late Richard Cooper, MD, a leading authority on physician supply and demand trends.