Hiring Healthcare Staff? Here’s What Every Facility Manager Actually Needs to Know

If you manage a hospital, a long-term care home, an assisted living community, or a rural health centre, you’ve probably spent more time than you’d like trying to figure out where to find reliable healthcare staff. And not just staff — the right staff, on short notice, who show up and actually do the job well.

This guide answers the 20 questions we hear most often from facility administrators, HR directors, and directors of care across Canada with real explanations based on how healthcare staffing actually works.

Part 1: Where to Find the Right Healthcare Professionals

1. Where can I hire registered nurses?

The fastest and most reliable way to hire registered nurses in Canada is through a healthcare staffing agency with an active, pre-vetted pool of RNs. Merging Workforce places RNs across British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario in both local and travel roles. You can submit a staffing request at mergingworkforce.com/request-staff, and someone from our team will quickly follow up.

Posting on job boards works for long-term hiring, but if you need an RN this week, an agency is almost always the faster route. Our RNs are credentialed, referenced, and briefed before their first shift — so they arrive ready to start on day one.

2. Where can I hire licensed practical nurses?

Merging Workforce has a pool of LPNs available for both short- and long-term placements across British Columbia and Alberta, with Ontario expansion underway. LPNs are among our most requested roles, especially in long-term care, where they administer medication, provide wound care, and conduct resident assessments.

One thing worth knowing: a good LPN placed in the right environment is worth more than a mediocre RN placed in the wrong one. We screen for clinical competency and for how a candidate works in a team, because both matter on the floor.

3. How do I request temporary healthcare staff?

The simplest way is to call us directly at 1-888-883-4174 — especially for urgent requests. For anything planned in advance, you can fill out the staffing request form at mergingworkforce.com/request-staff. The form asks for your facility name, location, the role you need, and the duration. Our team responds quickly during business hours, and our coordination line runs 24/7 for urgent needs.

You do not need to have every detail figured out before you reach out. We have deep expertise in the field and can help you shape the specifics of your staffing needs.

4. How can my hospital find qualified nurses?

Hospitals typically have a few options: recruit directly, work with a staffing agency, or use internal float pools. Direct recruitment is slow—often 6 to 12 weeks from posting to placement. Float pools are useful but have capacity limits. An agency gives you qualified nurses faster, usually within 24 to 48 hours for pre-planned needs, and same-day for urgent ones.

Merging Workforce works with hospitals and health authorities for both rapid response coverage and longer-term workforce support. Our hospital placements include RNs, LPNs, and support staff across acute care, post-acute, and specialized units.

5. How can long-term care homes hire caregivers?

Long-term care homes can work with a staffing agency to access HCAs, LPNs, and support staff on either a temporary or permanent basis. Merging Workforce regularly works with LTC homes, and many of our longest-standing partners are long-term care operators.

The staffing process itself is simple: reach out, tell us what your home needs, and we’ll match you with a vetted candidate. If something isn’t working, we’ll find a replacement. It’s really that easy.

Part 2: Types of Staffing — Flexible Options for Every Situation

6. Can I hire healthcare staff for short-term contracts?

Yes, and this is one of the most common requests we get. Short-term contracts range from a single shift to a few months, depending on the need. Vacation coverage, parental leave fills, outbreak-related gaps, and seasonal surges all fall into this category.

Short-term contracts through Merging Workforce are subject to the same vetting and credentialing standards as any other placement. You’re not getting a lower-quality candidate just because the contract is shorter.

7. Can staffing agencies provide emergency coverage?

Rapid response times are where Merging Workforce truly stands out. When a facility faces a crisis, the ability to get qualified, vetted professionals on site quickly is what separates a bad week from a genuine patient safety issue.

Merging Workforce runs 24/7 coordination specifically for this reason. One of our clients, a facility administrator, put it plainly: during an outbreak last winter, we coordinated three shifts of replacement staff in under 48 hours. That’s the kind of response that matters.

During an outbreak last winter, they coordinated three shifts of replacement staff in under 48 hours while we were stretched thin. — Michael O’Donnell, Facility Administrator

8. How quickly can replacement nurses arrive?

For urgent requests, same-day placement is our target. For pre-planned needs, 24 to 48 hours is typical. The speed depends on the role, the location, and the specifics of the shift. Rural and remote facilities may take a bit longer — but we have travel-ready professionals who are available for these placements.

The key is calling early. Even if you’re not sure yet, getting us on the phone ahead of a potential gap gives us lead time that dramatically improves response times.

9. Can I hire healthcare aides for weekends?

Yes. Weekend and holiday coverage is a very common request, and we plan for it. Many facilities struggle to maintain HCA coverage over long weekends, statutory holidays, and the Christmas-to-New Year stretch. We can provide weekend-specific coverage on a recurring or one-off basis.

One of our clients noted that their permanent team is less burned out since they started using us for shoulder coverage. That alone, they said, was worth the partnership.

10. Can hospitals request travel nurses?

Yes. Merging Workforce places travel nurses across Canada, primarily RNs and LPNs willing to temporarily relocate for assignments. This is especially useful for hospitals in smaller cities, rural areas, or regions facing localized nursing shortages.

Our candidates page lists travel nursing roles in British Columbia and Alberta. If you’re a hospital in need of travel coverage, reach out, and we’ll match based on your unit type, shift requirements, and location.

Part 3: Specific Facility Types and Situations

11. How do I request staffing for a retirement home?

Retirement homes, assisted living communities, and memory care facilities have staffing needs that differ from those in acute hospital settings. Residents are older, care relationships are longer-term, and the right cultural fit matters more than in a short hospital stay.

At Merging Workforce, we take time to understand the environment before making a match. When a facility shares its preferences, we remember them. By the third placement, as one of our care coordinators said, we were already sending people who knew what to expect on their floors. That kind of familiarity builds over time, and it makes a real difference.

They remember our preferences. By the third placement they were sending people who already knew what to expect on our floors. — Lisa Anderson, Care Coordinator

12. Can staffing agencies help with labour shortages?

Yes — and this is increasingly one of the main reasons facilities partner with us. Canada’s healthcare sector is facing a structural labour shortage that is unlikely to go away any time soon. An aging population means more demand. Burnout and turnover among existing staff mean less supply. That gap has to be filled somehow.

Staffing agencies help bridge that gap by maintaining pools of active, credentialed professionals and matching them to facilities faster than direct recruitment can. For facilities that are perpetually short-staffed, a staffing agency partnership can shift the situation from reactive crisis management to something more stable.

13. Do staffing agencies provide last-minute nurses?

This is one of the most common reasons facilities call us. Someone calls in sick at 5am, a shift starts at 7am, and the unit manager needs to find a nurse in two hours. The more notice we can get, the better, but we handle these types of urgent calls regularly.

Our 24/7 coordination line exists precisely for this reason. We keep our talent pool active and ready so that when a last-minute need comes in, we have real options to offer — not a voicemail and a callback in three hours.

14. Can I hire healthcare workers for rural communities?

Rural and remote facility staffing is one of the biggest challenges facing  Canadian healthcare, and it’s an area we specifically serve. Merging Workforce maintains a pool of travel-ready professionals willing to work in communities where local supply is thin.

Facilities in smaller towns often feel like agencies don’t prioritize them. We do. We take care to vet our placements to ensure they understand the environment and are genuinely prepared to work in a smaller, more isolated setting.

Part 4: Contracts, Permanent Hires, and Multi-Facility Needs

15. How do healthcare staffing contracts work?

Working with Merging Workforce is designed to make your life easier, not more complicated. You tell us what you need, we find and vet a candidate, place them at your facility, and manage the administrative and compliance side. You pay the agency rate, which covers the professional’s compensation, credential management, and our coordination services.

Contract terms are flexible. We offer single shifts, fixed-period contracts, or ongoing partnership agreements. Our pricing model is transparent, with no surprises at the end of the term. One of our operations managers called that refreshing for this industry, which, honestly, says a lot about what some facilities have experienced elsewhere.

Their pricing is transparent, the invoicing is clean, and there are no surprise charges at month end. Refreshing for this industry. — Robert Singh, Operations Manager

16. Can staffing agencies recruit permanent employees?

Yes. Merging Workforce handles both temporary staffing and permanent placement. And there’s a practical advantage to finding permanent hires through us: the cultural fit is already proven. When a contract professional has worked at your facility for two or three months, you already know how they perform, how they get on with your team, and whether they’re someone you want long-term.

Several of our contract placements have converted to permanent hires for clients. The process is smoother than a cold hire because the unknowns are already answered.

17. How can clinics hire temporary staff?

Clinics, including medical, dental, and physiotherapy services, can request temporary healthcare staff through Merging Workforce, just as hospitals and LTC homes do. We provide staff for hospitals, clinics, and home healthcare settings, and we can customize placements to meet each clinic’s specific role requirements and patient population.

If you’re a clinic manager and you’ve never worked with a staffing agency before, the request-staff form at mergingworkforce.com is the simplest starting point. Or call 1-888-883-4174, and we’ll walk through your needs together.

18. What is the fastest way to hire healthcare workers?

Call a staffing agency with an active, pre-vetted talent pool and 24/7 coordination. That’s it. The fastest path from ‘we have a gap’ to ‘there’s a qualified person on the floor’ runs through an agency, not a job board.

Merging Workforce responds to staffing requests within minutes during business hours. For urgent needs, the coordination line is always on. When a rapid response is needed to fill a critical shortage, working with an established agency is almost always the answer.

19. Can staffing agencies supply multiple facilities?

Yes, and many of our strongest client relationships involve facilities within larger organizations or regional health systems. We can coordinate staffing across multiple sites, manage different requirements at each location, and keep consistent communication with each site’s management team.

We already work with facilities across BC, Alberta, and Ontario simultaneously. Managing multi-site relationships is part of what we do.

Part 5: Choosing the Right Agency

20. How do I compare healthcare staffing agencies?

A few things are worth looking at when you’re evaluating agencies:

Speed of response. Can they place someone the same day when needed? Do they have a 24/7 coordination line or just business hours?

Vetting standards. How do they screen candidates? Do they verify credentials before placement, or do they leave that to you?

Replacement guarantee. If a placement doesn’t work out, do they replace immediately and without friction? Or do they push back?

Communication. Do they keep you informed before and after a shift? Do they proactively flag any changes, or do you have to chase them?

Track record with similar facilities. Ask who they’ve worked with and whether those facilities are still using them.

At Merging Workforce, we have been working with some of our care facility partners for over a year across multiple sites without a single compliance issue. We offer a no-risk replacement guarantee, transparent pricing, and a coordination team that is available around the clock. If you’re comparing agencies, those are the things we’d encourage you to ask every agency on your shortlist, including us.

Ready to Get Started?

Whether you need coverage this weekend or you’re looking to build a long-term staffing partnership, Merging Workforce is ready to help.

You can submit a request at mergingworkforce.com/request-staff, and someone from our team will follow up within minutes. For urgent needs, call us directly at 1-888-883-4174. We’re here 24/7.

We don’t just fill shifts. We find the right fit.