Our Company History
A groundbreaking history of growth, leadership and success, Merritt Hawkins & Associates is proud of its 20-plus years of service to physicians and other healthcare providers, healthcare organizations and the entire industry.
Established in Newport Beach, California, as a six-person firm, Merritt Hawkins & Associates has grown into and maintained a leadership position in recruitment service and innovation.
Join us on our journey by taking a moment to look at the timeline below. It shows our path of success and how we continue to maintain our goal of being the No. 1 permanent physician recruitment company in the nation.
- 1987: Merritt Hawkins & Associates is established in a small office in Newport Beach, California, with six employees.
- 1988: An innovative, consultative approach and a commitment to client service lead to $1 million in revenue in the first nine months.
- 1989: Repeat business drives triple-digit annual growth. Merritt Hawkins & Associates becomes the third largest physician search firm in the industry in less than two years.
- 1990: A national client base requires a central location. Merritt Hawkins & Associates relocates its corporate headquarters to Dallas, Texas, while maintaining regional offices in Southern California.
- 1991: Merritt Hawkins & Associates receives national attention in USA Today, The New York Times, Good Morning America and other media outlets for its unique pro bono physician search program for medically underserved areas.
- 1992: Staff Care® is established to meet the temporary (locum tenens) needs of Merritt Hawkins & Associates' clients.
- 1993: Merritt Hawkins & Associates becomes one of the leading permanent physician search firms in the nation, in terms of number of search assignments and placements. Due to its explosive growth, Merritt Hawkins & Associates is named one of the 500 fastest growing privately held firms in the nation by Inc. magazine.
- 1994: Merritt Hawkins & Associates generates original data regarding physician compensation and related staffing matters that is cited in The Wall Street Journal, Modern Healthcare, Hospitals & Health Networks, Medical Economics and many other publications. Merritt Hawkins & Associates opens its Eastern Regional Office in Atlanta, Georgia.
- 1995: Merritt Hawkins & Associates is recognized by The Wall Street Journal and Medical Economics as the first physician search firm to offer medical practice opportunities on the Web.
- 1996: Allied Consulting is established to meet the temporary allied health staffing needs of Merritt Hawkins & Associates' clients. Merritt Hawkins & Associates, Staff Care and Allied Consulting are now referred to as The MHA Group.
- 1998: Merritt Hawkins & Associates/The MHA Group earns the endorsement of over 20 healthcare organizations, the most of any physician search firm in the industry.
- 2000: Med TravelersSM is formed to provide temporary allied health staffing to clients of The MHA Group.
- 2001: The MHA Group moves its corporate headquarters to a new, 100,000 square foot building, housing all its affiliated companies.
- 2002: Merritt Hawkins & Associates reaches a milestone, having conducted over 25,000 physician search assignments distributed across all 50 states.
- 2003: The MHA Group opens RN Demand®, a national staffing firm specializing in the temporary placement of nurses.
- 2004: The MHA Group of companies offers a comprehensive healthcare staffing service, including all clinical health professionals, while maintaining its position as the industry leader in service and innovation.
- 2005: The MHA Group and its affiliated divisions join forces with AMN Healthcare to create the largest healthcare staffing company in the U.S.