Nursing startup nabs $149M for healthcare staffing platform

Trusted Health, a startup that helps hospitals fill staffing gaps, has pulled in $149 million in funding, the company announced Wednesday.

The startup plans to use the funding for the rollout of its Trusted Works platform, which matches nurses with open positions while using artificial intelligence to balance fill rate and cost.

The total funding amount includes a $94 million series C round led by GreenSpring Associates as well as a previously undisclosed $55 million series B round led by Craft Ventures and Felicis Ventures.

With $175 million raised to date, the company also partnered with the national health system Mercy to develop the technology further and help identify the best proportion of full-time and contract workers for each of the system’s hospitals.

“The pandemic exacerbated what we already knew: healthcare staffing is in a crisis and previous attempts to modernize the workforce have fallen short. We’ve been left with a fragmented ecosystem of apps and services for healthcare institutions trying to solve one problem: matching the right clinician to the right role in the most efficient manner,” said Lennie Silwinski, Trusted CEO and co-founder, in a statement. “Through a combination of technology and close working relationships with organizations like Mercy, we’ve built a platform that is going to help hospitals meet staffing challenges head on so they can keep their focus on delivering quality patient care.”

Nursing shortages were common before COVID-19, but the “Great Resignation” hit the profession harder than most, with stress and burnout leading many providers to retire or switch careers.

By 2022, nursing shortages will far outweigh labor gaps in other professions, with a projected need for 1.1 million new RNs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Other startups like Trusted have cropped up in response to the labor crisis, including ShiftMed, which announced a $45 million funding round for its mobile app that connects healthcare workers and providers.

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Works has already been adopted across all of Mercy’s more than 40 hospitals. The health system hopes to increase fill rates in its nursing workforce by 12% and knock $2 million off its nursing labor costs in the next six months, Trusted said.

“The incorporation of Works into our staffing strategy allowed us to get ahead of two needs that the pandemic accelerated: giving nurses more flexibility in their careers and creating a dynamic workforce that can easily move around to meet spikes in demand,” said Betty Jo Rocchio, Mercy’s senior vice president and chief nursing officer. “Mercy has always been a leader in technology and innovation. Our work with and investment in Trusted has allowed us to create what I truly believe is the future of the healthcare workforce.”

Beyond its staffing capabilities, Works manages additional employee processes including onboarding, credentialing and compliance monitoring.

More than 50 hospitals in the U.S. have implemented Trusted Health’s platform, the company said.