Locum tenens physicians: Bridging care gaps in underserved communities

“Our company was actually founded on staffing rural medicine, rural physicians across Utah at first,” Lisa Grabl, group president of CHG Healthcare, says. “But that need has not changed.”

A CHG Healthcare report from late 2024 noted that 71% of locum tenens assignments are in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), highlighting the ongoing gap in permanent physician coverage. “Organizations like ours, who have a focus on staffing those small communities, is really an important facilitator in many, many people around the country receiving health care that they would either go without or they would have to travel long distances to be able to receive that care,” she says.