Primary care, hospital medicine, behavioral health, and multi-specialty physician recruiting.
Elina Sindhu
Healthcare Recruiting
Healthcare Staffing Agency in San Diego
Need to fill a hard-to-fill healthcare role in San Diego? ExpertHiring helps you reach experienced professionals already working in the market.
- Permanent and contract hiring, built around your needs
- Recruiters who specialize in healthcare, not every industry
- Contingency searches with no upfront recruiting fees
Trusted by hospitals and health systems nationwide
800+
Hiring teams served
70+
Specialized recruiters
72-96 hrs
To your first candidates
3
U.S. patents for sourcing technology
Why San Diego healthcare hiring works a little differently
San Diego has a few things going on that you really have to account for when you're trying to hire healthcare professionals.
Scripps and Sharp have a big impact on what candidates expect. Scripps Health is the largest private employer in San Diego County, with 20,000+ staff across five hospitals and dozens of outpatient sites. Sharp HealthCare has seven facilities and more than 10,000 employees. Between them, they have a lot of influence over local pay expectations.
You're also competing with biotech. San Diego has 80+ research institutions and one of the country's biggest biotech and life sciences markets. That means clinical research coordinators, laboratory professionals, and some allied health professionals have options outside traditional healthcare. Research and biotech roles can offer different schedules, stock options, and career paths.
And don't overlook the military healthcare pool. Naval Medical Center San Diego is the largest military medical facility on the West Coast. Military spouses with nursing, allied health, or other clinical credentials may also be looking for civilian work when a posting ends or they're transitioning out of federal service. It's a particularly useful talent pool in San Diego, and we look at it when it fits the search.
Our healthcare search,
start to finish
We start with San Diego specifics
Before we reach out, we look at the role, location, submarket fit, and California BRN status. North County and South Bay are different candidate pools, and out-of-state candidates need a California license before they can start.
We reach people who aren't looking
Our San Diego healthcare recruiters reach out to nurses at Scripps, physicians at UCSD Health, allied health professionals at Sharp, and behavioral health clinicians across county-contracted providers.
You meet candidates who fit
We check clinical background, specialty experience, California licensure, location, compensation expectations, and reason for moving before making an introduction. No volume. No surprises.
Healthcare recruiters who know the role
Different healthcare roles need different recruiting approaches. Our teams specialize by discipline, so your search is handled by recruiters who understand the candidates you're trying to reach.
Nursing Recruiters
RNs, LPNs, CNAs, Nurse Practitioners, CRNAs, Charge Nurses, and Nurse Managers across Scripps, Sharp, UCSD Health, and community facilities throughout the county.
Behavioral Health Recruiters
LCSWs, LPCs, BCBAs, Psychiatrists, and Psychiatric NPs across San Diego's outpatient groups, county-contracted providers, and VA-adjacent behavioral health programs.
Physician Recruiters
Hospitalists, Primary Care Physicians, Specialists, PAs, and Medical Directors for San Diego health systems, independent practices, and FQHC networks.
Revenue Cycle Recruiters
Medical Billers, Coders, HIM Professionals, Revenue Integrity Specialists, and Denials Managers.
Allied Health Recruiters
Physical Therapists, RT's, Surgical Technologists, Imaging Professionals and Clinical Lab Scientists - including roles where biotech and clinical care overlap.
Healthcare Executive Search
CNOs, CMOs, VPs of Patient Care, and senior operational leaders for San Diego's major health systems, academic medical centers, and multi-site regional networks.
Planning on hiring for a different specialty?
Whether you're filling one clinical role or building out a department, if you're hiring in San Diego healthcare, we can likely help.
Request healthcare candidatesMeet a few of the recruiters from our team
Specialists who understand the roles, candidates, and hiring realities across San Diego.
Behavioral health physicians, emergency medicine, and difficult-to-fill physician specialties.
Ray Shimray
Healthcare Recruiting
Chief Medical Officers, Medical Directors, physician leadership, and executive healthcare hiring.
Annie Larkin
Healthcare Recruiting
A closer look at San Diego's healthcare market
Region
Central San Diego / Hillcrest
Major healthcare employers
UC San Diego Medical Center Hillcrest, Scripps Mercy Hospital, VA San Diego Healthcare System
Recruiter insight
UCSD and the VA attract people who specifically want to work in those environments. When they are open to moving, they are often talking to two or three employers at the same time. We have found that dragging out the process here can mean losing a good candidate.
Region
La Jolla / UTC
Major healthcare employers
UC San Diego Health Jacobs Medical Center, Scripps La Jolla, Thornton Hospital
Recruiter insight
This is one of the toughest areas in the county for specialty clinical hires. Candidates know what UCSD offers and often use it as their benchmark. If your compensation or research opportunities don't stack up, they'll tell you pretty quickly. Knowing what Jacobs Medical Center is paying before you build the offer can make a big difference.
Region
North County (Escondido, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista)
Major healthcare employers
Palomar Health, Tri-City Medical Center, Scripps Encinitas
Recruiter insight
Most North County clinicians would rather not commute south, and it comes up in almost every search we run here. Palomar and Tri-City are going after much of the same local talent, so experienced candidates already have options nearby. We usually start by looking within the North County market instead of asking people to cross the I-8.
Region
East County (El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee)
Major healthcare employers
Sharp Grossmont Hospital, Alvarado Hospital, Grossmont Center for Health
Recruiter insight
The 30 to 45 minute commute into central San Diego can be enough to change someone's mind. We've had candidates choose Sharp Grossmont over Sharp Memorial simply because they didn't want the drive. If the job is in East County, we look for people who are already comfortable working there.
Region
South Bay (Chula Vista, National City)
Major healthcare employers
Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, Scripps Mercy Chula Vista, Paradise Valley Hospital
Recruiter insight
For many South Bay roles, bilingual Spanish isn't really a bonus. It's a requirement. That makes the pool considerably smaller, especially for roles near the border. We include bilingual ability in the search from day one rather than discovering later that the shortlist doesn't have it.
Region
Coronado / Military Corridor
Major healthcare employers
Naval Medical Center San Diego, Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton
Recruiter insight
Naval Medical Center has 6,000+ healthcare professionals, and the steady military transition cycle creates another pool worth knowing about. Nurses and allied health professionals leaving the military, along with military spouses moving after a PCS, can become strong civilian candidates. It's an area many agencies simply don't think to source.
Region
Mission Valley / Kearny Mesa
Major healthcare employers
Kaiser Permanente San Diego, Sharp Mission Park
Recruiter insight
Kaiser employees are used to a particular setup: set schedules, integrated care, and strong union protections. Someone considering leaving Kaiser usually wants to know exactly what they're giving up. We have that conversation early, so both sides know what to expect before the candidate reaches the interview stage.
Our recent placements in San Diego
Timelines run from search launch to accepted offer.
Orthopedic PA
28 days
Sports medicine group, Mission Valley, CA
Military Transition RN
26 days
Acute care hospital, post-federal service placement, Central San Diego, CA
Clinical Research Coordinator
25 days
Biotech/clinical research organization, La Jolla, CA
Bilingual (Spanish) Medical Assistant
19 days
Community health clinic, Chula Vista, CA
CRNA
27 days
Outpatient surgery center, North County, CA
Physical Therapist
26 days
Outpatient orthopedic group, Carlsbad, CA
Frequently asked questions
Because the nurses most employers want usually aren't looking. Regional programs graduate around 2,000 RNs a year, while the market has more than 15,000 active RN job postings. A 2025 San Diego Regional EDC study also found that major healthcare employers expect to need more than 1,500 additional RNs over the next three years, with OR nurses among the biggest priorities.
The experienced ICU, ED, and specialty nurses you're trying to reach are already working, often at Scripps, Sharp, UC San Diego Health, or Kaiser. They're not sitting around refreshing job boards. Our nurse staffing agency in San Diego reaches them through direct outreach, which gives you access to a different pool of candidates.
It's a very San Diego specific source of talent. Naval Medical Center San Diego is the largest military medical facility on the West Coast, with more than 6,000 military and civilian healthcare professionals. When service members leave the military or military spouses need civilian work after a posting ends, there can be a strong pool of credentialed nurses, allied health professionals, and clinical support staff looking for what's next.
It's a real candidate pool, but most healthcare staffing agencies aren't actively looking there. We are.
Of course. We place candidates with Scripps Health and Sharp HealthCare, as well as UC San Diego Health, Kaiser Permanente, Palomar Health, Rady Children's, Tri-City Medical Center, and other healthcare organizations across San Diego County.
But each system has its own hiring and credentialing process, so timelines can vary. We talk through those expectations with both the employer and candidate before the search starts, which helps prevent things from getting stuck after an offer.
We recruit throughout San Diego County. North County, East County, South Bay, and the Coronado corridor all have different candidate pools, so we don't treat them as one big market.
For a Palomar Health search in Escondido, for instance, we're looking for candidates who actually want to work in North County. For a South Bay role, bilingual ability and commute patterns may be much more important. Where the job is located helps determine who we reach out to and how we build the search.
The candidates you need may never see your posting
The nurses, physicians, and allied health professionals worth hiring aren't on job boards. Getting to them takes direct outreach from recruiters who know this market.
We'll start your search for free, no upfront fees.