A Decade of Care: Celebrating 10 Years of Nomad Health

Ten years ago, Nomad Health was just an idea shared among a group of friends, doctors and tech entrepreneurs. The goal? To fix what was broken in healthcare staffing, starting with one simple belief: clinicians shouldn’t have to deal with paperwork, phone tag, or gatekeeping just to do their jobs. In 2015 that was a hard future to believe in but today, it’s our reality.

From a scrappy team of friends determined to make change to a thriving digital marketplace to over 475,000 clinicians with Nomad. As CEO Justin Lambert puts it in his most recent newsletter, “While technology can streamline processes, it’s people who move care forward.” And so, as we mark 10 years of Nomad Health, this post isn’t just a celebration of what we’ve built, it’s a celebration of the people who made it possible. 

A brief history

Founded on July 31, 2015, Nomad began with a shared frustration with the inefficiencies of traditional healthcare staffing. In just a few years, Nomad has grown from a startup with a simple job platform to a leading force in healthcare staffing. Since then, we’ve hit milestone after milestone like expanding to travel nurses in 2017 and launching our app in 2019.

• May 2016 – Our website launches

• July 2017 – We expand from doctors to travel nurses

• December 2019 – We launch our mobile app

• August 2021 – Allied health jobs added

• November 2021 – 1,000 nurses on assignment

• May 2024 – Our first DAISY Award-winning nurse is honored ⁠

Lessons in leadership

To celebrate this milestone, we asked our team to reflect on what they’ve learned over the years. Here are a few lessons that stood out:

• “Support for our clinicians translates to better patient outcomes. That continues to be my north star.”  – Stacy Denbaum

• “Progress is better than perfection. And a little humor goes a long way, even when things seem impossible.”  – Manisha Sarkar

• “Good coworkers make all the difference.” – Claudia Morano

• “Be curious, ask questions, investigate. You might not always find the answer you were looking for, but you'll still learn something interesting along the way.”  – Bre Hall

• “I’ve learned that leadership isn’t about being the loudest voice — it’s about showing up with humility, respecting others in partnership, and leading with empathy.”  – Becca Todd

• “What keeps me grounded is still the same thing that brought me to Nomad in the first place: the ability to help clinicians help patients.” – Rick Bassham

• “No matter our role or background, we’re all united by working towards the same goal —to support clinicians and improve the healthcare staffing landscape together.”– Claire Lurie

What's next

So, what does the next decade look like? We’re continuing to invest in technology that simplifies job searching and placement. We’re scaling our support systems to make sure every clinician feels heard, valued, and cared for. But most importantly, we’re holding tight to what got us here: a commitment to transparency, compassion, and people-first innovation.

To every clinician who trusted us with their next assignment and to every team member who helped build the future of healthcare staffing —thank you.

Ten years is just the beginning. Here’s to the next 10!