The Tenth Annual National Locum Tenens Week runs August 10-14, 2026, arriving weeks after the RURAL Healthcare Act advanced out of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
The National Association of Locum Tenens Organizations® (NALTO®) is proud to announce the Tenth Annual National Locum Tenens Week, taking place August 10 through 14, 2026.
NALTO® continues its theme, “Temporary Providers, Permanent Impact,” which highlights the essential contributions of locum tenens physicians and advanced practice providers (APPs) who deliver quality care each day in every corner of America.
At the 10-year mark, the theme carries added weight. The 10th anniversary arrives at a defining moment for the industry: on July 23, 2026, the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce advanced H.R. 8347, the Reinforcing Underserved, Rural, and Local (RURAL) Healthcare Act, introduced by Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT).
The bill would classify qualified locum tenens physicians and advanced care practitioners as independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the National Labor Relations Act. In announcing the committee vote, Owens said the legislation would keep clinicians serving rural communities from being burdened by regulatory uncertainty and unnecessary red tape.
It is the furthest a locum tenens classification bill has ever advanced in Congress, and it would give locum tenens something it has never had: permanent standing in federal law.
“For ten years, National Locum Tenens Week has been about recognition. This year it is also about progress,” said Liz Hale, NALTO® President and Chief Executive Officer of MPLT Healthcare. “The RURAL Healthcare Act clearing committee is the most significant step Congress has taken to protect locum tenens, and it happened because our member firms and the providers they place have spent a decade making the case. We intend to see it through.”
Ten years later, locum tenens has outgrown its own description
When NALTO organized the first National Locum Tenens Week in 2017, locum tenens was still widely described as a stopgap: coverage for a vacation, a medical leave, or an open position awaiting a permanent hire. A decade later, that description no longer fits.
More than 55,000 physicians, over five percent of all U.S. doctors, worked locum tenens assignments last year, and roughly one-third of American physicians have taken a locum tenens assignment at some point in their careers.
Eighty-one percent of U.S. healthcare facilities used locum tenens physicians last year. Locum tenens is now the only segment of temporary healthcare staffing to have grown every year since 2021, and Staffing Industry Analysts estimates the U.S. market reached $9.6 billion in 2025.
Perception has shifted alongside utilization. CHG Healthcare’s 2025 State of Locum Tenens Report found that nearly three-quarters of U.S. physicians hold a positive impression of locum tenens work, and that 79 percent of those currently working locums expect to continue. What began as a way to fill a gap has become, for tens of thousands of clinicians, a deliberate career choice.
The policy fight has evolved on a parallel track. In 2019, California’s AB 5 threatened to reclassify independent contractors statewide before locum tenens providers secured an exemption, a moment that made clear how quickly access to care could be disrupted by classification rules written without clinical staffing in mind.
In 2023, Reps. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-GA) and Neal Dunn (R-FL) introduced the Health Care Provider Shortage Minimization Act, the first federal attempt to codify locum tenens 1099 status. That effort did not make it into last year’s budget reconciliation package. The RURAL Healthcare Act now carries it forward, and for the first time it has cleared a committee.
“Ten years ago we were explaining what locum tenens was. Today we are defending locum tenens, which four out of five American healthcare facilities already rely on,” Hale said. “That is the measure of how far this industry has come, and it is why the work in Congress matters so much right now.”
Why locum tenens matters now
With the Association of American Medical Colleges projecting a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036, locum tenens clinicians are helping healthcare organizations reduce care delays, relieve pressure on permanent staff, and keep service lines open in rural and underserved communities where a single vacancy can close a department.
“Every one of these clinicians made a choice to go where the need was greatest, often far from home,” Hale said. “The assignments are temporary. What they leave behind, in patients treated and departments kept open, is permanent. That is worth ten years of recognition and many more to come.”
As the only professional association for temporary physician staffing firms, NALTO® continues to advocate for government policies and ethical best practices that support healthcare access across communities.
Access the 2026 Marketing Toolkit
Each year, NALTO® provides a marketing toolkit to help member firms recognize the providers they place. The 2026 National Locum Tenens Week Marketing Toolkit, including a new 10-year anniversary asset set, is available now at locumtenensweek.org and includes:
- Brand suite (official 10th anniversary logo, colors, and typography)
- Social media assets (post images, 10-year anniversary graphics, profile frames, and banners)
- Messaging tools (talking points, press release and email templates)
- Promotional ideas to engage partners and providers
Members can also support the RURAL Healthcare Act directly through NALTO’s Take Action page.
Follow NALTO® on LinkedIn and Facebook and use #LocumTenensWeek to join this year’s celebration.
About National Locum Tenens Week
National Locum Tenens Week is observed annually during the second full week of August. Organized by NALTO®, this week serves as a platform to acknowledge the contributions of locum tenens physicians and advanced practice providers and the vital role played by staffing agencies in the American healthcare industry.
About NALTO®
The National Association of Locum Tenens Organizations® (NALTO®) is the only professional association of temporary physician staffing firms committed to a code of ethics and maintaining the highest industry standards.
Media Contact
Dawn McKnight
Executive Director
National Association of Locum Tenens Organizations® (NALTO®)
(407) 774-7880
info@nalto.org
