How do I check a nursing agency’s facility contracts before buying?

A nursing agency is only as secure as the facilities that call it. Some of those relationships sit in a signed agreement. Others are a manager who has your scheduler’s number. Both matter, but you need to know which is which. Ask for every facility agreement and build a simple list: one row per facility, with the answers to the questions below.

Approved-vendor status

Many larger facilities only book agencies that are on an approved list or standing arrangement. Ask the owner for the paperwork showing the agency is on each list, when the arrangement was last renewed, and what the facility requires to stay on it. Then ask whether that status belongs to the agency or depends on the owner personally. A buyer wants to know before closing, not after.

Renewal, notice and transfer

Read how each agreement ends. Look for the term, automatic renewal, and how much notice either side must give. A facility that can leave on short notice gives you less certainty than one under a longer commitment. Whether a contract can pass to a buyer, or needs the facility’s consent, is a legal question, so give the agreements to your lawyer early.

Service terms and concentration

Check what the agency promised: how fast it must respond, what share of requested shifts it has to fill, and what happens when it misses. Ask for recent fill records. Then look at concentration. If two or three facilities supply most of the work, losing one changes the business a great deal. Ask what the agency has done to add clients, and see how nurses’ pay relates to what the agency bills.