Prolink

Prolink

• Rank: 8
• Headquarters: Cincinnati
• Top staffing segment(s) served: Travel nursing
• Final 2022 revenue: $1.75 billion
• Final CAGR 2018 through 2022: 116.6%
• Website: prolinkstaff.com

A family tragedy helped form the beginnings of Prolink. CEO Tony Munafo and his brother, Mike, founded the company in 2011, drawing inspiration from their father. The elder Munafo died at 39, before he realized his lifelong ambition of starting his own company.

“It was originally about carrying out our father’s legacy,” Tony Munafo says of launching the company, but its purpose quickly grew. “We wanted to create a place where people can build their professional and financial lives and ultimately build a legacy. We weren’t trying to be the biggest but rather to be the best for our clients, talent, community and internal team. We want to do well for everyone involved.”

In the past year, the firm has staffed nurses, allied professionals such as therapists and lab techs, engineers and manufacturing professionals in more than 65,000 assignments.

Prolink has also pivoted to handling data analytics, technology and consultative services in addition to contingent labor and permanent placement recruiting. “Over the course of the past year, we’ve found that our clients are looking for even more creative ways to manage challenges,” Munafo says.

In the past, a healthcare system might call and ask for a particular number of nurses. Prolink would make sure it understood the details of the request, then find the talent and make a match, setting up both sides for a successful experience.

Now, Munafo says, there’s still a short-term need for staffing, which Prolink fills. But clients are even more interested in hearing how Prolink can find overall solutions to their pain points and improve their bottom lines. “They want to hear our opinion on market conditions, billing rates now and in the future, and solutions that can control their costs and improve retention,” Munafo says.

“We take a consultative approach with industry experts around controlling costs,” he continues. “We think about overall staffing, shift coverage and the automation and analytics a client is using. Knowledge and facts can help affect their system for the long term.”

Munafo expects Prolink to see increased interest in whole-systems solutions in the coming three to five years. He believes that evolving to meet that interest is where the future of his company and industry lies, and he intends to make sure his company continues to evolve in ways that serve its clients.