Meridian Physician Search
Boutique physician search for outpatient psychiatry and behavioral health.
We work with behavioral health operators, community mental health organizations, and outpatient psychiatry groups to place physicians in permanent roles. Unlike high-volume staffing firms, Meridian runs a single focused practice — fewer clients, deeper sourcing, and candidates who have agreed to be introduced before we send a single name.
Who we help
Organizations built around outpatient behavioral health.
Meridian is not a general medical staffing firm. Every search we accept is in outpatient psychiatry or behavioral health. That focus lets us maintain meaningful relationships on both sides of the market.
Multi-site behavioral health operators
Growing groups and platforms adding psychiatrist capacity across clinics, often with complex credentialing timelines and a need for consistent candidate quality across sites.
Community mental health organizations
FQHCs, CMHCs, and nonprofit behavioral health systems that serve high-need populations and require physicians committed to mission-driven work.
Outpatient psychiatry groups
Independent and PE-backed practices building out their physician roster and looking for a search partner who understands the outpatient model.
Selected integrated-care settings
Primary care and specialty organizations building behavioral health capacity within an integrated or collaborative care framework.
Practice focus
Roles we place.
Our work stays within a defined scope. If your need falls outside it, we will tell you directly rather than stretch to fit.
- Adult outpatient psychiatry
- Child and adolescent psychiatry
- Addiction psychiatry
- Behavioral health physician leadership
- Selected telepsychiatry-capable roles
Why many searches stall
The market is noisy. That noise has a cost.
On the employer side
Most behavioral health employers are contacted by multiple staffing firms running the same roster of candidates. Inboxes fill with profiles that were never screened for fit — mismatched subspecialties, wrong geography, unrealistic compensation expectations. The result is a high volume of submissions and a low signal-to-noise ratio. Hiring managers spend hours reviewing candidates who were never serious. Searches drift for months without progress.
On the physician side
Psychiatrists at every career stage report being submitted to employers without their knowledge, receiving calls from recruiters who have never read their CV, and being presented to positions they explicitly declined. This erodes trust in the placement process entirely — and causes some of the best candidates to disengage from it. When physicians stop responding, employers lose access to passive talent.
How Meridian works
A defined process from start to signed offer.
Define the search
We spend time at the outset understanding the role, the organization, and what has made past hires successful or unsuccessful. A search brief documents what we are looking for before sourcing begins.
Source and screen
We identify candidates through direct outreach, network referral, and targeted sourcing within the psychiatry and behavioral health community. Every candidate is screened for clinical fit, geographic alignment, and genuine interest before any further step.
Present a curated shortlist
We present a small number of well-matched candidates — typically three to five — each with a written summary of fit, compensation expectations, and any relevant context. No blind submissions. No candidates who have not been informed and agreed to the introduction.
Coordinate through close
We stay involved through interviews, site visits, offer negotiation, and onboarding. The goal is a completed placement, not a handed-off name. We handle communication so both sides have a clear point of contact throughout.
What makes Meridian different
Four commitments we hold to on every search.
Fewer, better introductions
We do not send volume. We send candidates we would stake our reputation on. A shortlist of three strong fits is worth more than twenty names that require the employer to do the screening work themselves.
Candidate consent before submission
No physician is introduced to an employer without being contacted, briefed on the opportunity, and explicitly agreeing to the introduction. This is a non-negotiable practice, not a marketing claim.
Real packaging, not forwarded CVs
Each candidate is presented with context: why they are a fit for this specific role, what their compensation expectations are, and any nuances the hiring manager should know going in. The goal is to make the first conversation productive.
Overlooked supply when appropriate
U.S.-based, work-authorized internationally trained physicians are a real and often underutilized source of psychiatric talent. Where relevant, we surface these candidates — not as a substitute for the search, but as part of a complete market picture.
For physicians
Looking for your next role in outpatient psychiatry?
Meridian works with psychiatrists at multiple career stages — from early-career physicians considering their first employed position to experienced clinicians exploring a change of setting or geography. We do not submit your name anywhere without asking first. If an opportunity looks like a fit, we will contact you with the specifics before making any introduction.
Founder note
Why this firm exists.
Psychiatric care in the U.S. has a supply problem — not because there are too few physicians who want to practice, but because the systems for connecting them with the right organizations are badly inefficient. Most physician placement in this space is done by generalist staffing firms running high-volume, low-context processes. Physicians learn to distrust recruiters. Employers learn to distrust submitted candidates. The market gets noisier, and the shortage gets worse.
Meridian is built on the belief that a small, focused practice — one that does fewer searches, knows its specialty deeply, and treats candidates as participants rather than inventory — can produce meaningfully better outcomes for both sides. That is the entire premise.
Common questions
FAQ
Who do you work with on the employer side?
We work with outpatient behavioral health organizations: multi-site operators, community mental health centers, independent and group psychiatry practices, and integrated-care settings adding psychiatric capacity. We do not place physicians in inpatient, emergency, or hospital-employed roles.
What roles does Meridian place?
Our practice covers adult outpatient psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, behavioral health physician leadership, and selected telepsychiatry-capable positions. If your need is adjacent but outside this scope, we will tell you directly rather than take on a search we are not positioned to run well.
Do physicians pay a fee to work with Meridian?
No. Physicians never pay a fee. Our fee is paid by the hiring organization upon a completed placement. Physicians are never charged for introductions, career guidance, or any part of the search process.
Will you submit my name to an employer without asking me first?
Never. We contact you with the specifics of an opportunity before making any introduction. You decide whether to proceed. This is a firm policy — not a selling point that gets suspended when a search gets difficult.
Get started
Ready to discuss a search?
Whether you are an organization looking to place a psychiatrist or a physician exploring your options, we are glad to have a conversation with no obligation.