Stat Nurses International Receives $1.2 Million in Venture Funding From Enhanced Capital Partners

    ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Aug. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Enhanced Capital Partners, a
 national investment firm specializing in state-specific investments, today
 announced it provided $1.2 million in venture funding to Stat Nurses
 International, a leading travel nurse agency.  The funding, structured as a
 combination of equity and senior subordinated debt, will capitalize on Stat
 Nurses' efforts to improve the current nursing shortage of registered nurses
 (RNs) by increasing their national employee staffing, as well as recruiting
 nurses from oversees and training the nurses to United States standards.
     Stat Nurses works with hospitals to provide them with experienced,
 temporary nurses.  According to the U.S. Department of Labor, one million new
 and replacement nurses will be needed for U.S. hospitals, nursing homes,
 clinics, insurance companies and other employers by 2012.  Without the use of
 travel nurses to supplement their full-time staff, some hospitals are
 canceling non-urgent surgeries, closing beds or units, diverting emergency
 room patients, and at times are unable to admit new patients.
     Staffing services are critical to health care facilities across the nation
 in the midst of the current shortage.  Stat Nurses provides attractive
 employment options for nurses by offering work assignments from one day up to
 three years, competitive wages and a comprehensive benefits package.  Nurses
 can travel to different cities and receive furnished housing when they work in
 cities outside their own.  Stat Nurses also offers low-cost medical and dental
 insurance, liability insurance, paid time off and education reimbursement.
     "Our primary goal is to maintain a large database of well trained nurses
 to fill most hospital needs, while still being able to provide personalized
 service," said Terry White, CEO of Stat Nurses International.  "To help put an
 end to the current nursing shortage, we will use this funding to significantly
 increase our labor force by recruiting nurses from both the United States and
 abroad.  Also, since foreign-trained nurses account only for about 4% of
 registered nurses in the United States, this opens up a tremendous opportunity
 for us."
     According to the American Medical Association, a declining number of new
 nurses entering the workforce, the inability to retain nurses in hospitals,
 and nurses retiring or leaving the workforce early are all contributing
 factors to the registered nurse shortage in the United States.  This shortage
 is projected to continue and will become critical after the year 2010 when
 75 million baby boomers begin to retire and there is a greater need for health
 services.  In addition, a 2002 American Medical Association study found that
 in hospitals with high patient-to-nurse ratios nurses are more likely to
 experience burnout and job dissatisfaction.
     "In order to help hospitals put an end to nurse burnout and maintain good
 standards of patient care, hospitals need to hire travel nurses both domestic
 and foreign to fill the staffing gaps and preserve their high patient care
 standards," said Pat Heilig, RN, president and founder of Stat Nurses
 International.  "This investment expands the opportunity for my nursing
 colleagues to serve in many U.S. locations, benefiting both the nation's
 hospitals and the patients in their care."
     "We chose to fund Stat Nurses International because we believe there is a
 huge market potential for nurse staffing," said David Orlandella, managing
 director of Enhanced Capital Partners.  "This financing will help them grow
 their staffing workforce quickly and efficiently.  Stat Nurses is committed to
 fulfilling a serious deficit in the health services industry and we are
 pleased to play a part in helping hospitals fill their nursing needs."
 
     About Enhanced Capital Partners
     Enhanced Capital Partners, LLC, formed in 1999, is a national investment
 firm specializing in state-specific investments in small and emerging
 companies with its private investment funds.  Enhanced Capital seeks to
 achieve capital appreciation while adhering to a mandate tailored for a local
 investment approach.  The company's goal is to promote the growth and
 expansion of small businesses while attaining significant returns for its
 investors by mentoring and leveraging additional private equity for its
 portfolio companies through its partnerships.  The company has established
 investment funds in Colorado, Louisiana, New York, and Alabama and is
 currently seeking investment opportunities in those states.  Enhanced Capital
 is in the process of establishing new investment funds in Texas and
 Washington, D.C.  For more information about Enhanced Capital Partners, visit
 www.enhancedcapital.net.
 
     About Stat Nurses International
     Stat Nurses International, formed in October 2000, is a nurse owned and
 operated travel nurse agency.  As one of the fastest growing companies in the
 field of travel nursing and healthcare staffing, the company provides
 licensed, experienced nurses to hospitals in the Western United States.
 Nursing assignments range from one day up to three years with the choice of
 assignment and location made by the nurse.  For more information about Stat
 Nurses International, visit http://www.statnursesintl.com/.
 
     For further information, please contact Ali Heine of GroundFloor Media,
 +1-303-907-4797, aheine@groundfloormedia.com, for Enhanced Capital Partners.
 
 

SOURCE  Enhanced Capital Partners