Ascend Learning, a healthcare education and technology company owned by Blackstone and CPP Investments, has acquired M7 Health. M7 builds nurse and clinical staff schedules for hospitals, forecasting how many people each shift will need, balancing schedules automatically and finding staff to fill open slots. Built by nurses and led by co-founder and CEO Ilana Borkenstein, the platform serves health systems nationwide, from academic medical centers to community and rural hospitals. Customers have cut administrative scheduling time by more than 60%.
Ascend prepares and credentials healthcare workers, supporting more than 60% of nursing schools and 245,000 allied health professionals each year. M7 joins its StaffGarden and Laudio workforce businesses. The deal follows Ascend’s purchase last month of Teaching Assignment Management System, a tool for colleges. CEO Lissy Hu said M7 lets Ascend bring workforce insight to scheduling, matching who is available with what each person is qualified to do. Blackstone and CPP Investments agreed to acquire Ascend from Providence Equity Partners and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in April 2017.
