Feeding her entrepreneurial drive, caring for patients, spending more time with her daughters, and elevating an often-overlooked field were the guiding stars for Stacey Santiago when she founded The Nurse Practitioner Group (NPG) in 2011.
Today, with operations in 48 states, Santiago — herself a board-certified nurse practitioner — has exceeded that vision and continues to push the field forward. “I’m an entrepreneur through and through,” she said. “I wanted time freedom and I wanted to give working moms better hours and more flexibility.”
What began as a bold idea has evolved into a comprehensive healthcare network. Plantation-based NPG now employs roughly 300 full-time staff and supports a network of more than 20,000 providers —including nurse practitioners, physicians, psychologists, audiologists, registered nurses, LPNs, and CNAs. Beyond staffing, the Nurse Practitioner Group offers health fairs, preventative screenings, and community outreach services designed to bring care to underserved areas. Its health fairs feature biometric screenings and public education to raise awareness of chronic conditions.
President and CEO Santiago emphasizes that NPG’s mission goes well beyond “filling seats.”
“We don’t like to consider ourselves a staffing company,” she said. “We like to consider ourselves workforce solutions because we provide solutions for clients that are having any type of healthcare issues.”
Growth, Santiago explained, was deliberate — prioritizing balance as a mother of two. She expanded NPG methodically, taking on one city and one contract at a time, rather than rushing to scale. “I wanted to make sure I had enough time for them [her daughters],” she said.
Santiago lauds her NPG unit, pointing to teamwork and principled leadership as the cornerstones of its success. “There’s no such thing as the NPG led by one person; it’s impossible,” she said. “You have to be a team builder, and that is essentially what I am.”
She pairs that collaborative ethos with what she calls a “position of excellence,” rejecting barriers of color or designation. “We don’t focus on barriers whatsoever,” Santiago explained. “We’re prepared, we’ve been tested, therefore we’re reliable.”
That approach has paid off not only in client impact but also in workplace culture. The company has earned Top 25 Place to Work honors from USA Today and the Sun Sentinel, based entirely on employee surveys, Santiago noted proudly. Leadership retreats, team building excursions, and a focus on cultural competency remain non-negotiable for her team.
Looking forward, Santiago envisions exponential growth for the Nurse Practitioner Group, aiming to expand the company tenfold. “We’re the hidden figures of the nurse practitioner evolution,” she said. “We should be in the history books for the advancements we’ve made in the role and utilization of nurse practitioners.”
Reflecting on lessons shared with her daughters, Santiago distills business down to its essence. “You can have it all, just not all at once,” she said. To budding entrepreneurs, especially women, she emphasizes focus, tenacity, and discipline. “At its core, business is simply doing what you say you’re going to do.”
