Ascend Learning acquires M7 Health, connecting the full healthcare career to scheduling. M7 Health joins Ascend brands StaffGarden and Laudio to create a connected workforce solution spanning professional development, intelligent scheduling and staff deployment, engagement and retention for the healthcare workforce. BOSTON, Sept. 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Ascend Learning, a leading healthcare and learning technology company, today announced the acquisition of M7 Health, an AI-powered platform transforming how health systems schedule, staff and deploy their clinical workforce. M7 is used by health systems nationwide, from the country's largest academic medical centers to community and rural hospitals. M7's platform forecasts staffing demand, auto-balances schedules, identifies and recruits the right person to fill gaps. Health systems using M7 have reduced administrative burden by over 60%, lowered premium labor spend by 35%, and reduced nurse turnover by 30%. "As scheduling takes on a highly strategic role in health systems, understanding the people behind it becomes critical," said Lissy Hu, MD, CEO of Ascend Learning. "Ascend reaches healthcare professionals through their schooling, credentialing, ongoing upskilling and now their day-to-day work. By acquiring M7, we're bringing deep workforce insights to scheduling decisions - enriching the who's available with what someone is qualified to do, what they're working toward, and what keeps them in the profession." The acquisition gives health systems a single partner across the full arc of healthcare careers - from developing talent to deploying it intelligently to keeping staff engaged and retained. Ascend's foundation is in preparing and credentialing that workforce, supporting more than 60% of nursing schools and 245,000 allied health professionals each year. StaffGarden qualifies and grows that workforce through competency, credentials and career development. Laudio supports the frontline leaders with applications like digital rounding and tiered huddles. And now, M7 deploys the workforce day-to-day with intelligent scheduling and staffing. Together, Ascend supports the workforce lifecycle from the first day of school to every shift that follows. "What drew us to Ascend is its unparalleled data and insight across the healthcare workforce journey. Together, we can help health systems build stronger staffing infrastructure, deploy talent more strategically and cost-effectively, and create more fulfilling career experiences for healthcare workers," said Ilana Borkenstein, MBA, RN, co-founder and CEO of M7. Ascend's acquisition of M7 follows its acquisition last month of Teaching Assignment Management System (TAMS), which helps colleges and universities manage teaching assignments and workloads - further expanding Ascend's portfolio of brands that help support the healthcare workforce and the institutions ensuring a sustainable pipeline for tomorrow. About M7 M7 Health is a dynamic staff scheduling and workforce management platform built by nurses to modernize staffing, scheduling and communication for frontline healthcare teams. By combining automation, real-time visibility and staff preference data, M7 helps health systems and healthcare organizations create fairer schedules, reduce administrative burden and build more sustainable workforce models. Organizations using M7 have reduced administrative time spent on scheduling by more than 60%, lowered premium labor spend by up to 40%, and achieved average staff fairness scores above 94%. M7 complements existing timekeeping and HR systems and delivers measurable operational impact within 90 days. Learn more at www.m7health.com. About Ascend Learning Ascend Learning is a leading healthcare and learning technology company. With products that span the learning continuum, Ascend focuses on high-growth careers in a range of industries, with a special focus on healthcare and other licensure-driven occupations. Ascend Learning products, from testing to certification, are used by physicians, emergency medical professionals, nurses, allied health professionals, certified personal trainers, financial advisors, skilled trades professionals and insurance brokers.

M7 Health, co-founded by Ilana Borkenstein and Eric Gruskin, raised $10 million in series A funding led by Threshold Ventures to modernize nurse staffing and scheduling. The platform, used by 13,000 healthcare professionals across 60+ hospitals, aims to align nurse preferences with hospital needs, reducing administrative burdens and improving work-life balance. M7 Health plans to expand its AI capabilities and workforce, boasting a 90%+ staff engagement rate.

Scion Health also announced Thursday that it has partnered with M7 to enhance its nursing staff experiences and improve nurse retention.