BMO Capital Markets is expanding its healthcare practice.

Michael Neuberger, its newest managing director, was tapped to lead a team of healthcare bankers after coming to the North American financial services provider from Jefferies Inc.

He will focus on life sciences, medical technology and healthcare services. Previously, he led Jefferies’ global healthcare practice in Boston.

Joining Neuberger will be Annette Grimaldi, another managing director, a 20-year Wall Street veteran based in New York, who will lead the life sciences practice. Vice president Kristen Morse and analyst Lee Incandela will be based in Boston with Neuberger.

Jefferies’ healthcare practice may have been getting crowded; earlier this year, it hired five professionals to bolster its offering. In October, Henry Elphick, Tommy Erdei and Probir Rao each joined Jefferies as managing directors and Gil Bar-Nahum joins as a senior vice president, and Andrew Clayton as a vice president. Each came from global investment bank UBS.

In fact, shifting between middle market firms breaks from the 2009 format under which healthcare bankers have switched jobs. McGladrey Capital Markets, Thomas Weisel Partners Group and Stephens Cori Capital Advisors have each made moves similar to Jefferies’, poaching healthcare M&A professionals from bulge bracket institutions like Barrington Associates (Wells Fargo Securities’ M&A group), Citigroup and Banc of America Securities.

The continuing interest in healthcare pros for banks comes as PE firms have pursued healthcare deals as 2009’s M&A scene has been characterized by an ongoing interest in the sector, despite pessimists’ concerns about what the coming Obama administration’s regulatory changes to the industry will do to buyer’s interest. In September, Cortec Group bought a majority stake in 180 Medical Inc. In addition, Miguel Fernandez, chairman of Florida-based private equity firm MBF Healthcare Partners, LP, committed $100 million in capital to invest in a new managed care healthcare platform, Simply Healthcare Plans, also in September.

Calls were not returned by press time.