There are more than 168,000 physician assistants in the U.S., and 25 health systems are tied to nearly 30,000 of them.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected a nearly 28% increase in the employment of physician assistants from 2021 to 2031 — a much faster growth rate than the average for all occupations.
Below are the health systems with the greatest totals of PAs as of 2022.
The counts stem from the Compendium of U.S. Health Systems for 2022, released in December 2023 and updated in February, from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The PA count in the compendium comes from IQVIA OneKey data, which is collected through surveys. The total represents PAs with attending and admitting affiliations.
Health systems are ranked below by total NPs, with hospital counts to provide a rudimentary gauge of system size. (Please note that hospital counts are reflective of 2022 to keep in proportion to the PA count and may have since changed.) Additional rankings of systems by total physicians, nurse practitioners and hospital beds are also available to provide a more complete picture of health system workforces and capacities.
1. HCA Healthcare (Nashville, Tenn.)
Total physician assistants: 2,634
Hospitals: 184
2. Trinity Health (Livonia, Mich.)
Total physician assistants: 2,528
Hospitals: 102
3. CommonSpirit Health (Chicago)
Total physician assistants: 1,986
Hospitals: 147
4. Northwell Health (New Hyde Park, N.Y.)
Total physician assistants: 1,867
Hospitals: 18
5. Kaiser Permanente (Oakland, Calif.)
Total physician assistants: 1,815
Hospitals: 41
6. UPMC (Pittsburgh)
Total physician assistants: 1,805
Hospitals: 34
7. Ascension Health (St. Louis)
Total physician assistants: 1,720
Hospitals: 119
8. Providence (Renton, Wash.)
Total physician assistants: 1,258
Hospitals: 54
9. NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System (New York)
Total physician assistants: 1,197
Hospitals: 8
10. Mass General Brigham (Boston)
Total physician assistants: 1,194
Hospitals: 15
11. Corewell Health (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
Total physician assistants: 1,103
Hospitals: 24
12. Cleveland Clinic
Total physician assistants: 1,048
Hospitals: 20
13. The University of Texas System (Austin)
Total physician assistants: 963
Hospitals: 7
14. Tenet Healthcare (Dallas)
Total physician assistants: 925
Hospitals: 74
15. Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.)
Total physician assistants: 889
Hospitals: 26
16. University of Colorado Health (Aurora)
Total physician assistants: 861
Hospitals: 12
17. Novant Health (Winston Salem, N.C.)
Total physician assistants: 832
Hospitals: 13
- NYC Health + Hospitals (New York)
Total physician assistants: 832
Hospitals: 12
18. Mount Sinai Health System (New York)
Total physician assistants: 752
Hospitals: 5
19. Intermountain Healthcare (Salt Lake City)
Total physician assistants: 747
Hospitals: 33
20. Geisinger (Danville, Pa.)
Total physician assistants: 741
Hospitals: 9
21. Hartford (Conn.) Healthcare
Total physician assistants: 738
Hospitals: 10
22. NYU Langone Health (New York)
Total physician assistants: 731
Hospitals: 5
23. University of Pennsylvania Health System (Philadelphia)
Total physician assistants: 703
Hospitals: 9
24. Montefiore Medical Center (New York)
Total physician assistants: 674
Hospitals: 8
25. MedStar Health (Columbia, Md.)
Total physician assistants: 668
Hospitals: 10