States ranked by primary care provider shortages

Erica Carbajal -

California has the highest number of Health Professional Shortage Areas in the primary medical care category, according to Kaiser Family Foundation's new report.  

HPSA designations were determined by the number of health professionals proportionate to the  area's population with consideration of high need. An area must have a population-to-provider ratio of at least 3,500 to 1 to be considered as having a shortage. Rankings are based on a quarterly summary of HPSA statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Health Workforce, the Health Resources and Services Administration and HHS updated as of Sept. 30. 

There are a total of 7,203 areas in the U.S. with an HPSA designation. 

Here's how each state fared: 

Note: The list includes ties. 

  1. California — 626 areas with an HPSA designation

  2. Texas — 411

  3. Missouri — 324

  4. Alaska — 301

  5. Florida — 279

  6. Michigan — 261

  7. Illinois — 245

  8. Georgia — 234

  9. Arizona — 217

  10. Washington — 200

  11. North Carolina — 189

  12. Kansas — 188

  13. Kentucky — 175

  14. Oklahoma — 173

  15. New York — 168 

  16. Minnesota — 158 

  17. Louisiana — 154

  18. Ohio — 150

  19. Mississippi — 148

  20. Oregon — 144

  21. Pennsylvania — 139

  22. Montana — 138

  23. Tennessee — 136

  24. Iowa — 132

  25. Colorado — 119

  26. Indiana — 117

  27. Virginia — 113

  28. West Virginia — 105

     28. Wisconsin — 105

     30. Alabama — 102 

     31. Idaho — 98

     32. New Mexico — 97

     32. South Dakota — 97

     34. South Carolina — 95

     35. Arkansas — 88

     35. North Dakota — 88

     37. Nebraska — 76

     38. Nevada — 72

     39. Maine — 69

     40. Utah — 64

     41. Massachusetts — 62

     42. Wyoming — 47

     43. Maryland — 45

     44. Connecticut — 41

     45. Puerto Rico — 39 

     46. New Jersey — 36

    47. Hawaii — 31

    48. New Hampshire — 27 

    49. District of Columbia — 15

    49. Vermont — 15

    51. Rhode Island — 14

    52. Delaware — 13

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