September 2020 data released by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) indicates that over 119 million Americans live in over 5,700 areas or settings designated as a mental health care Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA). A mental health care HPSA is a geographic area, population group, or facility where access to mental health care is substandard because it lacks a sufficient number of mental health care providers. With respect to mental health care, HRSA designation is based upon the population within the HPSA relative to the number of mental health care providers that service the area. Some areas receive a shortage designation because of the size of its population relative to the number of psychiatrists in the area, while others are designated based upon its population relative to the number of psychiatrists and core mental health providers. For HRSA purposes, core mental health providers include marriage & family therapists, psychiatric nurse specialists, clinical social psychologists, and clinical social workers. Although the population-to-provider ratio necessary to qualify for designation varies by HPSA type (geographic, population or facility), all mental health care shortage areas have a population-to-provider ratio that meets or exceeds certain thresholds stipulated by federal regulations. Areas designated as a mental health care HPSA can participate in federal programs aimed at attracting more mental health care providers to work with these underserved communities. The HRSA estimates that, as of September 30, 2020, all mental health care shortage areas in the U.S. would need about 6,500 more mental health care providers to eliminate all shortage designations.
More than 1,200 HPSAs in the six-state Far West region account for about 14.4% of the U.S. population who live in mental health care shortage areas, and about 13.5% of the national shortage of mental health care providers. The HRSA estimates that HPSAs in the Far West region would need more than 870 additional providers in order to eliminate the mental health care shortage in the region. Here is a summary look at the mental health care shortage in the Far West region:
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| The Mental Health Care Shortage in the Far West |
| State | (1) HPSAs | (2) Population | (3) Shortage |
| AK | 304 | 377.7 | 16 |
| CA | 536 | 9,398.5 | 490 |
| HI | 32 | 516.7 | 25 |
| NV | 53 | 2,445.6 | 111 |
| OR | 120 | 1,576.7 | 82 |
| WA | 178 | 2,836.4 | 150 |
| Region | 1,223 | 17,151.6 | 874 |
| U.S. | 5,733 | 119,344.0 | 6,464 |
