A facility, geographic area, or population group that has poor access to mental health care services can be designated by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) as a health professional shortage area (HPSA).  A mental health care shortage designation can be based on either (a) the size of the HPSA population relative to the number of psychiatrists that serve the community or (b) the size of the HPSA population relative to the combined number of psychiatrists and certain other mental health practitioners (clinical social workers, clinical psychologists, etc.) who service the HPSA. Per the HRSA, most mental health care shortage designations are currently based on an HPSA's population relative to the number of psychiatrists that serve the setting or community.  As of December 31, 2022, more than 158.4 million Americans lived in mental health HPSAs according to the HRSA.

The seven-state Great Plains region was home to 6.7% of the U.S. population who lived in mental health care HPSAs as of December 31, 2022.  The HRSA estimates that Great Plains region HPSAs would need 482 additional mental health care providers to eliminate the shortage in the region.  As such, HPSAs in the Great Plains region accounted for about 6.1% of the total national shortfall in mental health care providers.  A further examination of HRSA data reveals the following state-level details about the Great Plains region's mental health care shortage:

The Great Plains Region's Mental Health Care Shortage

State	(1) HPSAs	(2) Population	(3) Shortage
IA	121	2,201,004	73
KS	125	1,493,446	64
MN	137	2,414,871	105
MO	270	2,313,367	159
NE	84	1,051,891	27
ND	74	307,967	16
SD	60	791,497	38
Region	871	10,574,043	482
U.S.	6,599	158,413,168	7,957
% of U.S.	13.2%	6.7%	6.1%

(1) Designated Geographic, Population Group, and Facility HPSAs with a mental health care shortage

(2) Population of designated HPSAs

(3) Mental Health Care practitioners needed to remove HPSA Designation

Source:  Designated HPSA Quarterly Summary, 12/31/22 (HRSA)