The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) designates as primary care health professional shortage areas (HPSA) those geographic units, population groups, or facilities where residents have substandard access to basic medical care. This designation indicates that there is a shortfall in the actual number of primary care physicians practicing in an area relative to the standard number normally needed to serve a population the size of the one found in the HPSA.  As of March 31, 2025, more than 77.2 million Americans lived in HRSA designated primary care shortage areas.  That figure included over 2.5 million residents of the five-state Rocky Mountain region.  The HRSA estimated that to eliminate the primary care shortfall in the region, Rocky Mountain area HPSAs would need 408 additional primary care physicians.  A more detailed breakdown of 3/31/25 HRSA data reveals the following about the primary care shortfall in the Rocky Mountain region:

The Primary Care Shortfall in the Rocky Mountain Region

State	(1) HPSAs	(2) Population	(3) Shortfall
CO	120	836,096	159
ID	100	514,455	99
MT	134	315,114	54
UT	62	676,475	73
WY	41	182,633	23
Region	457	2,524,733	408
U.S.	7,749	77,253,848	13,364

(1) HRSA-designated Geographic Units, Population Groups, and Facilities with a primary care shortfall

(2) Population of designated HPSAs

(3) Primary Care practitioners needed to remove the HPSA Designation

Source:  Designated HPSA Quarterly Summary, 3/31/25 (HRSA)