A mental health HPSA (health professional shortage area) is a facility, geographic unit, or population group designated by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) as having substandard availability of basic mental health care services. This designation reflects there being too few mental health care practitioners serving the community relative to the size of the population.  As of March 31, 2025, the HRSA reported that nearly 122.4 million Americans lived in a mental health care shortage area.

As of March 31, 2025, more than 21.6 million residents of the five-state Great Lakes region lived in a mental health care shortage area.  To eliminate that shortfall, the HRSA estimates that Great Lakes region HPSA's would need 923 additional mental health care providers servicing these communities.  A state-level examination of 3/31/25 HRSA data reveals the following about the mental health care shortfall in the Great Lakes region:

The Mental Health Care Shortfall in the Great Lakes Region

State	(1) HPSAs	(2) Population	(3) Shortfall
IL	211	6,540,212	291
IN	100	5,065,898	211
MI	233	3,690,930	144
OH	135	4,763,137	207
WI	168	1,574,202	70
Region	847	21,634,379	923
U.S.	6,418	122,383,988	6,202

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

(2) Population of designated HPSAs

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

Source:  Designated HPSA Quarterly Summary, March 31, 2025 (HRSA)