Saturday, June 7, 2025

The Mental Health Care Shortfall in the Mid-Eastern U.S.

A population group, facility, or geographic area where access to mental health care is poor due to an inadequate number of practitioners may be designated by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) as a mental health HPSA (health professional shortage area). As of March 31, 2025, more than 122.3 million Americans lived in a mental health care shortfall area according to HRSA data.  That figure included nearly 6.9 million residents living in the Mid-Eastern U.S., a region that encompasses five states and the District of Columbia.  The HRSA estimates that HPSAs in the Mid-Eastern U.S. would need 453 more mental health care practitioners to eliminate the shortfall in the region.  A closer examination of March 31, 2025, HRSA data reveals the following about the mental health care shortfall in the Mid-Eastern U.S.:

The Mental Health Care Shortfall in the Mid-Eastern U.S.

The Mental Health Care Shortfall in the Mid-Eastern U.S.

State (1) HPSAs (2) Population (3) Shortfall
DE 12 316,367 41
DC 11 126,214 8
MD 48 1,515,872 81
NJ 39 404,293 28
NY 197 3,662,589 230
PA 119 857,739 65
Region 426 6,883,274 453
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)

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