Visualizing the South is designed to build shared understanding of the region.
By mapping outcomes, highlighting patterns, and creating interactive dashboards, Visualizing the South presents the region as more than a collection of deficits and a place of community, local strength, and real opportunity for progress.
This month’s Visualizing the South explores Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) across the United States. Use the maps to explore shortages in primary care, mental health, and dental care, and see how these challenges differ from county to county.
Access to care can vary widely depending on where you live. While many Americans think about healthcare in terms of insurance coverage or doctor visits, provider shortages can create barriers even when coverage is available. Some communities face shortages in one area, while others are designated as shortage areas for primary care, mental health, and dental services all at once.
Mental health provider shortages are especially widespread. More than two-thirds of U.S. counties are designated as mental health shortage areas, meaning many communities lack enough providers to meet local needs. For some patients, primary care providers become the first—and sometimes only—point of access for mental health care.
These patterns raise important questions about what contributes to provider shortages and how they overlap with other social and economic conditions. How do these shortages intersect with education, transportation, income, and other social determinants of health? And where might investments in training, workforce development, and federal resources make the greatest difference?
Together, these maps highlight how place shapes access to care and reveal where unmet healthcare needs remain across communities.
