Fifty-two percent of Americans fear the staffing shortage will prohibit them from receiving medical care, and this became a reality for almost 3 out of 4 patients who faced delays or barriers to care at the start of 2023.
This finding is from a HealthDay/Harris Poll published March 10.
However, the staffing shortage is affecting each state, city, and zip code differently. The Bureau of Health Workforce, Health Resources and Services Administration and HHS published a June 30 report that breaks down shortages of primary care, dental care and mental healthcare professionals by area.
The following list uses statistics from the report — "Third Quarter of Fiscal Year 2023 Designated Quarterly Summary" — and ranks states by the percentage of met needs regarding the number of primary care professionals.
Here is a list of the ten states most in need of primary care professionals, according to the report:
1. Delaware: 16.36 percent of need met
2. Missouri: 20.26 percent of need met
3. Alaska: 21.85 percent of need met
4. Nebraska: 26.68 percent of need met
5. New Jersey: 26.93 percent of need met
6. Washington: 29.56 percent of need met
7. North Dakota: 32.05 percent of need met
8. Florida: 33.04 percent of need met
9. New York: 37.44 percent of need met
10. South Dakota: 37.93 percent of need met