Health Care Shortage
Each year the Oregon Office of Rural Health, using multiple criteria, assesses the unmet health care needs for rural Oregon communities. The formula and it's results are below.
2007 - 2008
2007 - 2008 Areas of Unmet Health Care Need in Oregon (updated 8/06/07) A report of the Unmeet Needs determination in Oregon for 2006 - 2007. Unmet Need designations are determined using five separate variables. This report contains data expressed as a map of Oregon for each Unmet Need variable.
2007 - 2008 Ratios and Scores of the Areas of Unmet Medical Need in rural Oregon (updated 8/06/07).
Unmet Health Care Needs Map - 2007 - 2008 (updated 8/06/07).
2006 - 2007
2006 - 2007 Ratios and Scores of the Areas of Unmet Medical Need in rural Oregon (updated 7/10/06).
Unmet Health Care Needs Map - 2006 - 2007 (updated 6/30/06).
Here is a list of documents in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format that describe HPSA and MUA designations
- A table of HPSA and MUA designations, and what each one makes you eligible to apply for funding.
- A list of Federal and State Designations of Health Care Shortage/Underservice: HPSA, MUA and Unmet Need Areas (updated 08/24/07)
- A map of HPSAs (Health Professions Shortage Areas) in Oregon (updated 08/24/07)
- A map of MUAs (Medically Underserved Areas) in Oregon (updated 03/31/08)
- An HPSA Mental Map ( updated 07/17/2006)
- An HPSA Dental Map (updated 06/06/2008)
For more information about HPSA and MUA designations go to the Health Services and Resources Administration's Bureau of Health Professions at http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/shortage/.
For specific Medicare regulations governing the Rural Health Clinic program see the National Association of Rural Health Clinic's Interpretive Guidelines - RURAL HEALTH CLINICS, or visit our Rural Health Clinics page.
If you have questions about HPSA and MUA designated places in Oregon, please contact:
Nancy Abrams, DMD
Primary Care Planner
DHS, Health Systems Planning
800 NE Oregon St. Suite 930
nancy.g.abrams@state.or.us
Phone (971) 673-1228
Fax (971) 673-1299
Governor Ted Kulongoski announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has approved his request for an Oregon-specific definition of health care shortages that will strengthen access to health care for residents in remote areas of Oregon.
“I am working to expand access to health care for all Oregonians, including rural communities struggling to meet the needs of residents,” the Governor said. “With approval of this request, more rural Oregonians will have access to quality care.”
The Governor submitted a proposal in June to HHS that outlined specific certification criteria for designation of an “Oregon Governor’s Health Care Shortage Area.” The new designation expands eligibility for Rural Health Clinic certification in rural areas such as Lakeview and Enterprise. Certified Rural Health Clinics receive cost-based reimbursement for care provided to Medicaid and Medicare patients, who are disproportionately represented in rural communities.
“This new designation will help strengthen the health care infrastructure in rural and frontier counties,” said Scott Ekblad, director of the Oregon Office of Rural Health. “Economically fragile clinics will now be able to qualify for federal assistance that makes caring for their Medicare and Medicaid patients affordable.”
With the 10th largest land mass in the country, Oregon’s geography creates challenges in access to health care for many rural Oregonians, including time-consuming, long-distance travel to receive care. A 2005 Office of Rural Health report, “Oregon Federally Certified Rural Health Clinics,” identified areas of the state where no federal shortage area designations previously existed, but where health clinics are economically fragile. A closer look at those economically fragile health clinics revealed that they are primarily located in Oregon’s remote counties that did not qualify for existing federal shortage designations.
The new state-based certification process will allow the state to identify areas where health care systems are fragile but do not meet the current federal designation criteria. Under the new state criteria, 10 counties in Oregon that qualify as “frontier” counties—Baker, Wallowa, Grant, Wheeler, Sherman, Gilliam, Morrow, Harney, Malheur and Lake—will automatically qualify for the shortage designation. The average population in Oregon’s frontier counties is 2.1 persons per square mile. Out of the ten counties in Oregon that qualify as frontier, seven have populations with fewer than three persons per square mile; five have populations fewer than two persons per square mile, and three have fewer than one person per square mile. Oregon frontier counties have 2.6 percent of the population in the state and only 1.3 percent of physicians.
The proposal submitted to Health and Human Services was a collaborative effort of the Governor’s Office, the Oregon Department of Human Services, and the Oregon Office of Rural Health at Oregon Health and Science University. The Oregonian (Linked article is subscription only.)
