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Official Website

of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

    The .gov means its official.

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

     

    Federally Designated Underserved Areas (Shortage Designations)

    Shortage designation identifies an area, population, or facility experiencing a shortage of health care services.

    What is a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA)?

    HPSAs are defined service areas that demonstrate a critical shortage of primary care physicians, dentists or mental health providers. A HPSA can be a distinct geographic area (such as a country, grouping, census tract, township or borough), a specific population group within a defined geographic area (such as the population under 200 percent of poverty) or a specific public or non-profit facility (such as a prison).

    What is a Medically Underserved Area (MUA) or Medically Underserved Population (MUP)?

    MUA and MUP (MUA/P) identify areas or populations with a shortage of health care services. Documentation of shortages include several factors, in addition to the availability of health care providers. These factors include infant mortality rate, poverty rate and percentage of population aged 65 and older.

    How does the Pennsylvania Department of Health assist with applications?

    The Primary Care Office generates applications by using the Shortage Designation Management System. This software provides a comprehensive analysis of demographic data sets, health provider survey data and geographic attributes to generate applications. Office staff work with community partners to determine if an area or population meets federal criteria for designation.

    Shortage Designations Lists

    More Information

    HRSA Data Warehouse:  data.HRSA.gov - Find Shortage Areas

    Contact Information

    Primary Care Office
    Pennsylvania Department of Health
    Room 1031
    Health & Welfare Building
    625 Forster Street
    Harrisburg, PA 17120
    Phone: 717-772-5298
    Fax: 717-705-6525