DE · Healthcare shortage profile
Kent County, DE
The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Kent County's active designations would take about 48 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Population 181,851.
- Active HPSAs
- 3
- Population
- 181,851
- Peak shortage score
- 16.0
- MUA Index
- MUA
Light-burden verdict
According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Kent County carries a comparatively light shortage burden - 3 active HPSA designations, more than 20% of the 3,289 real US counties, with primary care the deepest gap.
- 3
- Active HPSA designations
- 1
- Primary-care shortages
- 16
- Peak severity score (of 26)
- Top 80%
- US counties by volume
Dense ZCTA lattice over Kent County
Kent County intersects 19 Census ZCTAs, above the 15-ZIP dense-tercile cut. Shortage designations still attach at the county (or smaller HPSA) grain; the ZIP list is geography, not a second severity score.
Largest land-share ZCTAs in this county
7 additional ZCTAs intersect this county in the crosswalk (ordered by land share).
Source: Census ZCTA–county relationship file joined to this portal's county FIPS set. As of 2026-08-15.
Key findings
What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Kent County, DE on its own pages , computed from the retained designation mirror as of 2026-08-15. Each line carries its own denominator so it can be quoted as it stands.
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Closing Kent County's active designations would take about 48 additional clinician FTEs, with primary care the largest gap.
HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id (no double-count across status rows): 24 primary care, 4.7 mental health, 19 dental. This is the federal gap estimate, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
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33.3% of Kent County's 3 active designations are primary care.
Discipline mix from designated HPSA records only: 1 primary care, 1 mental health, 1 dental (denominator 3).
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Peak HPSA score 16.0 sits below HRSA's 17-point high-priority line.
Below-17 designations still count as shortages for program geography, but they do not clear the high-priority NHSC placement threshold on this release.
Corpus placement
Designated volume without a high-priority score
According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Kent County carries 3 active designations, above 20% of real US counties. None of those scores clear HRSA's high-priority line of 17 on this release, so the page leads with severity reading rather than a national distribution chart.
State peer position. Kent County sits among the top three county rank positions in DE, at rank 3 of 3. Ties share a rank.
Computed from current designated HPSA rows for every five-digit county FIPS. See the placement methodology.
Healthcare shortage designations from HRSA. FIPS: 10001. Population: 181,851.
Medically Underserved Area
Active HPSA scores
Current designated records only. Scores range 0–25 (primary/mental health), 0–26 (dental). Higher = greater need. What counts as a high score?
Highest-severity HPSA designations
All 3 active (designated) HPSAs in Kent County, ranked by HRSA shortage score.
| Name | Type | Score |
|---|---|---|
| ME - Kent County | primary_care | 16.0 |
| ME - Kent County | mental_health | 15.0 |
| ME - Kent County | dental | 13.0 |
Light-burden reading for Kent County
The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Kent County's active designations would take about 48 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Primary care is where Kent County is stretched thinnest: HRSA scores it 16.0 of 25, the county's highest severity reading and still short of the 17-point priority line, though the designation itself is formal. Mental health reads 15.0 of 25; Dental care reads 13.0 of 26. The county also sits inside a Medically Underserved Area, a separate HRSA designation from the HPSA records above.
Kent County carries 3 active designations and sits below the national mid-pack (above 20% of counties). A light footprint still matters: a single high-score dental or mental-health record can open program geography even when the county total looks small next to heavy peers.
Kent County sits among the top three county rank positions in DE, at rank 3 of 3. Read the active scores and the deepest-care guide link below before collapsing this county into a "no shortage" story.
Light-volume FTE gap for Kent County
Signature reading: HRSA providers_needed sums to about 48 FTE across Kent County's active designations (once per HPSA id), a federal gap estimate, not practising headcount.
Counties with a matching designation count to Kent County's 3
One peer set for this FTE-led county: nearest active designation count to 3 - the inventory behind the ~48 FTE published need.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does Kent County's MUA standing sit beside its HPSA records?
- Yes - Kent County carries an MUA designation in addition to its HPSA rows. MUA and HPSA are separate HRSA tracks; both can open different federal pathways.
- Where is the largest clinician FTE gap inside Kent County?
- Id-de-duped providers_needed across active HPSAs totals ~48 FTE, with primary care the largest slice (24). "ME - Kent County" is the highest-scored active row (score 16.0; primary care; 2,968 people in the service area; ~24 FTE still needed on the record; designated 07/30/2025). This is HRSA's published gap, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
- Which named designations drive Kent County's FTE reading?
- Active names on this release include "ME - Kent County", "ME - Kent County" and "ME - Kent County". Discipline counts: 1 primary care, 1 mental health, 1 dental across 3 designated rows.
Source: HRSA Data Warehouse. FIPS: 10001. This county’s designations come from BCD_HPSA_FCT_DET_PC.csv (primary care) , BCD_HPSA_FCT_DET_MH.csv (mental health) and BCD_HPSA_FCT_DET_DH.csv (dental) — download the normalized export on our open data page. PlainHealthAccess is not affiliated with HRSA or any government agency.
HRSA Data Warehouse HPSA + MUA/P records for FIPS 10001 (Kent County, DE), vintage 2026-08-15. Active designation count 3; peak score 16.0; signature 48 FTE gap. This profile is reference material, not professional advice; see methodology.