Does Echols County's MUA standing sit beside its HPSA records?

Yes - Echols County carries an MUA designation (index 55.8; lower = greater measured need) in addition to its HPSA rows. MUA and HPSA are separate HRSA tracks; both can open different federal pathways.

Which record sets Echols County's peak score of 14.0?

"MHCA 22 - Behavioral Health Services - South Georgia" leads the active set (score 14.0; mental health; 229,000 people in the service area; ~5.4 FTE still needed on the record; designated 11/08/2021). Below 17 the shortage is formal but outside HRSA's high-priority NHSC tier. Discipline mix across 3 active rows: 1 primary care, 1 mental health, 1 dental.

Which other active designations sit under Echols County's severity reading?

After "MHCA 22 - Behavioral Health Services - South Georgia", the next active names on this release are "MHCA 22 - Behavioral Health Services - South Georgia", "Echols County" and "Echols County". Provider need (id-de-duped) totals ~7.6 FTE across disciplines that still carry a gap.

Medically Underserved Area Designated · below priority line

GA · Healthcare shortage profile

Echols County, GA

Peak severity leads this reading: Echols County's highest active HPSA score is 14.0, still below HRSA's 17-point high-priority line. Population 3,697.

Active HPSAs: 3
Population: 3,697
Peak shortage score: 14.0
MUA Index: 55.8

GA state overview → About this data

Light-burden verdict

According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Echols 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
Mental-health shortages: 14
Peak severity score (of 26): Top 80%
US counties by volume

Few Census ZCTAs touch Echols County

The Census ZCTA-county crosswalk lists only 6 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas intersecting Echols County, a sparse footprint relative to most US counties in this mirror (at or below the 9-ZIP tercile cut).

Intersecting ZCTA

1 additional ZCTA 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 Echols County, GA 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.

Closing Echols County's active designations would take about 7.6 additional clinician FTEs, with mental health the largest gap.

HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id (no double-count across status rows): 1.2 primary care, 5.4 mental health, 0.9 dental. This is the federal gap estimate, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
33.3% of Echols 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).
Peak HPSA score 14.0 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, Echols 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. Echols County falls in the upper half of GA counties by active-designation volume, at rank 43 of 159. 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: 13101. Population: 3,697.

Medically Underserved Area

MUA Designated

MUA Index: 55.8

Active HPSA scores

Primary Care 12.0

Mental Health 14.0

Dental 11.0

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 Echols County, ranked by HRSA shortage score.

Name	Type	Score	Status	Pop. Served
Mhca 22 - Behavioral Health Services - South Georgia	mental_health	14.0	designated	229,000
Echols County	primary_care	12.0	designated	3,705
Echols County	dental	11.0	designated	3,705

Light-burden reading for Echols County

Peak severity leads this reading: Echols County's highest active HPSA score is 14.0, still below HRSA's 17-point high-priority line. Echols County's severest measured gap is in mental health, scored 14.0 of 25, still short of the 17-point priority line, though the designation itself is formal. Primary care reads 12.0 of 25; Dental care reads 11.0 of 26. The county also sits inside a Medically Underserved Area, indexed at 55.8, and the lower the index, the greater the measured need.

Echols 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.

Echols County falls in the upper half of GA counties by active-designation volume, at rank 43 of 159. 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 Echols County

HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id for Echols County's active designations: about 7.6 FTE, a federal gap estimate, not a headcount of practising clinicians.

Mental health 5.4 FTE (71%) Primary care 1.2 FTE (16%) Dental 0.9 FTE (12%)

Counties near Echols County's mental score of 14.0

One peer set for this severity-led county: nearest active mental HPSA score to 14.0 (severity lead on this page is “MHCA 22 - Behavioral Health Services - South Georgia”).

Knox County, ME

14.0 mental score · 40,607 pop.

Morris County, NJ

14.0 mental score · 509,285 pop.

Bayamon County, PR

14.0 mental score · 185,187 pop.

Lowndes County, GA

14.0 mental score · 118,251 pop.

Boone County, IN

14.0 mental score · 70,812 pop.

Eagle County, CO

14.0 mental score · 55,731 pop.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Echols County's MUA standing sit beside its HPSA records?: Yes - Echols County carries an MUA designation (index 55.8; lower = greater measured need) in addition to its HPSA rows. MUA and HPSA are separate HRSA tracks; both can open different federal pathways.
Which record sets Echols County's peak score of 14.0?: "MHCA 22 - Behavioral Health Services - South Georgia" leads the active set (score 14.0; mental health; 229,000 people in the service area; ~5.4 FTE still needed on the record; designated 11/08/2021). Below 17 the shortage is formal but outside HRSA's high-priority NHSC tier. Discipline mix across 3 active rows: 1 primary care, 1 mental health, 1 dental.
Which other active designations sit under Echols County's severity reading?: After "MHCA 22 - Behavioral Health Services - South Georgia", the next active names on this release are "MHCA 22 - Behavioral Health Services - South Georgia", "Echols County" and "Echols County". Provider need (id-de-duped) totals ~7.6 FTE across disciplines that still carry a gap.

Source: HRSA Data Warehouse. FIPS: 13101. 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 13101 (Echols County, GA), vintage 2026-08-15. Active designation count 3; peak score 14.0; signature peak score 14.0. This profile is reference material, not professional advice; see methodology.