Medically Underserved Area Mono-discipline · dental care

GA · Healthcare shortage profile

Newton County, GA

Home to 112,483 residents, with 1 active HRSA shortage designation.

Active HPSAs
1
Population
112,483
Peak shortage score
15.0
MUA Index
49.0
GA state overview → About this data

Light-burden verdict

According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Newton County carries a comparatively light shortage burden - 1 active HPSA designation, more than 2% of the 3,289 real US counties, with dental the deepest gap.

1
Active HPSA designations
1
Dental shortages
15
Peak severity score (of 26)
Top 98%
US counties by volume

Key findings

What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Newton 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.

  1. 100% of Newton County's 1 active designations are dental.

    Discipline mix from designated HPSA records only: 0 primary care, 0 mental health, 1 dental (denominator 1).

  2. Closing Newton County's active designations would take about 9.2 additional clinician FTEs, with dental the largest gap.

    HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id (no double-count across status rows): 9.2 dental. This is the federal gap estimate, not a headcount of practising clinicians.

  3. Peak HPSA score 15.0 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, Newton County carries 1 active designation, above 2% 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. Newton County falls in the lower half of GA counties by active-designation volume, at rank 102 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: 13217. Population: 112,483.

Medically Underserved Area

MUA Designated
MUA Index: 49.0

Active HPSA scores

Dental 15.0

Current designated records only · dental care only on this FIPS. Scores range 0–25 (primary/mental health), 0–26 (dental). Higher = greater need. What counts as a high score?

Highest-severity HPSA designations

All 1 active (designated) HPSAs in Newton County, ranked by HRSA shortage score.

Name Type Score
LI - Newton County dental 15.0

Light-burden reading for Newton County

Dental care carries Newton County's deepest shortage reading, 15.0 on HRSA's 0–26 dental scale, still short of the 17-point priority line, though the designation itself is formal. The county also sits inside a Medically Underserved Area, indexed at 49.0, and the lower the index, the greater the measured need.

Newton County carries 1 active designation and sits below the national mid-pack (above 2% 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.

Newton County falls in the lower half of GA counties by active-designation volume, at rank 102 of 159. Read the active scores and the deepest-care guide link below before collapsing this county into a "no shortage" story.

Nationwide counties with similar HRSA profiles

Two peer sets for Newton County: active designation volume and primary-care HPSA score, ranked across the national county corpus.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Newton County a Medically Underserved Area?

Yes, Newton County is designated as a Medically Underserved Area (MUA) by HRSA. The MUA Index for this county is 49.0. MUA designation qualifies the area for enhanced federal funding and provider incentive programs.

How many healthcare shortage areas does Newton County have?

Newton County, GA has 1 Health Professional Shortage Area designation: 0 in primary care, 0 in mental health, and 1 in dental care, according to HRSA data.

What does Newton County's HPSA score of 15.0 mean?

15.0 in dental care falls under 17, so the shortage is formally designated but outside HRSA's high-priority tier.

Source: HRSA Data Warehouse. FIPS: 13217. This county’s designations come from 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.