Cameron County, LA

What the HRSA Data Shows for Cameron County

Cameron County, LA — population 5,617 carries 3 active Health Professional Shortage Area designations in the HRSA Data Warehouse: 1 in primary care, 1 in mental health, and 1 in dental. The county is also flagged as a Medically Underserved Area, scoring 51.2 on the MUA Index (lower scores indicate greater need). These three HPSA categories are evaluated independently by HRSA, so a county can show heavy pressure on one axis — for example mental-health access — while remaining closer to the provider ratio threshold for primary care.

The county's highest shortage-severity score across the three categories is 15.0, below the 17-point priority threshold but still a formally designated shortage. Primary-care scoring reached 15.0 (0–25 scale). Mental-health scoring reached 13.0 (0–25 scale). Dental scoring reached 12.0 (0–26 scale). HPSA scores weight the provider-to-population ratio, poverty rate, travel time to the nearest source of care, and — for dental — water fluoridation status. They are recalculated as HRSA updates its quarterly designation cycle.

HRSA lists 3 active (designated) HPSA records tied to Cameron County, covering the specific facilities, geographies, and population groups that received the designation; the table above shows the most severe. This designation data is the basis for more than thirty federal programs — loan repayment through the National Health Service Corps, Medicare bonus payments, Community Health Center grants, and J-1 visa waivers — which together channel billions of dollars annually to recruit providers into HPSAs. These figures describe structural access to care only; they are not a substitute for medical advice, and patients searching for a specific appointment should contact a provider directly or consult their insurance network.