NC · Healthcare shortage profile
Catawba County, NC
The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Catawba County's active designations would take about 15 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Population 160,610.
- Active HPSAs
- 3
- Population
- 160,610
- Peak shortage score
- 13.0
- MUA Index
- 57.1
Light-burden verdict
According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Catawba 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
- Dental shortages
- 13
- Peak severity score (of 26)
- Top 80%
- US counties by volume
Based on HRSA primary/mental/dental shortage severity, Medically Underserved Area status, and estimated unmet provider need -- not patient outcomes, insurance access, facility quality, or wait times.
Key findings
What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Catawba County, NC 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 Catawba County's active designations would take about 15 additional clinician FTEs, with dental the largest gap.
HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id (no double-count across status rows): 5.8 primary care, 1.8 mental health, 7.1 dental. This is the federal gap estimate, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
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33.3% of Catawba 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 13.0 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.
Catawba County's mid-pack ZIP footprint
14 Census ZCTAs intersect Catawba County, between the 9 and 15 ZIP cuts across published counties: neither a postage-stamp footprint nor a metro-scale lattice.
Largest land-share ZCTAs
6 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.
Corpus placement
Designated volume without a high-priority score
According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Catawba 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. Catawba County falls in the lower half of NC counties by active-designation volume, at rank 67 of 100. 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: 37035. Population: 160,610.
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 Catawba County, ranked by HRSA shortage score.
| Name | Type | Score |
|---|---|---|
| LI - Catawba County | dental | 13.0 |
| LI-Catawba County | primary_care | 12.0 |
| LI-Catawba County | mental_health | 12.0 |
Light-burden reading for Catawba County
The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Catawba County's active designations would take about 15 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Dental care carries Catawba County's deepest shortage reading, 13.0 on HRSA's 0–26 dental scale, still short of the 17-point priority line, though the designation itself is formal. Primary care reads 12.0 of 25; Mental health reads 12.0 of 25. The county also sits inside a Medically Underserved Area, indexed at 57.1, and the lower the index, the greater the measured need.
Catawba 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.
Catawba County falls in the lower half of NC counties by active-designation volume, at rank 67 of 100. 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 Catawba County
Signature reading: HRSA providers_needed sums to about 15 FTE across Catawba County's active designations (once per HPSA id), a federal gap estimate, not practising headcount.
Counties with a matching designation count to Catawba County's 3
One peer set for this FTE-led county: nearest active designation count to 3 - the inventory behind the ~15 FTE published need.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does Catawba County's MUA standing sit beside its HPSA records?
- Yes - Catawba County carries an MUA designation (index 57.1; lower = greater measured need) 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 Catawba County?
- Id-de-duped providers_needed across active HPSAs totals ~15 FTE, with dental the largest slice (7.1). "LI - Catawba County" is the highest-scored active row (score 13.0; dental; 20,428 people in the service area; ~7.1 FTE still needed on the record; designated 08/28/2025). This is HRSA's published gap, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
- Which named designations drive Catawba County's FTE reading?
- Active names on this release include "LI - Catawba County" and "LI-Catawba County". Discipline counts: 1 primary care, 1 mental health, 1 dental across 3 designated rows.
Source: HRSA Data Warehouse. FIPS: 37035. 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 37035 (Catawba County, NC), vintage 2026-08-15. Active designation count 3; peak score 13.0; signature 15 FTE gap. This profile is reference material, not professional advice; see methodology.