TN · Healthcare shortage profile
Sullivan County, TN
The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Sullivan County's active designations would take about 21 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Population 158,163.
- Active HPSAs
- 2
- Population
- 158,163
- Peak shortage score
- 15.0
- MUA Index
- 60.0
Light-burden verdict
According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Sullivan County carries a comparatively light shortage burden - 2 active HPSA designations, more than 10% of the 3,289 real US counties, with primary care the deepest gap.
- 2
- Active HPSA designations
- 1
- Primary-care shortages
- 15
- Peak severity score (of 26)
- Top 90%
- US counties by volume
Key findings
What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Sullivan County, TN 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 Sullivan County's active designations would take about 21 additional clinician FTEs, with primary care the largest gap.
HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id (no double-count across status rows): 11 primary care, 10 dental. This is the federal gap estimate, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
-
50% of Sullivan County's 2 active designations are primary care.
Discipline mix from designated HPSA records only: 1 primary care, 0 mental health, 1 dental (denominator 2).
-
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.
Sullivan County's mid-pack ZIP footprint
12 Census ZCTAs intersect Sullivan 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
4 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, Sullivan County carries 2 active designations, above 10% 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. Sullivan County falls in the lower half of TN counties by active-designation volume, at rank 73 of 95. 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: 47163. Population: 158,163.
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 2 active (designated) HPSAs in Sullivan County, ranked by HRSA shortage score.
| Name | Type | Score |
|---|---|---|
| LI-Hawkins/Sullivan Counties | primary_care | 15.0 |
| LI-Sullivan County | dental | 15.0 |
Light-burden reading for Sullivan County
The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Sullivan County's active designations would take about 21 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Sullivan County's shortage runs equally deep in primary care and dental care: both scored 15.0 by HRSA, 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 60.0, and the lower the index, the greater the measured need.
Sullivan County carries 2 active designations and sits below the national mid-pack (above 10% 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.
Sullivan County falls in the lower half of TN counties by active-designation volume, at rank 73 of 95. 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 Sullivan County
Signature reading: HRSA providers_needed sums to about 21 FTE across Sullivan County's active designations (once per HPSA id), a federal gap estimate, not practising headcount.
Counties with a matching designation count to Sullivan County's 2
One peer set for this FTE-led county: nearest active designation count to 2 - the inventory behind the ~21 FTE published need.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does Sullivan County's MUA standing sit beside its HPSA records?
- Yes - Sullivan County carries an MUA designation (index 60.0; 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 Sullivan County?
- Id-de-duped providers_needed across active HPSAs totals ~21 FTE, with primary care the largest slice (11). "LI-Hawkins/Sullivan Counties" is the highest-scored active row (score 15.0; primary care; 45,892 people in the service area; ~11 FTE still needed on the record; designated 03/03/2022). This is HRSA's published gap, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
- Which named designations drive Sullivan County's FTE reading?
- Active names on this release include "LI-Hawkins/Sullivan Counties" and "LI-Sullivan County". Discipline counts: 1 primary care, 0 mental health, 1 dental across 2 designated rows.
Source: HRSA Data Warehouse. FIPS: 47163. This county’s designations come from BCD_HPSA_FCT_DET_PC.csv (primary care) 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 47163 (Sullivan County, TN), vintage 2026-08-15. Active designation count 2; peak score 15.0; signature 21 FTE gap. This profile is reference material, not professional advice; see methodology.