TN · Healthcare shortage profile
Unicoi County, TN
The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Unicoi County's active designations would take about 17 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Population 17,928.
- Active HPSAs
- 2
- Population
- 17,928
- Peak shortage score
- 15.0
- MUA Index
- 61.0
Light-burden verdict
According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Unicoi 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
Few Census ZCTAs touch Unicoi County
The Census ZCTA-county crosswalk lists only 6 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas intersecting Unicoi 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 Unicoi 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.
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Closing Unicoi County's active designations would take about 17 additional clinician FTEs, with primary care the largest gap.
HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id (no double-count across status rows): 15 primary care, 1.9 dental. This is the federal gap estimate, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
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50% of Unicoi 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).
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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, Unicoi 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. Unicoi 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: 47171. Population: 17,928.
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 Unicoi County, ranked by HRSA shortage score.
| Name | Type | Score |
|---|---|---|
| LI - Washington/Carter/Unicoi Counties | primary_care | 15.0 |
| LI-Unicoi County | dental | 15.0 |
Light-burden reading for Unicoi County
The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Unicoi County's active designations would take about 17 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Unicoi 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 61.0, and the lower the index, the greater the measured need.
Unicoi 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.
Unicoi 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 Unicoi County
Signature reading: HRSA providers_needed sums to about 17 FTE across Unicoi County's active designations (once per HPSA id), a federal gap estimate, not practising headcount.
Counties with a matching designation count to Unicoi County's 2
One peer set for this FTE-led county: nearest active designation count to 2 - the inventory behind the ~17 FTE published need.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does Unicoi County's MUA standing sit beside its HPSA records?
- Yes - Unicoi County carries an MUA designation (index 61.0; 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 Unicoi County?
- Id-de-duped providers_needed across active HPSAs totals ~17 FTE, with primary care the largest slice (15). "LI - Washington/Carter/Unicoi Counties" is the highest-scored active row (score 15.0; primary care; 29,970 people in the service area; ~15 FTE still needed on the record; designated 02/04/2022). This is HRSA's published gap, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
- Which named designations drive Unicoi County's FTE reading?
- Active names on this release include "LI - Washington/Carter/Unicoi Counties" and "LI-Unicoi County". Discipline counts: 1 primary care, 0 mental health, 1 dental across 2 designated rows.
Source: HRSA Data Warehouse. FIPS: 47171. 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 47171 (Unicoi County, TN), vintage 2026-08-15. Active designation count 2; peak score 15.0; signature 17 FTE gap. This profile is reference material, not professional advice; see methodology.