0 Designated · below priority line

VA · Healthcare shortage profile

Salem City County, VA

The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Salem City County's active designations would take about 18 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Population 25,346.

Active HPSAs
2
Population
25,346
Peak shortage score
16.0
MUA Index
-
VA state overview → About this data

Light-burden verdict

According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Salem City County carries a comparatively light shortage burden - 2 active HPSA designations, more than 10% of the 3,289 real US counties, with mental health the deepest gap.

2
Active HPSA designations
1
Mental-health shortages
16
Peak severity score (of 26)
Top 90%
US counties by volume

Few Census ZCTAs touch Salem City County

The Census ZCTA-county crosswalk lists only 1 ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersecting Salem City County, a sparse footprint relative to most US counties in this mirror (at or below the 9-ZIP tercile cut).

Intersecting ZCTA

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 Salem City County, VA 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. Closing Salem City County's active designations would take about 18 additional clinician FTEs, with dental the largest gap.

    HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id (no double-count across status rows): 4 mental health, 14 dental. This is the federal gap estimate, not a headcount of practising clinicians.

  2. 50% of Salem City County's 2 active designations are mental health.

    Discipline mix from designated HPSA records only: 0 primary care, 1 mental health, 1 dental (denominator 2).

  3. Peak HPSA score 16.0 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, Salem City 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. Salem City County falls in the lower half of VA counties by active-designation volume, at rank 102 of 133. 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: 51775. Population: 25,346.

Active HPSA scores

Mental Health 16.0
Dental 16.0

Current designated records only. No Medically Underserved Area designation covers Salem City County in the current HRSA release, federal support here runs through the HPSA route alone. 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 Salem City County, ranked by HRSA shortage score.

Name Type Score
LI - Blueridge Mhca mental_health 16.0
LI - Roanoke County/Roanoke City/Salem City dental 16.0

Light-burden reading for Salem City County

The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Salem City County's active designations would take about 18 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Salem City County's shortage runs equally deep in mental health and dental care: both scored 16.0 by HRSA, still short of the 17-point priority line, though the designation itself is formal. No Medically Underserved Area designation covers Salem City County, so federal support here runs through the HPSA route alone.

Salem City 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.

Salem City County falls in the lower half of VA counties by active-designation volume, at rank 102 of 133. 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 Salem City County

Signature reading: HRSA providers_needed sums to about 18 FTE across Salem City County's active designations (once per HPSA id), a federal gap estimate, not practising headcount.

Counties with a matching designation count to Salem City County's 2

One peer set for this FTE-led county: nearest active designation count to 2 - the inventory behind the ~18 FTE published need.

Hartford County, CT

2 active designations

Bell County, TX

2 active designations

Northampton County, PA

2 active designations

St. Johns County, FL

2 active designations

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the largest clinician FTE gap inside Salem City County?
Id-de-duped providers_needed across active HPSAs totals ~18 FTE, with dental the largest slice (14). "LI - Blueridge MHCA" is the highest-scored active row (score 16.0; mental health; 18,400 people in the service area; ~4 FTE still needed on the record; designated 09/08/2021). This is HRSA's published gap, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
Why is Salem City County not listed as a Medically Underserved Area?
Salem City County has no MUA designation on this release. Federal shortage support here runs through the active HPSA record set alone.
Which named designations drive Salem City County's FTE reading?
Active names on this release include "LI - Blueridge MHCA" and "LI - Roanoke County/Roanoke City/Salem City". Discipline counts: 0 primary care, 1 mental health, 1 dental across 2 designated rows.

Source: HRSA Data Warehouse. FIPS: 51775. This county’s designations come from 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 51775 (Salem City County, VA), vintage 2026-08-15. Active designation count 2; peak score 16.0; signature 18 FTE gap. This profile is reference material, not professional advice; see methodology.