Does Hardy County's MUA standing sit beside its HPSA records?

Yes - Hardy County carries an MUA designation (index 49.9; lower = greater measured need) in addition to its HPSA rows. MUA and HPSA are separate HRSA tracks; both can open different federal pathways.

Which record sets Hardy County's peak score of 20.0?

"E. A. HAWSE HEALTH CENTER, INC." leads the active set (score 20.0; dental; 10,072 people in the service area; designated 10/26/2002). Clearing 17 opens NHSC high-priority placement for the matching provider type on the designated geography. Discipline mix across 6 active rows: 2 primary care, 2 mental health, 2 dental.

Which other active designations sit under Hardy County's severity reading?

After "E. A. HAWSE HEALTH CENTER, INC.", the next active names on this release are "E. A. HAWSE HEALTH CENTER, INC.", "E. A. HAWSE HEALTH CENTER, INC.", "LI-Hardy County" and "E. A. HAWSE HEALTH CENTER, INC.". Provider need (id-de-duped) totals ~9.7 FTE across disciplines that still carry a gap.

Which federal pathways follow Hardy County's high-severity geography?

Hardy County's 6 active designations can open NHSC placement, CHC grants, Medicare bonus and J-1 waivers, eligibility follows the designated area and provider type, not merely the county line around "E. A. HAWSE HEALTH CENTER, INC.".

Medically Underserved Area Primary · mental · dental footprint

WV · Healthcare shortage profile

Hardy County, WV

Peak severity leads this reading: Hardy County's highest active HPSA score is 20.0, clearing HRSA's 17-point high-priority line. Population 14,299.

Active HPSAs: 6
Population: 14,299
Peak shortage score: 20.0
MUA Index: 49.9

WV state overview → About this data

Mid-burden verdict

According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Hardy County holds a moderate federal shortage burden - 6 active HPSA designations, more than 54% of the 3,289 real US counties, with primary care the deepest gap.

6
Active HPSA designations: 2
Dental shortages: 20
Peak severity score (of 26): Top 46%
US counties by volume

Key findings

What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Hardy County, WV 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.

Peak HPSA score 20.0 clears HRSA's 17-point high-priority line.

Scores at or above 17 on the 0–25/26 scales open NHSC placement priority for the matching provider type; eligibility still follows the designated area, not the county boundary alone.
Closing Hardy County's active designations would take about 9.7 additional clinician FTEs, with mental health the largest gap.

HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id (no double-count across status rows): 2.1 primary care, 6 mental health, 1.6 dental. This is the federal gap estimate, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
33.3% of Hardy County's 6 active designations are primary care.

Discipline mix from designated HPSA records only: 2 primary care, 2 mental health, 2 dental (denominator 6).

Hardy County's mid-pack ZIP footprint

11 Census ZCTAs intersect Hardy 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

3 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

Active-designation volume placement

According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Hardy County carries 6 active designations, above 54% of real US counties. Use the state peer line below before treating the national percentile as a local access verdict.

State peer position. Hardy County falls in the upper half of WV counties by active-designation volume, at rank 17 of 55. 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: 54031. Population: 14,299.

Dental HPSAs

Primary Care HPSAs

Mental Health HPSAs

Medically Underserved Area

MUA Designated

MUA Index: 49.9

Active HPSA scores

Primary Care 18.0

Mental Health 18.0

Dental 20.0

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 6 active (designated) HPSAs in Hardy County, ranked by HRSA shortage score.

Name	Type	Score	Status	Pop. Served
E. A. Hawse Health Center, Inc.	dental	20.0	designated	10,072
E. A. Hawse Health Center, Inc.	primary_care	18.0	designated	10,072
LI-Hardy County	primary_care	18.0	designated	6,362
E. A. Hawse Health Center, Inc.	mental_health	18.0	designated	10,072
LI-Hardy County	dental	18.0	designated	6,362
LI - Petersburg (VIII)	mental_health	16.0	designated	26,940

Moderate-burden reading for Hardy County

Peak severity leads this reading: Hardy County's highest active HPSA score is 20.0, clearing HRSA's 17-point high-priority line. Dental care carries Hardy County's deepest shortage reading, 20.0 on HRSA's 0–26 dental scale, past the 17-point line HRSA uses to open National Health Service Corps placement and enhanced Medicare reimbursement. Primary care reads 18.0 of 25; Mental health reads 18.0 of 25. The county also sits inside a Medically Underserved Area, indexed at 49.9, and the lower the index, the greater the measured need.

Hardy County sits in the middle of the national designation-volume distribution (above 54% of counties) with 6 active records. That is enough for a formal shortage footprint without landing in the heaviest US tier. Compare the three discipline counts (2/2/2) before assuming every care category is equally short.

Hardy County falls in the upper half of WV counties by active-designation volume, at rank 17 of 55. For moderate counties, the useful move is usually a state peer check plus the score cards above, not a national superlative claim.

Primary care

2
Mental health

2
Dental

2

Mid-pack clinician FTE gap for Hardy County

HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id for Hardy County's active designations: about 9.7 FTE, a federal gap estimate, not a headcount of practising clinicians.

Mental health 6 FTE (62%) Primary care 2.1 FTE (22%) Dental 1.6 FTE (16%)

Source: HRSA Data Warehouse, Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) + Medically Underserved Areas/Populations (MUA/P) HPSA primary-care, mental-health, and dental designations for Hardy County, WV · 2026 Accessed 2026-08-15 HRSA designation data updated quarterly; HPSA scores 0-25 (primary/mental) and 0-26 (dental); higher = greater shortage severity. Coverage tiers from U.S. Census ACS PUMS + KFF state tracker.

Acting on Hardy County's designations

Hardy County's shortage designations unlock specific federal programs and comparisons, here is how to act on them.

Hardy County's 6 active designations make providers here eligible for National Health Service Corps loan repayment, estimate the award and service terms. NHSC estimator
See how the county's primary care burden compares with the rest of WV before you draw conclusions from a single score. WV overview
Check whether an area clears HRSA's 3,500:1 population-to-provider threshold with the provider-to-population ratio behind an HPSA score. HPSA score lookup

HPSA scores describe shortage severity within HRSA's designation criteria, not the availability of any individual provider. For a specific appointment, contact a provider or your insurer; use HRSA's current tools to verify a designation.

Nearby dental score peers

Closest U.S. counties on active dental HPSA score to Hardy County's 20.0. Open Snohomish County, WA or Marion County, FL next.

Showing 3 of 2744 counties nationally with an active designation this severe.

Snohomish County, WA

20.0 score 827,957 pop.

Marion County, FL

20.0 score 375,908 pop.

Clark County, OH

20.0 score 136,001 pop.

Counties near Hardy County's dental score of 20.0

One peer set for this severity-led county: nearest active dental HPSA score to 20.0 (severity lead on this page is “E. A. HAWSE HEALTH CENTER, INC.”).

Snohomish County, WA

20.0 dental score · 827,957 pop.

Marion County, FL

20.0 dental score · 375,908 pop.

Clark County, OH

20.0 dental score · 136,001 pop.

Polk County, OR

20.0 dental score · 87,433 pop.

Lake County, CA

20.0 dental score · 68,163 pop.

Sampson County, NC

20.0 dental score · 59,036 pop.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Hardy County's MUA standing sit beside its HPSA records?: Yes - Hardy County carries an MUA designation (index 49.9; lower = greater measured need) in addition to its HPSA rows. MUA and HPSA are separate HRSA tracks; both can open different federal pathways.
Which record sets Hardy County's peak score of 20.0?: "E. A. HAWSE HEALTH CENTER, INC." leads the active set (score 20.0; dental; 10,072 people in the service area; designated 10/26/2002). Clearing 17 opens NHSC high-priority placement for the matching provider type on the designated geography. Discipline mix across 6 active rows: 2 primary care, 2 mental health, 2 dental.
Which other active designations sit under Hardy County's severity reading?: After "E. A. HAWSE HEALTH CENTER, INC.", the next active names on this release are "E. A. HAWSE HEALTH CENTER, INC.", "E. A. HAWSE HEALTH CENTER, INC.", "LI-Hardy County" and "E. A. HAWSE HEALTH CENTER, INC.". Provider need (id-de-duped) totals ~9.7 FTE across disciplines that still carry a gap.
Which federal pathways follow Hardy County's high-severity geography?: Hardy County's 6 active designations can open NHSC placement, CHC grants, Medicare bonus and J-1 waivers, eligibility follows the designated area and provider type, not merely the county line around "E. A. HAWSE HEALTH CENTER, INC.".

Source: HRSA Data Warehouse. FIPS: 54031. 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 54031 (Hardy County, WV), vintage 2026-08-15. Active designation count 6; peak score 20.0; signature peak score 20.0. This profile is reference material, not professional advice; see methodology.