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

Yes - Edwards County carries an MUA designation (index 61.2; 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 Edwards County?

Id-de-duped providers_needed across active HPSAs totals ~19 FTE, with mental health the largest slice (17). "Edwards/Wabash Counties" is the highest-scored active row (score 16.0; primary care; 9,800 people in the service area; ~2.1 FTE still needed on the record; designated 07/02/2021). This is HRSA's published gap, not a headcount of practising clinicians.

Which named designations drive Edwards County's FTE reading?

Active names on this release include "Edwards/Wabash Counties", "CARLE RMH WEST SALEM RURAL HEALTH CLINIC", "Southern IL MHCA" and "LI-Edwards County". Discipline counts: 2 primary care, 2 mental health, 2 dental across 6 designated rows.

Do Edwards County's FTE gaps unlock federal programs?

Yes where an ACTIVE designation exists, NHSC, CHC grants, Medicare bonus and J-1 waivers follow the designated geography and provider type. A published FTE gap without an active row does not, by itself, open those pathways.

Medically Underserved Area Designated · below priority line

IL · Healthcare shortage profile

Edwards County, IL

The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Edwards County's active designations would take about 19 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Population 6,245.

Active HPSAs: 6
Population: 6,245
Peak shortage score: 16.0
MUA Index: 61.2

IL state overview → About this data

Mid-burden verdict

According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Edwards 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
Primary-care shortages: 16
Peak severity score (of 26): Top 46%
US counties by volume

Healthcare Access Score

57/100

Edwards County, IL

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.

Primary care C-

16.0 of 25

Primary care shortage severity (HPSA score)

Mental health B+

16.0 of 25

Mental health shortage severity (HPSA score)

Dental B+

15.0 of 26

Dental shortage severity (HPSA score)

Underserved status A+

IMU 61.2

Index of Medical Underservice (designated MUA)

Provider gap F

31.1 per 10K

Unmet provider need (HRSA-estimated) per 10,000 residents

Few Census ZCTAs touch Edwards County

The Census ZCTA-county crosswalk lists only 6 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas intersecting Edwards 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 Edwards County, IL 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 Edwards County's active designations would take about 19 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, 17 mental health, 0.5 dental. This is the federal gap estimate, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
33.3% of Edwards 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).
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, Edwards County carries 6 active designations, above 54% 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. Edwards County falls in the upper half of IL counties by active-designation volume, at rank 35 of 102. 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: 17047. Population: 6,245.

Below high-priority line

Edwards County is designated, but no active score clears 17

6 active designations sit on this FIPS (2 primary care, 2 mental health, 2 dental), and the peak severity is 16.0. That is a formal shortage footprint without HRSA's high-priority (≥17) tier, so NHSC placement geography is usually weaker here than on counties whose lead score clears the line.

Medically Underserved Area

MUA Designated

MUA Index: 61.2

Active HPSA scores

Primary Care 16.0 Below priority line

Mental Health 16.0 Below priority line

Dental 15.0 Below priority line

Current designated records only. Scores range 0–25 (primary/mental health), 0–26 (dental). Higher = greater need. What counts as a high score?

Primary care 2 designations (33%) Mental health 2 designations (33%) Dental 2 designations (33%)

Highest-severity HPSA designations

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

Name	Type	Score	Status	Pop. Served
Edwards/Wabash Counties	primary_care	16.0	designated	9,800
Carle Rmh West Salem Rural Health Clinic	primary_care	16.0	designated	23,777
Southern IL Mhca	mental_health	16.0	designated	270,000
Carle Rmh West Salem Rural Health Clinic	mental_health	16.0	designated	36,820
Carle Rmh West Salem Rural Health Clinic	dental	15.0	designated	36,820
LI-Edwards County	dental	13.0	designated	2,131

Moderate-burden reading for Edwards County

The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Edwards County's active designations would take about 19 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Edwards County's shortage runs equally deep in primary care and mental health: both scored 16.0 by HRSA, still short of the 17-point priority line, though the designation itself is formal. Dental care reads 15.0 of 26. The county also sits inside a Medically Underserved Area, indexed at 61.2, and the lower the index, the greater the measured need.

Edwards 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.

Edwards County falls in the upper half of IL counties by active-designation volume, at rank 35 of 102. For moderate counties, the useful move is usually a state peer check plus the score cards above, not a national superlative claim.

Mid-pack clinician FTE gap for Edwards County

Signature reading: HRSA providers_needed sums to about 19 FTE across Edwards County's active designations (once per HPSA id), a federal gap estimate, not practising headcount.

Mental health 17 FTE (87%) Primary care 2.1 FTE (11%) Dental 0.5 FTE (3%)

Counties with a matching designation count to Edwards County's 6

One peer set for this FTE-led county: nearest active designation count to 6 - the inventory behind the ~19 FTE published need.

Contra Costa County, CA

6 active designations

Macomb County, MI

6 active designations

Baltimore County, MD

6 active designations

Lee County, FL

6 active designations

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Edwards County's MUA standing sit beside its HPSA records?: Yes - Edwards County carries an MUA designation (index 61.2; 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 Edwards County?: Id-de-duped providers_needed across active HPSAs totals ~19 FTE, with mental health the largest slice (17). "Edwards/Wabash Counties" is the highest-scored active row (score 16.0; primary care; 9,800 people in the service area; ~2.1 FTE still needed on the record; designated 07/02/2021). This is HRSA's published gap, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
Which named designations drive Edwards County's FTE reading?: Active names on this release include "Edwards/Wabash Counties", "CARLE RMH WEST SALEM RURAL HEALTH CLINIC", "Southern IL MHCA" and "LI-Edwards County". Discipline counts: 2 primary care, 2 mental health, 2 dental across 6 designated rows.
Do Edwards County's FTE gaps unlock federal programs?: Yes where an ACTIVE designation exists, NHSC, CHC grants, Medicare bonus and J-1 waivers follow the designated geography and provider type. A published FTE gap without an active row does not, by itself, open those pathways.

Source: HRSA Data Warehouse. FIPS: 17047. 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 17047 (Edwards County, IL), vintage 2026-08-15. Active designation count 6; peak score 16.0; signature 19 FTE gap. This profile is reference material, not professional advice; see methodology.