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

Yes - Merrick County carries an MUA designation (index 58.8; 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 Merrick County's peak score of 15.0?

"CENTRAL CITY MEDICAL CLINIC" leads the active set (score 15.0; mental health; 35,524 people in the service area; designated 09/30/2021). Below 17 the shortage is formal but outside HRSA's high-priority NHSC tier. Discipline mix across 4 active rows: 1 primary care, 2 mental health, 1 dental.

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

After "CENTRAL CITY MEDICAL CLINIC", the next active names on this release are "CENTRAL CITY MEDICAL CLINIC", "CENTRAL CITY MEDICAL CLINIC", "CENTRAL CITY MEDICAL CLINIC" and "Mental Health Catchment Area 3". Provider need (id-de-duped) totals ~5.1 FTE across disciplines that still carry a gap.

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

Merrick County's 4 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 "CENTRAL CITY MEDICAL CLINIC".

Medically Underserved Area Designated · below priority line

NE · Healthcare shortage profile

Merrick County, NE

Peak severity leads this reading: Merrick County's highest active HPSA score is 15.0, still below HRSA's 17-point high-priority line. Population 7,668.

Active HPSAs: 4
Population: 7,668
Peak shortage score: 15.0
MUA Index: 58.8

NE state overview → About this data

Mid-burden verdict

According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Merrick County holds a moderate federal shortage burden - 4 active HPSA designations, more than 44% of the 3,289 real US counties, with mental health the deepest gap.

4
Active HPSA designations: 2
Mental-health shortages: 15
Peak severity score (of 26): Top 56%
US counties by volume

Few Census ZCTAs touch Merrick County

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

Intersecting ZCTA

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.

Key findings

What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Merrick County, NE 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 Merrick County's active designations would take about 5.1 additional clinician FTEs, with mental health the largest gap.

HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id (no double-count across status rows): 5.1 mental health. This is the federal gap estimate, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
50% of Merrick County's 4 active designations are mental health.

Discipline mix from designated HPSA records only: 1 primary care, 2 mental health, 1 dental (denominator 4).
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, Merrick County carries 4 active designations, above 44% 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. Merrick County falls in the upper half of NE counties by active-designation volume, at rank 41 of 92. 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: 31121. Population: 7,668.

Below high-priority line

Merrick County is designated, but no active score clears 17

4 active designations sit on this FIPS (1 primary care, 2 mental health, 1 dental), and the peak severity is 15.0. 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: 58.8

Active HPSA scores

Primary Care 12.0

Mental Health 15.0

Dental 15.0

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 4 active (designated) HPSAs in Merrick County, ranked by HRSA shortage score.

Name	Type	Score	Status	Pop. Served
Central City Medical Clinic	mental_health	15.0	designated	35,524
Central City Medical Clinic	dental	15.0	designated	34,531
Central City Medical Clinic	primary_care	12.0	designated	28,409
Mental Health Catchment Area 3	mental_health	12.0	designated	184,500

Moderate-burden reading for Merrick County

Peak severity leads this reading: Merrick County's highest active HPSA score is 15.0, still below HRSA's 17-point high-priority line. Merrick County's shortage runs equally deep in mental health and dental care: both scored 15.0 by HRSA, still short of the 17-point priority line, though the designation itself is formal. Primary care reads 12.0 of 25. The county also sits inside a Medically Underserved Area, indexed at 58.8, and the lower the index, the greater the measured need.

Merrick County sits in the middle of the national designation-volume distribution (above 44% of counties) with 4 active records. That is enough for a formal shortage footprint without landing in the heaviest US tier. Compare the three discipline counts (1/2/1) before assuming every care category is equally short.

Merrick County falls in the upper half of NE counties by active-designation volume, at rank 41 of 92. For moderate counties, the useful move is usually a state peer check plus the score cards above, not a national superlative claim.

Counties near Merrick County's mental score of 15.0

One peer set for this severity-led county: nearest active mental HPSA score to 15.0 (severity lead on this page is “CENTRAL CITY MEDICAL CLINIC”).

Mercer County, PA

15.0 mental score · 110,652 pop.

Georgetown County, SC

15.0 mental score · 63,404 pop.

Polk County, TX

15.0 mental score · 50,123 pop.

Ohio County, WV

15.0 mental score · 42,425 pop.

Clark County, WA

15.0 mental score · 503,311 pop.

Union County, NC

15.0 mental score · 238,267 pop.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Merrick County's MUA standing sit beside its HPSA records?: Yes - Merrick County carries an MUA designation (index 58.8; 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 Merrick County's peak score of 15.0?: "CENTRAL CITY MEDICAL CLINIC" leads the active set (score 15.0; mental health; 35,524 people in the service area; designated 09/30/2021). Below 17 the shortage is formal but outside HRSA's high-priority NHSC tier. Discipline mix across 4 active rows: 1 primary care, 2 mental health, 1 dental.
Which other active designations sit under Merrick County's severity reading?: After "CENTRAL CITY MEDICAL CLINIC", the next active names on this release are "CENTRAL CITY MEDICAL CLINIC", "CENTRAL CITY MEDICAL CLINIC", "CENTRAL CITY MEDICAL CLINIC" and "Mental Health Catchment Area 3". Provider need (id-de-duped) totals ~5.1 FTE across disciplines that still carry a gap.
Which federal pathways follow Merrick County's high-severity geography?: Merrick County's 4 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 "CENTRAL CITY MEDICAL CLINIC".

Source: HRSA Data Warehouse. FIPS: 31121. 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 31121 (Merrick County, NE), vintage 2026-08-15. Active designation count 4; peak score 15.0; signature peak score 15.0. This profile is reference material, not professional advice; see methodology.