AZ · Healthcare shortage profile
Pinal County, AZ
The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Pinal County's active designations would take about 131 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Population 425,264.
- Active HPSAs
- 70
- Population
- 425,264
- Peak shortage score
- 23.0
- MUA Index
- 50.5
Heavy-burden verdict
According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Pinal County ranks among the most underserved counties in the country - 70 active HPSA designations, more than 99% of the 3,289 real US counties, with primary care the deepest gap.
- 70
- Active HPSA designations
- 20
- Dental shortages
- 23
- Peak severity score (of 26)
- Top 1%
- US counties by volume
Key findings
What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Pinal County, AZ 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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Peak HPSA score 23.0 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.
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Closing Pinal County's active designations would take about 131 additional clinician FTEs, with primary care the largest gap.
HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id (no double-count across status rows): 77 primary care, 26 mental health, 28 dental. This is the federal gap estimate, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
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37.1% of Pinal County's 70 active designations are primary care.
Discipline mix from designated HPSA records only: 26 primary care, 24 mental health, 20 dental (denominator 70).
Dense ZCTA lattice over Pinal County
Pinal County intersects 35 Census ZCTAs, above the 15-ZIP dense-tercile cut. Shortage designations still attach at the county (or smaller HPSA) grain; the ZIP list is geography, not a second severity score.
Largest land-share ZCTAs in this county
23 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, Pinal County carries 70 active designations, above 99% of real US counties. Use the state peer line below before treating the national percentile as a local access verdict.
State peer position. Pinal County sits among the top three county rank positions in AZ, at rank 3 of 15. 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: 04021. Population: 425,264.
Medically Underserved Area
Peak severity 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
Showing the 40 most-severe of 70 active (designated) HPSAs in Pinal County, ranked by HRSA shortage score.
| Name | Type | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Horizon Health And Wellness, Inc. | dental | 23.0 |
| LI-Gila River Indian Community | dental | 22.0 |
| Ice - Florence Correctional Center | primary_care | 21.0 |
| Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Florence | primary_care | 21.0 |
| Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Florence | mental_health | 21.0 |
| Ice - Florence Correctional Center | mental_health | 21.0 |
| Sun Life Family Health Center Inc | mental_health | 21.0 |
| Horizon Health And Wellness, Inc. | mental_health | 21.0 |
| Arizona State Prison - Florence | mental_health | 21.0 |
| AK Chin | dental | 20.0 |
| Hu-Hu-Kam Memorial Hospital | dental | 20.0 |
| Horizon Health And Wellness, Inc. | primary_care | 19.0 |
| Gila River Indian Community | primary_care | 19.0 |
| LI-Eloy | dental | 19.0 |
| Sun Life Family Health Center Inc | dental | 19.0 |
| Ak Chin Rcis | dental | 19.0 |
| Tonhc Casa Grande Clinic | dental | 19.0 |
| Hu-Hu-Kam Memorial Hospital | primary_care | 18.0 |
| AK Chin | primary_care | 18.0 |
| Sun Life Family Health Center Inc | primary_care | 18.0 |
| Ak Chin Rcis | primary_care | 18.0 |
| Kearny Clinic | primary_care | 18.0 |
| Casa Blanca Health Station | primary_care | 18.0 |
| Tonhc Casa Grande Clinic | primary_care | 18.0 |
| Gila River Criminal Justice Facility | primary_care | 18.0 |
| LI - Gila River Indian Community | mental_health | 18.0 |
| Tonhc Casa Grande Clinic | mental_health | 17.0 |
| Ak Chin Rcis | mental_health | 17.0 |
| AK Chin | mental_health | 17.0 |
| Kearny Clinic | mental_health | 17.0 |
| Casa Blanca Health Station | dental | 17.0 |
| Gila River Criminal Justice Facility | dental | 17.0 |
| Kearny Clinic | dental | 17.0 |
| Eloy | primary_care | 16.0 |
| Superior Clinic | mental_health | 16.0 |
| Coolidge | mental_health | 16.0 |
| San Tan Valley | mental_health | 16.0 |
| LI-Coolidge | dental | 16.0 |
| LI-Arizona City | dental | 16.0 |
| San Tan Valley | primary_care | 15.0 |
Heavy-burden reading for Pinal County
The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Pinal County's active designations would take about 131 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Dental care carries Pinal County's deepest shortage reading, 23.0 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 21.0 of 25; Mental health reads 21.0 of 25. The county also sits inside a Medically Underserved Area, indexed at 50.5, and the lower the index, the greater the measured need.
Volume places Pinal County above 99% of real US counties (70 active designations: 26 primary care, 24 mental health, 20 dental). Peak severity on the current designated set is 23.0. The table on this page lists the highest-severity records first so a reader can see which named facilities, geographies, or population groups drive that burden without treating the county total as a personal appointment forecast.
Pinal County sits among the top three county rank positions in AZ, at rank 3 of 15. Heavy-burden counties are where NHSC placement, Community Health Center grant geography, and related federal instruments concentrate; eligibility still follows the designated area and provider type, not the county boundary alone.
Pinal County designations by care type
Active Health Professional Shortage Area designations in the county, by provider category (high-priority disciplines emphasized).
- Primary care
Primary care
26 designations
- Mental health
Mental health
24 designations
- Dental
Dental
20 designations
Heavy-volume FTE gap in Pinal County
Signature reading: HRSA providers_needed sums to about 131 FTE across Pinal County's active designations (once per HPSA id), a federal gap estimate, not practising headcount.
Source: HRSA Data Warehouse, Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) + Medically Underserved Areas/Populations (MUA/P) HPSA primary-care, mental-health, and dental designations for Pinal County, AZ · 2026 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 a heavy-burden county
Pinal County's shortage designations unlock specific federal programs and comparisons, here is how to act on them.
- Pinal County's 70 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 AZ before you draw conclusions from a single score. AZ 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.
Counties With a Similar Dental Shortage Score
Other U.S. counties whose active HRSA dental HPSA score is closest to Pinal County's 23.0. This compares the designation score only, not local appointment availability or care quality. Start with Kern County, CA and Prince William County, VA.
Showing 6 of 2744 counties nationally with an active designation this severe.
Counties with a matching designation count to Pinal County's 70
One peer set for this FTE-led county: nearest active designation count to 70 - the inventory behind the ~131 FTE published need.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does Pinal County's MUA standing sit beside its HPSA records?
- Yes - Pinal County carries an MUA designation (index 50.5; 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 Pinal County?
- Id-de-duped providers_needed across active HPSAs totals ~131 FTE, with primary care the largest slice (77). "HORIZON HEALTH AND WELLNESS, INC." is the highest-scored active row (score 23.0; dental; 117,359 people in the service area; designated 11/01/2013). This is HRSA's published gap, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
- Which named designations drive Pinal County's FTE reading?
- Active names on this release include "HORIZON HEALTH AND WELLNESS, INC.", "LI-Gila River Indian Community", "ICE - Florence Correctional Center" and "Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Florence". Discipline counts: 26 primary care, 24 mental health, 20 dental across 70 designated rows.
- Do Pinal 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.
- How does Pinal County's FTE burden compare inside AZ?
- 70 active designations and ~131 FTE published need. Pinal County sits among the top three county rank positions in AZ, at rank 3 of 15. Score-nearest counties on this release include Kern County, CA and Prince William County, VA.
Source: HRSA Data Warehouse. FIPS: 04021. 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 04021 (Pinal County, AZ), vintage 2026-08-15. Active designation count 70; peak score 23.0; signature 131 FTE gap. This profile is reference material, not professional advice; see methodology.