AZ · Healthcare shortage profile
Navajo County, AZ
The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Navajo County's active designations would take about 45 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Population 106,717.
- Active HPSAs
- 61
- Population
- 106,717
- Peak shortage score
- 24.0
- MUA Index
- 38.1
Heavy-burden verdict
According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Navajo County ranks among the most underserved counties in the country - 61 active HPSA designations, more than 99% of the 3,289 real US counties, with mental health the deepest gap.
- 61
- Active HPSA designations
- 20
- Dental shortages
- 24
- Peak severity score (of 26)
- Top 1%
- US counties by volume
Key findings
What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Navajo 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 24.0 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 Navajo County's active designations would take about 45 additional clinician FTEs, with primary care the largest gap.
HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id (no double-count across status rows): 22 primary care, 7.3 mental health, 16 dental. This is the federal gap estimate, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
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34.4% of Navajo County's 61 active designations are mental health.
Discipline mix from designated HPSA records only: 20 primary care, 21 mental health, 20 dental (denominator 61).
Dense ZCTA lattice over Navajo County
Navajo County intersects 34 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
22 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, Navajo County carries 61 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. Navajo County falls in the upper half of AZ counties by active-designation volume, at rank 4 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: 04017. Population: 106,717.
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 61 active (designated) HPSAs in Navajo County, ranked by HRSA shortage score.
| Name | Type | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Cibecue Health Center | dental | 24.0 |
| White Mountain Apache Tribe | dental | 24.0 |
| Pinon Health Center | dental | 24.0 |
| Whiteriver Hospital | dental | 24.0 |
| Cibecue Headstart | dental | 23.0 |
| Mary V. Riley Seven Mile Sch | dental | 23.0 |
| White Mountain Apache Behavioral Health Services (Guidance Center) | dental | 23.0 |
| Mcnary Headstart | dental | 23.0 |
| Whiteriver Elementary School | dental | 23.0 |
| East Fork Lutheran School | dental | 23.0 |
| Cradleboard Elementary School | dental | 23.0 |
| White Mtn Apache Headstart | dental | 23.0 |
| Kayenta Health Center | dental | 22.0 |
| Hopi Health Care Center | dental | 22.0 |
| Winslow Indian Health Care Center | dental | 22.0 |
| CF-Arizona State Prison-Winslow | primary_care | 21.0 |
| Pinon Health Center | mental_health | 21.0 |
| Whiteriver Hospital | primary_care | 20.0 |
| East Fork Lutheran School | primary_care | 20.0 |
| Cradleboard Elementary School | primary_care | 20.0 |
| Whiteriver Elementary School | primary_care | 20.0 |
| Pinon Health Center | primary_care | 20.0 |
| Mary V. Riley Seven Mile Sch | primary_care | 20.0 |
| White Mtn Apache Headstart | primary_care | 20.0 |
| Mcnary Headstart | primary_care | 20.0 |
| White Mountain Apache Behavioral Health Services (Guidance Center) | primary_care | 20.0 |
| LI - White Mountain Apache Tribe | mental_health | 20.0 |
| Kayenta Health Center | mental_health | 20.0 |
| Hopi Health Care Center | mental_health | 20.0 |
| East Fork Lutheran School | mental_health | 20.0 |
| Kayenta Health Center | primary_care | 19.0 |
| Hopi Health Care Center | primary_care | 19.0 |
| Winslow Indian Health Care Center | primary_care | 19.0 |
| Cibecue Health Center | primary_care | 19.0 |
| Cibecue Headstart | primary_care | 19.0 |
| White Mountain Apache Behavioral Health Services (Guidance Center) | mental_health | 19.0 |
| Cradleboard Elementary School | mental_health | 19.0 |
| White Mtn Apache Headstart | mental_health | 19.0 |
| Little Colorado Physicians Office | mental_health | 19.0 |
| Whiteriver Elementary School | mental_health | 19.0 |
Heavy-burden reading for Navajo County
The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Navajo County's active designations would take about 45 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Dental care carries Navajo County's deepest shortage reading, 24.0 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 38.1, and the lower the index, the greater the measured need.
Volume places Navajo County above 99% of real US counties (61 active designations: 20 primary care, 21 mental health, 20 dental). Peak severity on the current designated set is 24.0. 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.
Navajo County falls in the upper half of AZ counties by active-designation volume, at rank 4 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.
Navajo County designations by care type
Active Health Professional Shortage Area designations in the county, by provider category (high-priority disciplines emphasized).
- Mental health
Mental health
21 designations
- Primary care
Primary care
20 designations
- Dental
Dental
20 designations
Heavy-volume FTE gap in Navajo County
Signature reading: HRSA providers_needed sums to about 45 FTE across Navajo 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 Navajo 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
Navajo County's shortage designations unlock specific federal programs and comparisons, here is how to act on them.
- Navajo County's 61 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 mental health 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 Navajo County's 24.0. This compares the designation score only, not local appointment availability or care quality. Start with Wood County, WI and Monroe County, WI.
Showing 6 of 2744 counties nationally with an active designation this severe.
Counties with a matching designation count to Navajo County's 61
One peer set for this FTE-led county: nearest active designation count to 61 - the inventory behind the ~45 FTE published need.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does Navajo County's MUA standing sit beside its HPSA records?
- Yes - Navajo County carries an MUA designation (index 38.1; 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 Navajo County?
- Id-de-duped providers_needed across active HPSAs totals ~45 FTE, with primary care the largest slice (22). "CIBECUE HEALTH CENTER" is the highest-scored active row (score 24.0; dental; 12,504 people in the service area; designated 03/09/2009). This is HRSA's published gap, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
- Which named designations drive Navajo County's FTE reading?
- Active names on this release include "CIBECUE HEALTH CENTER", "White Mountain Apache Tribe", "PINON HEALTH CENTER" and "Whiteriver Hospital". Discipline counts: 20 primary care, 21 mental health, 20 dental across 61 designated rows.
- Do Navajo 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 Navajo County's FTE burden compare inside AZ?
- 61 active designations and ~45 FTE published need. Navajo County falls in the upper half of AZ counties by active-designation volume, at rank 4 of 15. Score-nearest counties on this release include Wood County, WI and Monroe County, WI.
Source: HRSA Data Warehouse. FIPS: 04017. 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 04017 (Navajo County, AZ), vintage 2026-08-15. Active designation count 61; peak score 24.0; signature 45 FTE gap. This profile is reference material, not professional advice; see methodology.