CA · Healthcare shortage profile
Kern County, CA
The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Kern County's active designations would take about 184 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Population 909,235.
- Active HPSAs
- 74
- Population
- 909,235
- Peak shortage score
- 24.0
- MUA Index
- 46.2
Heavy-burden verdict
According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Kern County ranks among the most underserved counties in the country - 74 active HPSA designations, more than 99% of the 3,289 real US counties, with primary care the deepest gap.
- 74
- Active HPSA designations
- 22
- Mental-health shortages
- 24
- Peak severity score (of 26)
- Top 1%
- US counties by volume
Key findings
What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Kern County, CA 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 Kern County's active designations would take about 184 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, 38 mental health, 69 dental. This is the federal gap estimate, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
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36.5% of Kern County's 74 active designations are primary care.
Discipline mix from designated HPSA records only: 27 primary care, 22 mental health, 25 dental (denominator 74).
Dense ZCTA lattice over Kern County
Kern County intersects 53 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
41 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.
Kern County vs. every real US county
Total active HPSA designations, including counties with none
74 Top 1% higher than 99% of 3,289 real US counties
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more real US counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source HRSA Data Warehouse, designated HPSAs · 2026
State peer position. Kern County falls in the upper quarter of CA counties by active-designation volume, at rank 4 of 58. Ties share a rank; the comparison uses the same current designated records as the national chart.
Healthcare shortage designations from HRSA. FIPS: 06029. Population: 909,235.
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 74 active (designated) HPSAs in Kern County, ranked by HRSA shortage score.
| Name | Type | Score |
|---|---|---|
| California Correctional Institution | mental_health | 24.0 |
| Omni Family Health | dental | 23.0 |
| Clinica Sierra Vista | dental | 23.0 |
| Me/mssa 66b- Bakersfield East/Lakeview/La Loma | dental | 22.0 |
| Clinica Sierra Vista | primary_care | 21.0 |
| Omni Family Health | primary_care | 21.0 |
| Omni Family Health | mental_health | 20.0 |
| Clinica Sierra Vista | mental_health | 20.0 |
| ME Mssa 60-Delano/McFarland | dental | 20.0 |
| Bakersfield American Indian Health Project | dental | 20.0 |
| LI Mssa 57.2-Taft | dental | 20.0 |
| Mountain View Health Center | dental | 19.0 |
| Mountain View Health Center | primary_care | 18.0 |
| Adventist Health Reedley | primary_care | 18.0 |
| Bakersfield American Indian Health Project | primary_care | 18.0 |
| Good Samaritan Health Center Wasco | primary_care | 18.0 |
| Vanguard Medical Corporation | primary_care | 18.0 |
| Good Samaritan Arvin Medical Clinic | primary_care | 18.0 |
| LI-Mssa 66a-Bakersfield Northeast/Oildale | primary_care | 18.0 |
| Mssa 65 - Boron/Rosamond | mental_health | 18.0 |
| LI Mssa 58.2-Lost Hills/Wasco | dental | 18.0 |
| Adventist Health Reedley | primary_care | 17.0 |
| Vanguard Medical Corporation | primary_care | 17.0 |
| Shafter Rural Health Care Clinic | primary_care | 17.0 |
| West Side Family Health Care | mental_health | 17.0 |
| Adventist Health Reedley | mental_health | 17.0 |
| Mountain View Health Center | mental_health | 17.0 |
| Adventist Health Reedley | mental_health | 17.0 |
| Good Samaritan Arvin Medical Clinic | mental_health | 17.0 |
| Shyam Bhaskar MD, Inc | mental_health | 17.0 |
| Vanguard Medical Corporation | mental_health | 17.0 |
| Adventist Health Reedley | mental_health | 17.0 |
| Bakersfield American Indian Health Project | mental_health | 17.0 |
| LI - Mssa 66a-d/Bakersfield | mental_health | 17.0 |
| Good Samaritan Health Center Wasco | mental_health | 17.0 |
| Shafter Rural Health Care Clinic | mental_health | 17.0 |
| Vanguard Medical Corporation | mental_health | 17.0 |
| West Side Family Health Care | primary_care | 16.0 |
| Adventist Health Reedley | primary_care | 16.0 |
| ME - Mssa 66c/Bakersfield Southwest | primary_care | 16.0 |
Heavy-burden reading for Kern County
The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Kern County's active designations would take about 184 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Kern County's severest measured gap is in mental health, scored 24.0 of 25, 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; Dental care reads 23.0 of 26. The county also sits inside a Medically Underserved Area, indexed at 46.2, and the lower the index, the greater the measured need.
Volume places Kern County above 99% of real US counties (74 active designations: 27 primary care, 22 mental health, 25 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.
Kern County falls in the upper quarter of CA counties by active-designation volume, at rank 4 of 58. 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.
Heavy-volume FTE gap in Kern County
Signature reading: HRSA providers_needed sums to about 184 FTE across Kern 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 Kern County, CA · 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
Kern County's shortage designations unlock specific federal programs and comparisons, here is how to act on them.
- Kern County's 74 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 CA before you draw conclusions from a single score. CA 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 Mental Health Shortage Score
Other U.S. counties whose active HRSA mental-health HPSA score is closest to Kern County's 24.0. This compares the designation score only, not local appointment availability or care quality. Start with Jefferson County, FL and Bronx County, NY.
Showing 6 of 3081 counties nationally with an active designation this severe.
Counties with a matching designation count to Kern County's 74
One peer set for this FTE-led county: nearest active designation count to 74 - the inventory behind the ~184 FTE published need.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does Kern County's MUA standing sit beside its HPSA records?
- Yes - Kern County carries an MUA designation (index 46.2; 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 Kern County?
- Id-de-duped providers_needed across active HPSAs totals ~184 FTE, with primary care the largest slice (77). "California Correctional Institution" is the highest-scored active row (score 24.0; mental health; 3,355 people in the service area; ~1.7 FTE still needed on the record; designated 11/27/2023). This is HRSA's published gap, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
- Which named designations drive Kern County's FTE reading?
- Active names on this release include "California Correctional Institution", "OMNI FAMILY HEALTH", "CLINICA SIERRA VISTA" and "ME/MSSA 66b- Bakersfield East/Lakeview/La Loma". Discipline counts: 27 primary care, 22 mental health, 25 dental across 74 designated rows.
- Do Kern 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 Kern County's FTE burden compare inside CA?
- 74 active designations and ~184 FTE published need. Kern County falls in the upper quarter of CA counties by active-designation volume, at rank 4 of 58. Score-nearest counties on this release include Jefferson County, FL and Bronx County, NY.
Source: HRSA Data Warehouse. FIPS: 06029. 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 06029 (Kern County, CA), vintage 2026-08-15. Active designation count 74; peak score 24.0; signature 184 FTE gap. This profile is reference material, not professional advice; see methodology.