Union County, Kentucky County Health Workforce Brief
Federal shortage designations — not a commercial demand forecast or provider quality rank.
$249
One-time PDF brief.
Active designations
6
Primary care
2
Dental
2
Mental health
2
Max HPSA score
20
Total FTE short
4.6
Material changes
baseline
Summary
Union County, Kentucky has 6 active HRSA Health Professional Shortage Area designations in this vintage (Primary Care: 2, Dental: 2, Mental Health: 2).
Highest HPSA score among active designations is 20 (0-25 scale; higher indicates greater shortage priority) (national median 18 across 3174 counties; 68th percentile in-state (120 counties)). Combined clinician FTE shortfall across designations is approximately 4.6.
The most severe published population-to-provider ratio is 18878:1; estimated underserved population attributed to this county totals 26,728 (designation-level figures attributed to each county served).
HPSA designations support workforce programs (e.g., loan repayment eligibility context) — they are not a forecast of commercial demand or a quality ranking of providers.
Labor-market context (QCEW 2024 (private ownership)): Private healthcare employers reported approximately 118 jobs across ambulatory, home-health, and nursing/residential care; average annual private-sector pay is ambulatory care $48,218. These are BLS QCEW averages, not medians, and cover private-sector employers only.
Data vintage: Downloaded 2026-08-02 (HRSA refreshes nightly).
Change tracking for this county began with the HRSA download 2026-08-02 · BLS QCEW 2024 · ACS 5-year 2019-2023 data vintage; the next data refresh will report provider additions, exits, and rating changes.
Designation preview
Showing 3 of 6 HPSA designations. Full table in the paid PDF.
| Name | Discipline | Type | Score (0-25) | FTE short | Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEACONESS UNION COUNTY MORGANFIELD | Primary Care | Geographic | 20 | Full report | Full report |
| Union County | Primary Care | Geographic | 20 | Full report | Full report |
| Union County | Mental Health | Geographic | 18 | Full report | Full report |
Benchmarks — in the full report
The paid PDF compares this county to state and national county medians with percentiles.
Methodology
- Source: HRSA HPSA / MUA-P / FQHC public download files, BLS QCEW annual county files, and Census ACS population, compiled offline into a committed, vintage-stamped data artifact (workforce-artifact-1.0.0) covering 3222 counties. The vintages cited are the real download dates.
- Designated and Proposed-for-Withdrawal designations are included; Withdrawn designations are excluded. Rows are deduped by (HPSA ID, county).
- HPSA score is the federal priority score (0-25) when published.
- FTE short and underserved population are designation-level figures attributed to each county served; multi-county designations contribute to every county they serve.
- Detail tables are capped for readability (top 12 designations by HPSA score; 8 most-underserved MUA/P entries; 5 named FQHC sites). Discipline counts, maximum scores, FTE totals, and benchmarks are computed over ALL rows; figures only derivable from the capped detail (median score, worst ratio, underserved and poverty rollups, rural presence) are shown only when the detail covers every designation, otherwise as not available.
- Safety-net context (MUA/P designations and FQHC service-delivery sites) is summarized from the same HRSA download files.
- Labor-market context is BLS QCEW annual county data for private-ownership healthcare NAICS (621 ambulatory, 6216 home health, 623 nursing/residential care). QCEW average annual pay and average weekly wage are payroll-per-job AVERAGES, not medians; suppressed cells render as not available.
- State and national comparisons are medians and percentiles computed across all counties in the committed artifact.
- Sellable threshold: ≥1 active designation in county.
- Missing values are never imputed as zero.
Limitations
- HPSA boundaries can be sub-county; county rollups may include population-targeted designations that do not cover the entire county.
- Underserved population, served population, and FTE-short figures are designation-level figures attributed to each county served — multi-county designations contribute their full figures to every county they serve, so totals are not county-exclusive.
- Scores and FTE short change when HRSA updates designations — always check the as-of vintage.
- Reference periods differ by dataset: HRSA designations are as of the download date (2026-08-02); QCEW wages cover calendar 2024; population is ACS 5-year 2019-2023.
- BLS QCEW wage/employment figures are county private-ownership averages for broad healthcare NAICS — they are not occupation-specific or median wages, and small-county cells may be suppressed and shown as not available.
- This is a one-time market-screening and preliminary-diligence starter, not investment, staffing, or financial advice, and not a recommendation to open a clinic or apply for any program.
- Not medical advice; not affiliated with HRSA or HHS.