Health and Healthcare

These Are the 218 Counties Without a Doctor

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: April 22, 2020 6:45 am

A large number of America’s counties are without a single doctor. While this may not be an acute problem much of the time, with the outbreak of COVID-19, people in these counties may have to travel as much as several hours to reach medical aid in surrounding areas. In turn, this can trigger the overloading of health care in the counties with physicians because of the influx. This is particularly true when there is a surge of patients.

[in-text-ad]

Counties that have not reported any COVID-19 cases are exclusively rural and have low populations. However, this has begun to change. Wyoming has the fewest COVID-19 cases among all the states at only 322, according to the Bing COVID-19 Tracker, and only six deaths. In mid-March, the number statewide was three cases. Today, the virus is spreading so fast that only two of Montana’s counties have no reported cases.

The problem with shortages of doctors in rural areas is unlikely to change. Few doctors want to live in relative isolation. This includes little or no contact with other physicians. The Washington Post pointed out recently about those who practice in out of the way areas, “Rural doctors are three years older than urban doctors on average, with half over 50 and more than a quarter beyond 60. Health officials predict the number of rural doctors will decline by 23 percent over the next decade as the number of urban doctors remains flat.” The problem of travel time to reach a doctor will worsen.

This list of counties without a doctor includes the state, the name of the county (or other area) and the population therein.

Methodology: To determine the counties with no doctors, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data on the number of primary care physicians by county from the 2020 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps (CHR), a joint program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. Data is current as of the year 2017 and ultimately comes from the Physician Masterfile of the American Medical Association. Population data also comes from the 2020 CHR.