NC's physician-to-population ratio is increasing, but most of the growth is in urban areas.
By Julie Spero, Evan Galloway
Oct 2, 2019
- The number of physicians in NC has grown over time, outpacing population growth.
- The main concern is not the overall number of physicians in North Carolina, but the distribution of physicians in the state. Most of the growth in physicians per capita has occurred in urban counties.
- In rural (non-metropolitan) counties, growth in physicians per capita has been slow. Access-to-care issues remain concerning in many rural and underserved places.
Funding & Acknowledgements
The HPDS is maintained by the Program on Health Workforce Research and Policy at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in collaboration with the North Carolina Area Health Education Centers Program (AHEC), and the state’s independent health professional licensing boards. Ongoing financial support is provided by the NC AHEC Program Office. Although the NC HPDS maintains the data system, the data remain the property of their respective licensing board. This information or content and conclusions are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by NC AHEC. To learn more about NC AHEC please visit: https://www.ncahec.net.
