Mental Health Professional Shortage Area

What a mental health professional shortage area actually is

A Health Professional Shortage Area, or HPSA, is a geographic area, a population group, or a facility that the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has designated as having too few health professionals for the number of people it serves. HRSA is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

There are three kinds of HPSA: primary care, dental care, and mental health. A mental health professional shortage area is the mental health kind. When you read that a county “is a mental health shortage area,” this is the designation people mean.

How a designation works

Every mental health HPSA gets a score from 0 to 25. A higher score means a bigger shortage. The score looks at how many people there are for each provider, the share of residents living below the federal poverty level, the share of older adults and of children, how common alcohol and substance use are, and how long it takes to travel to the nearest source of care outside the area.

The type of designation matters too. A geographic designation covers everyone who lives in the area. A population designation covers only one group within it, for example residents with low incomes.

To see what this looks like on a real map, see which counties in Maine and Nebraska are designated on shrinkMD. In Nebraska, 88 of 93 counties sit entirely inside a designated mental health shortage area (HRSA, September 2026). shrinkMD is part of The Shrink Network, founded by Shariq Refai, MD.

What it isn’t

A designation isn’t a measure of how long you’ll wait for an appointment. It compares the supply of providers with the need in an area, and wait times aren’t part of the score.

It also isn’t permanent. Designations are reviewed and can change, so an area that’s designated today may not be next year, and the reverse. HRSA’s Find Shortage Areas tool shows the current status for any state, county, or address.

Related terms you’ll see next

• Levels of care
• Partial hospitalization

Why it matters

If you live in a shortage area, it helps to know that a hard search for a psychiatrist isn’t just you. It’s a known gap. It also points toward other ways in, like starting with a primary care doctor, seeing a therapist, or using telepsychiatry. Our guide to finding mental health care walks through those options. If you’re in crisis, call or text 988 in the United States, any time.

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>Mental Health Professional Shortage Area:</strong> A mental health professional shortage area is a place, population group, or facility that the federal government has designated as having too few mental health professionals for the people it serves. It's one of three types of Health Professional Shortage Area, or HPSA.</p>
  <p>&mdash; <a href="https://shrinktionary.com/terms/mental-health-professional-shortage-area/">Shrinktionary</a>, a plain-English mental health dictionary, medically reviewed by a board certified psychiatrist.</p>
</blockquote>