Updated: Dec. 1, 2025

The South Carolina Primary Care Office (PCO) serves as the state’s liaison to the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), supporting efforts to expand access to care in underserved areas. A core function of the PCO is to collect data to support applications to HRSA for federal shortage designations—Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and Medically Underserved Areas/Populations (MUAs/MUPs). Designations are based on factors such as provider-to-population ratios, poverty rates, population health indicators, and barriers to care, and are essential in directing health workforce resources to the communities most in need. They’re used to determine eligibility for a variety of key federal and state programs, including:

• Location and funding of Community Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics
• National Health Service Corps provider placements
• Physician incentive and student loan repayment programs
• J-1 Visa Waiver (Conrad 30) physician recruitment
• Medicare incentive payments

Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs)

Maps depicting HPSA designations across the state can be found below. These may assist in identifying service gaps or opportunities for collaboration:

Geographic HPSAs 

Geographic HPSAs have a shortage of providers for an entire group of people within a defined geographic area and are depicted with a dark blue color in the maps below.

Population HPSAs 

Population HPSAs have a shortage of providers for a specific group of people within a defined geographic area (e.g., low-income) and are depicted with a light blue color.

Facility HPSAs

Facility HPSAs are not depicted in the maps above. They may be public or non-profit private medical facilities serving a population or geographic area with a shortage of providers and include:

• Correctional Facilities - Medium and maximum security federal and state correctional institutions and Youth detention facilities
• State Mental Hospitals - State hospitals with a shortage of psychiatrists (mental health designations only)
• Automatic Facility HPSAs (Auto-HPSAs) - Facilities that HRSA automatically designates as HPSAs based on statute or through regulation including:
  • Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)
  • FQHC Look-A-Likes (LALs)
  • CMS-Certified Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)
  • Indian Health Facilities
  • IHS and Tribal Hospitals
  • Dual-funded Community Health Centers/Tribal Clinics

HPSA Resources

• Find if a specific address is in a geographic or population HPSA
• Find an HPSA by state/county, or whether a facility has a HPSA score

Learn more about how the PCO supports health care access across South Carolina: