Health Care Provider Impact Statement for Clark County
Number of docs in 2009: 641. That's 14.8 physicians per 10,000 population1, the ninth-lowest rate in western Washington. Washington's rate is 21.2 physicians per 10,000; the national average is about 20.2 per 10,000. 2 Washington imports about 85% of its physicians from other states or nations.3
Health professional breakout:
---Vancouver's Peace Health Southwest Medical Center lists 643 MDs, 38 DOs, two physician assistants and one pharmacist as 'active' providers at its hospital and network of facilities.
---Legacy Health operates Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital in Vancouver, part of its network of six hospitals in the Portland/Vancouver area. Legacy Salmon Creek employs 187 MDs, 11 DOs and five nurse practitioners.
---Legacy also has 13 MDs, three DOs, two physician assistants and three nurse practitioners at four clinics in Clark County.4
Number of current WWAMI Spokane and Pullman medical students from Clark County: five
Number of current WSU pharmacy students from Clark County: 14
Number of current WSU nursing students from Clark County: 119
Number of current WSU nutrition and exercise physiology students from Clark County: five
Number of current WSU speech and hearing sciences students from Clark County: five
UW School of Medicine clinical faculty in Clark County: 27 MDs, one DO, one Pharm.D, one physician assistant5
Health professionals in Clark County who graduated from Washington colleges:
---Peace Health Southwest Medical Center employs at least nine UW School of Medicine graduates, as well as 38 current or former resident and nine former fellowship doctors.
---Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital has at least eight UW medical graduates among its staff and consulting doctors, along with 12 former Washington resident doctors and four former fellows.6
Vancouver is home to a family medicine residency program for new Washington doctors. 7
Clark County unemployment rate (Nov. 2012): 8.0% (state average 7.8% seasonally adjusted, 7.3% not seasonally adjusted) 8
Health care/social assistance employment in Clark County 9: 17,531 (out of 126,500 jobs). It's the county's second-largest employer, providing about $199 million in payroll, about 15.2% of the county's total payroll.
1 According to the UW Center for Health Workforce Studies
2 UW Center for Health Workforce Studies
3 Association of American Medical Colleges
4Numbers gleaned from hospital and clinic websites
5UW Clinical faculty listing: http://depts.washington.edu/fammed/clinical_faculty/listings
6Numbers calculated from hospital and clinic websites
7http://uwmedicine.washington.edu/Education/WWAMI/Documents/2011%20WWAMI%20Maps.pdf
8Washington Department of Employment Security
9Washington Department of Employment Security (third quarter, 2010)
Congressional District: 3
Legislative District: 14, 17, 18, 20, 49
Population: 425,300
County Seat: Vancouver
WSU Spokane medical student from Clark County wins major award for student research.
"This project has given me greater fluency when it comes to understanding research and applying it to my clinical practice."
(Photo by Doug Nadvornick)