Health Care Provider Impact Statement for Columbia County
Number of docs in 2009: three. That’s 7.4 physicians per 10,000 population:1 the fifth lowest rate in eastern 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: The Columbia County Health System operates Dayton General Hospital and clinics in Dayton and Waitsburg. It employs five physicians, two physician assistants and one nurse practitioner.4
Number of current WWAMI Spokane medical students from
Columbia County: zero
Number of current WSU pharmacy students from Columbia County: zero
Number of current WSU nursing students from Columbia County: two
Number of current WSU speech and hearing sciences students from Columbia County: one
UW School of Medicine clinical faculty in Columbia County: one MD5
Health professionals in Columbia County who graduated from Washington colleges: unknown6
Dayton serves as a site for medical students looking to practice their skills in a rural setting between their first and second years (Rural/Underserved Opportunities Program). It is not currently a clerkship or residency site.7
About 600 medical professionals in 26 eastern and central Washington communities serve as preceptors (instructors) for UW/WSU medical students. About a third of those work in small cities and towns. In addition, Columbia County hosts some of the 378 preceptors who work with WSU pharmacy students at clinical sites in eastern and central Washington.
Columbia County unemployment rate (Nov. 2012): 10.0% (state average 7.8% seasonally adjusted, 7.3% not seasonally adjusted) 8
Health care/social assistance employment in Columbia County 9: 42 (out of 1,243 jobs). It’s the county’s seventh-largest employer, providing about $220,000 in payroll, about 2% of the county’s total payroll.
Tripp Umbach estimate of annual impact of Spokane academic health sciences on Columbia County (2009): 1 job, $158,000 in economic impact, $12,500 in local taxes
Tripp Umbach projection of annual impact of Spokane academic health sciences on Columbia County (2030): seven jobs, $1.2 million, $83,000 in local taxes
1UW Center for Health Workforce Studies
2UW Center for Health Workforce Studies
3Association 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)