Health Care Provider Impact Statement for Franklin County
Number of docs in 2009: 63. That’s 8.1 physicians per 10,000 population1: the seventh 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:
---Lourdes Health Network employs 29 MDs and four DOs at its hospital in Pasco, as well as 38 MDs, four DOs, three physician assistants and one nurse practitioner at its other clinics in Pasco. It also has one doctor and one physician assistant at a clinic in Connell.
---A Yakima Valley Farm Workers’ clinic in Pasco has three physicians.4
Number of current WWAMI Spokane and Pullman medical students from Franklin County: one
Number of current WSU pharmacy students from Franklin County: three
Number of current WSU nursing students from Franklin County: 27
Number of current WSU speech and hearing sciences students from Franklin County: one
UW School of Medicine clinical faculty in Franklin County: none5
Health professionals from Franklin County who graduated from Washington colleges:
---At least seven MDs who practice at Lourdes Medical Center in Pasco are UW School of Medicine graduates. Two served their residencies in Washington. One had a fellowship here. In addition, one dentist at Lourdes is a UW dental school grad.6
Pasco 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). Franklin County does not currently have a 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. Franklin County also hosts a few of the 48 professional preceptors who work with WSU pharmacy students in the Columbia Basin region.
Franklin County unemployment rate (Nov. 2012): 9.8% (state average 7.8% seasonally adjusted, 7.3% not seasonally adjusted) 8
Health care/social assistance employment in Franklin County9: 1,848 (out of 31,600 jobs). It’s the county’s fifth-largest employer, providing about $17.3 million in payroll, about 6.9% of the county’s total payroll.
Tripp Umbach estimate of annual impact of Spokane academic health sciences on Franklin County (2009): 14 jobs, $2.7 million in economic impact, $213,000 in local taxes
Tripp Umbach projection of annual impact of Spokane academic health sciences on Franklin County (2030): 118 jobs, $20.3 million in economic impact, $1.4 million 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)
Congressional District:4
Legislative Districts: 9, 16
Population: 78,100
County Seat: Pasco
Franklin County child care providers can improve their reading and writing skills through WSU Extension classes.
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(Photo courtesy of Lauri Sherfey)