Health Care Provider Impact Statement for Kittitas County
Number of docs in 2009: 36. That's 9.1 physicians per 10,000 population1, the tenth 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 care professional breakout:
---Kittitas Valley Community Hospital employs 13 MDs, five physician assistants and one nurse practitioner at its Ellensburg hospital and clinics. It also has four MDs, one DO and one physician assistant at its clinic in Cle Elum.
---A Community Health of Central Washington clinic in Ellensburg employs two MDs, one DO and one nurse practitioner.4
Number of current WWAMI Spokane and Pullman medical students from Kittitas County: one
Number of current WSU pharmacy students from Kittitas County: four
Number of current WSU nursing students from Kittitas County: 12
UW School of Medicine clinical faculty in Kittitas County: eight MDs, one physician assistant and one nurse practitioner5
Health professionals in Kittitas County who graduated from Washington schools:
---Kittitas Valley Community Hospital has three UW medical school graduates, plus five who served their residencies in Washington. It also has six physician assistants who graduated from the UW's program and one graduate of the UW dental school.6
Ellensburg has a residency program for at least one new Washington doctor. It also hosts at least one third-year student interested in pursuing rural medicine for a career as part of the WRITE program (WWAMI Rural Integrated Training Experience). Students spend a few weeks in their first and second years practicing in their communities, then five months back in those communities during their third year. Ellensburg and Cle Elum also serve as sites for medical students looking to practice their skills in a rural setting between their first and second years (Rural/Underserved Opportunities Program).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, Kittitas County hosts some of the 378 professional preceptors who work with WSU pharmacy students at sites in eastern and central Washington.
Kittitas County unemployment rate (Nov. 2012): 7.2% (state average 7.8% seasonally adjusted, 7.3% not seasonally adjusted) 8
Health care/social assistance employment in Kittitas County 9: 970 (out of 13,600 jobs). It's the county's fourth-largest employer, providing about $6.4 million in payroll, about 5.9% of the county's total payroll.
Tripp Umbach estimate of annual impact of Spokane academic health sciences on Kittitas County (2009): eight jobs, $1.5 million in economic impact, $118,000 in local taxes
Tripp Umbach projection of annual impact of Spokane academic health sciences on Kittitas County (2030): 65 jobs, $11.2 million in economic impact, $784,000 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)