Health Care Provider Impact Statement for Okanogan County
Number of docs in 2009: 59. That’s 14.5 physicians per 10,000 population1, the seventh highest 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:
---Mid Valley Hospital in Omak employs 21 MDs, four DOs, three physician assistants and two nurse practitioners at its hospital and Omak clinic.
---The North Valley Hospital District in Tonasket allows seven MDs and one DO from Tonasket and Oroville to see patients at its hospital.
---The Okanogan Douglas Hospital in Brewster (operated by the Okanogan Douglas County Hospital District) lists nine physicians on its roster.
---Wenatchee Valley Medical Center has three clinics in Okanogan County. It employs 15 MDs, one DO, two physician assistants and two nurse practitioners at its clinic in Omak. Five MDs, one DO and two physician assistants see patients in its Tonasket and Oroville clinics.4
Number of current WWAMI Spokane medical students from Okanogan County: zero
Number of current WSU pharmacy students from Okanogan County: one
Number of current WSU nursing students from Okanogan County: nine
Number of current WSU speech and hearing sciences students from Okanogan County: one
UW School of Medicine clinical faculty in Okanogan County: nine MDs and one DO5
Health professionals in Okanogan County who graduated from Washington colleges:
---North Valley Hospital has three UW School of Medicine graduates.
---Wenatchee Valley Medical Center clinics in Okanogan County have six UW medical graduates (including three who also practice at North Valley) and six physicians who did their residencies in Washington.6
Omak serves as a residency site for new Washington doctors. Okanogan provides family medicine clerkships for third and fourth-year students. Okanogan, Brewster and Tonasket 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, Okanogan County hosts some of the 378 providers who train pharmacy students at clinical sites in eastern and central Washington.
Okanogan County unemployment rate (Nov. 2012): 9.1% (state average 7.8% seasonally adjusted, 7.3% not seasonally adjusted) 8
Health care/social assistance employment in Okanogan County9: 1,184 (out of 21,300 jobs). It’s the county’s fifth-largest employer, providing about $8.7 million in payroll, about 6.9% of the county’s total payroll.
Tripp Umbach estimate of annual impact of Spokane academic health sciences on Okanogan County (2009): eight jobs, $1.54 million in economic impact, $122,000 in local taxes
Tripp Umbach projection of annual impact of Spokane academic health sciences on Okanogan County (2030): 67 jobs, $11.6 million in economic impact, $809,000 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)
Congressional District: 4
Legislative Districts: 7, 12
Population: 41,100
County Seat: Okanogan
WSU College of Nursing student—and Omak native—Tony Moore talks about when he decided to become a nurse.