Health Care Providers Impact Statement for Pacific County
Number of docs in 2009: 15. That’s 7.1 physicians per 10,000 population1, the fourth-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:
---Willapa Harbor Hospital in South Bend employs two MDs and three DOs.
---Ocean Beach Hospital has four MDs, one physician assistant and two nurse practitioners working at its hospital in Ilwaco and clinics in Ilwaco and Naselle.4
Number of current WWAMI Spokane medical students from
Pacific County: zero
Number of current WSU pharmacy students from Pacific County: zero
Number of current WSU nursing students from Pacific County: one
Number of current WSU speech and hearing sciences students from Pacific County: one
UW School of Medicine clinical faculty in Pacific County: one DO5
Health professionals in Pacific County who graduated from Washington counties: Ocean Beach Hospital has one UW medical school graduate and one physician assistant who came from the UW’s MEDEX program.6
South Bend is a residency site for new doctors in Washington. It’s also a place for medical students looking to practice their skills in a rural setting between their first and second years (Rural/Underserved Opportunities Program).7
Pacific County unemployment rate (Nov. 2012): 10.5% (state average 7.8% seasonally adjusted, 7.3% not seasonally adjusted) 8
Health care/social assistance employment in Pacific County9: 298 (out of 6,100 jobs). It’s the county’s seventh-largest employer, providing about $1.8 million in payroll, about 4% of the county’s total payroll.
1According to the UW 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)