Health Care Providers Impact Statement for Skagit County
Number of docs in 2009: 259. That's 21.7 physicians per 10,000 population1, the fourth-highest 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:
---Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount Vernon lists 45 MDs, six DOs, six physician assistants and three nurse practitioners as hospital staff. It also draws upon 116 MDs, three DOs, 12 physician assistants and five nurse practitioners in Skagit County.
---Island Hospital in Anacortes employs 27 MDs and three DOs, plus another 14 MDs, one DO and one nurse practitioner at its affiliated clinics.
---United General Hospital in Sedro-Woolley employs 14 MDs and one DO. It also draws upon another 16 MDs, one DO and three physician assistants from Sedro-Woolley, as well as 77 MDs, three DOs, five physician assistants and six nurse practitioners from other parts of Skagit County.4
Number of current WWAMI Spokane and Pullman medical students from Skagit County: one
Number of current WSU pharmacy students from Skagit County: two
Number of current WSU nursing students from Skagit County: five
Number of current WSU nutrition and exercise physiology students from Skagit County: one
Number of current WSU speech and hearing sciences students from Skagit County: three
UW School of Medicine clinical faculty in Skagit County: eight MDs5
Health professionals in Skagit County who graduated from Washington colleges:
---Skagit Valley Hospital employs 26 UW School of Medicine graduates at its hospital in Mount Vernon and clinics in Anacortes and Sedro-Woolley. It also has three physician assistants who graduated from the UW MEDEX program and one UW dental graduate.
---United General Hospital has 10 UW medical graduates among its staff and consulting physicians. It has seven doctors who did their residencies in Washington and 12 former Washington fellows. It also has one nurse practitioner who graduated from the WSU College of Nursing.6
Anacortes is a place where third and fourth-year medical students can do some of their required clerkships. The county does not currently have a residency site.7
Skagit County unemployment rate (Nov. 2012): 8.4% (state average 7.8% seasonally adjusted, 7.3% not seasonally adjusted%) 8
Health care/social assistance employment in Skagit County 9: 4,550 (out of 47,000 jobs). It's the county's fourth-largest employer, providing about $36.6 million in payroll, about 8.3% 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)