California Rural Health Policy Council

Contact Us

Rural Health Policy Council
400 R Street, Suite 369
Sacramento, CA 95811
1-800-237-4492 or
(916)326-3670

Right Column

Rural Health Policy Council
California's Focal Point for Rural Health - Resources

Demographics

Maps

• Metropolitan Statistical Area Map
• California Medical Service Study Areas
• Adopted 2000 MSSA Boundaries** with MSSA identifiers

  ** the zoom tool (magnifying glass) help get a closer view of your county's MSSA number and boundaries.

• Rural Hospital Map
• California Maps of Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA): Dental, Mental Health, and Primary Care; Medically Underserved Areas (MUA); Medically Underserved Populations (MUP)
  To view map click magnifying glass icon to the left of your selection

Data

• Rural/Frontier County Demographics with MSSA identifiers
• California Department of Finance County Profiles

Shortage Areas

CALIFORNIA SHORTAGE DESIGNATION

Shortage Terms

RHPC′s Definition of Rural
The definition of a Rural Medical Service Study Area is a Medical Service Study Area (MSSA), as defined by the California Health Manpower Policy Commission, that have a population density of 250 persons or less per square mile and have no incorporated area greater than 50,000 persons.

The definition of a Frontier Medical Service Study Area is an MSSA with population densities equal or less than 11 persons per square mile.

Rural and Frontier Medical Service Study Areas

FEDERAL SHORTAGE DESIGNATIONS

2005 Updated Rural Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) for California The Health Resource Services Administration (HRSA) recently updated its geography eligibility list for its Rural Health Grant Programs. These grants are aimed at expanding aDecember 28, 2007 8:07 AMessential health care in rural areas.

The new eligibility uses the 2000 US Census and is based upon Census Tracts rather than strictly zip codes. Abandoning zip codes for Census Tracts should be considered a victory for California, and western states in general. Although the RUCAs remain less than perfect, several poor classifications have been corrected as depicted on the following maps (Shingle Springs for example). More importantly, it is now possible to make quantitative comparisons with the Census Tract-based MSSA boundaries. This represents a significant change in policy of the federal government.

Shortage Area Resources

To request a RUCA map by individual county, please contact the RHPC office at 800-237-4492 or rhpc@oshpd.ca.gov

• 2005 California RUCA Map
• 2005 vs. 2004 California RUCA Comparison Map
• 2005 California RUCA vs. Medical Service Study Area (MSSA) Map

For additional information on the RUCA definition, go to the HRSA Rural Health Policy website.

• What is Rural?
  Information regarding Federal Rural Designations provided by the Rural Assistance Center.
• How to determine a shortage designation
  Census Tract Locator
• HRSA- Health Professional Shortage Area Database
  Region: "Region IX"; State: "CA"; County: "county name"; Discipline: "select desire discipline"; Status: "Designated"; Click on "Submit" button
• Medically Underserved Areas and Medically Underserved Populations web site
• How To Apply for a Shortage Designation