General surgeons are absent in 1,180 U.S. counties

Residents of 1,180 U.S. counties have no general surgeon practicing in their county. Together, those areas contain 15.1 million people. An even broader gap affects 951 counties, where 9.6 million residents have no local surgeon from any of the 12 specialties studied. The analysis covered all 3,144 counties nationwide.

Researchers identified 201,394 practicing surgeons and created a public mapping tool that lets users examine counties, larger care regions, and metropolitan or micropolitan areas. The results show major regional differences. Across all specialties, the supply ranged from 20.8 surgeons per 100,000 residents in Harlingen, Texas, to 250.4 in Rochester, Minnesota. Transplant surgery was among the most concentrated fields, with no specialist identified in 179 hospital referral regions.

Rural communities face another concern: 475 health care sites capable of surgical services are located in counties without an identified full-time surgeon. Critical access hospitals account for 434 of those sites. The map may help guide training and recruitment efforts in underserved areas. Congress is also considering H.R. 7198, which would require a federal method for designating general-surgery shortage areas. Researchers noted that concentration can be appropriate for complex specialties when care is intentionally organized regionally.