15 million Americans live in a county with no general surgeon
More than 15 million Americans live in one of the 1,180 U.S. counties with no general surgeon, and 951 counties have no surgeon in any of 12 surgical specialties, according to a new national analysis announced at the ACS Clinical Congress 2026 in Washington, D.C., and simultaneously published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
A new analysis reveals that more than 15 million Americans live in one of the 1,180 U.S. counties without a general surgeon, while 951 counties lack any surgeon in 12 surgical specialties. The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons and unveiled at the ACS Clinical Congress 2026, maps surgeons across 12 specialties and all 3,144 U.S. counties for the first time.
The ACS Surgical Workforce Mapping Tool provides direct access to county-level data, allowing patients, clinicians, and policymakers to assess surgical workforce distribution. The study highlights significant disparities in surgical care access, with transplant surgery notably absent from 179 hospital referral regions. The findings underscore the need to evaluate national health workforce policies to ensure patients can access the right care at the right time and place.
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