Georgia

The famous Margaret Mitchell novel, “Gone with the Wind” was written in Georgia and Atlanta served host to the 1996 Summer Olympics. Georgia covers 57,906 square miles, with a 2015 estimated population of 10,214,860 people – with 1,774,738 people living in rural Georgia (USDA-ERS). Atlanta is the state capital. The state’s largest cities are Atlanta, Augusta and Columbus. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 61.6% of the state’s population is white, 31.7% is Black/African-American, and 9.4% is of Hispanic/Latino origin (U.S. Census, 2015).

Georgia Rural Healthcare Facilities

There are 142 hospitals in Georgia (Kaiser, 2014), 67 of which are located in rural counties (SORH, 2012). The state has 30 hospitals identified as Critical Access Hospitals (Flex Team, 12/2015). There are 94 Rural Health Clinics in Georgia (CMS, 2015) and 32 Federally Qualified Health Centers provide services at 156 clinical sites (SORH, 2014).

Selected Social Determinants of Health for Rural Georgia

16% of Georgia residents lack health insurance (Kaiser, 2014). According to the Economic Research Service, the average per-capita income for Georgia residents in 2014 was $38,980, although rural per-capita income lagged at $30,142. The ERS reports, based on 2010-2014 ACS data, that the poverty rate in rural Georgia is 24.4%, compared with 17.2% in urban areas of the state. 21.2% of the rural population has not completed high school, while 13.6% of the urban population lacks a high school diploma according to 2010-2014 ACS data reported by ERS. The unemployment rate in rural Georgia is 6.6%, while in urban Georgia it is 5.7% (USDA-ERS, 2015).

Data Sources
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: Rural Health Clinic List; Flex Monitoring Team: Critical Access Hospital List; Georgia Office of Rural Health (SORH); Kaiser Family Foundation State Health Facts; U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts; USDA Economic Research Service: State Fact Sheets

Contacts

There are more organizations related to Georgia in the organizations section.