Survey: Rural Physician Shortages Deepen as Succession Planning Lags

NewsData.io · United States · Sep 28, 2026

A new report from Jackson Physician Search, LocumTenens.com, and MGMA finds that rural healthcare organizations are dangerously thin on physician capacity, with 68% of respondents calling family medicine coverage insufficient or fragile and 76% saying the same for internal medicine. Only 12% of the most consequential vacancies were anticipated more than a year in advance, and fewer than half of administrators with expected retirements have a formal succession plan. The report's Rural Specialty Priority Map recommends differentiated coverage strategies — locum tenens for OB/GYN and general surgery, telehealth for behavioral health — rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Staffing firms and physician recruiters serving rural health systems can point to this data to make the case for earlier engagement and contingency coverage contracts.