We counted the psychiatrists listed in all 58 California counties. In five of them, the count was zero.
A count, not a conclusion
For every county we set three numbers side by side: psychiatrists listed, people living there, and people enrolled in Medi-Cal. The count shows where doctors are listed. It does not show who takes Medi-Cal, who has an appointment open, or why one county looks different from the next.
6,504 psychiatrists
That is the whole count, across all 58 counties. It is a historical listing of psychiatrists, not a July 2024 headcount. The sources are listed further down this page.
14.9 million on Medi-Cal
38.0% of the people in California, in a July 2024 enrollment snapshot.
Five counties with none
Alpine, Colusa, Modoc, Sierra and Trinity had no psychiatrist listed at all.
2,288 people to a doctor
Take everyone in California enrolled in Medi-Cal, divide by every psychiatrist we counted, and you get about 2,288 people to each one. In five counties there is nobody to divide by.
Learn more ➝Doctors keep their own practice.
The psychiatrists work through their own professional corporations and keep their own clinical judgment, within the legal, ethical and contractual duties they carry. We take administrative work off their desk. That makes the day lighter; it does not make new appointments appear.
Doctors coaching doctors
Our psychiatrists mentor one another and talk their work through together, which can support learning and review. Whether it changes the care itself takes agreed measures and evidence to say, and we do not claim it yet.
The paperwork side
We work on credentialing, billing and staying compliant. What that covers, what it costs and how long it takes is different with every plan, and none of it guarantees how much work comes through the door.
One relationship to work through
A health plan deals with us day to day, while the plan, the doctors' own corporation and the doctor each keep their own responsibilities.
What we will not promise
These county patterns can inform diligence. They do not establish that a network is adequate today, or that a member can get an appointment next week. If a plan wants outcomes measured, we agree the measures, the denominators and who reviews them before we begin. No clinical result is promised by this model or this data.
First, check what we have
Start with the markets we already work in, and hold them up against today's supply and demand, the contracts, and the appointments that are really open.
Then, try a county
Only after that, see whether the work fits in a county with more people enrolled and fewer doctors listed.
Other states come later
We would look past California only if the California work holds up when it is measured, and every new place would get looked at on its own.
Where the numbers come from
Psychiatrist counts come from the NPI Registry (NPPES) and the CHCF Mental Health Almanac, drawing on Medical Board of California figures for 2020 to 2024. Medi-Cal enrollment comes from the DHCS Certified Eligible Counts by County for July 2024, extracted in November 2024 and marked preliminary. Population comes from California Department of Finance projections for 2024.
The county counts and the enrollment figures are reproduced from those snapshots. The rates, the ratios and the groupings of counties are our own calculations and our own segmentation.
What the numbers cannot tell you
- Whether a psychiatrist on the list takes Medi-Cal.
- Whether that psychiatrist has an appointment open.
- Whether a doctor belongs to a particular plan’s network.
- Whether a network is adequate today.
- What quality of care anyone receives.
- Why one county looks different from the next.
This is a directional planning aid. It is not a current provider directory, a causal analysis, a network-adequacy determination, a forecast, or an assurance of access or outcomes.
If you work for a health plan and want to talk a county through with us, write to us here, or call (650) 265-2707.