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Understanding rural health needs, parish by parish
We are conducting a statewide rural health needs assessment to guide program funding. The work is being developed in partnership with state and local government agencies, rural partners, and patients.
Explore the map or choose a parish profile below. Each profile brings together health indicators, facility records, rurality, and identified RHTP projects, with the source and source date shown alongside the data.
Parish profiles
Use the search to open any of Louisiana’s 64 parish profiles.
Is my location rural?
Find out whether a Louisiana location counts as rural for Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) funding. Enter a ZIP code, address, or organization name. You'll get an answer, the record we matched it to, and what to do next.
ZIP code gives the most reliable match. Searching by name shows up to six possible matches — check the address before you use one.
Check many locations at once
Upload a spreadsheet and get a result for every row. Useful if you're preparing an application covering several sites.
Your file needs one column named name, address, or zip. Up to 100 rows. Results appear below.
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The location meets the geographic rural definition
The matched ZIP is classified Rural or Partially Rural under the published methodology. This satisfies Pathway 1 geographic screening, subject to application review.
Not rural by geography — two other routes may still apply
This ZIP doesn't pass Pathway 1. You may still qualify through Pathway 2 (your facility's federal designation) or Pathway 3 (where your patients live). Only one pathway has to pass.
See how Pathway 2 and Pathway 3 work →We couldn't find enough information to answer
We either didn't find this organization in our records, the ZIP is not in the assessed-ZIP file yet, or the matched record has no rural classification. This is a gap in our data, not a finding that your location isn't rural.
Try searching by ZIP code instead. A “not found” result does not stop you from applying.
Three ways to qualify — you only need one
RHTP uses three separate tests. Passing any one of them meets the rural requirement.
A location qualifies if it sits in an area the federal government designates rural — RUCA codes 4 through 10, or a ZIP classified Rural or Partially Rural. This page checks Pathway 1 automatically.
Pathway 2 guidance is being confirmed with ORHTS and is not published here yet. This page does not check Pathway 2. Check the funding notice you're applying under for current requirements.
If more than half of your active patients live in rural ZIP codes (RUCA 4–10), you qualify even if Pathways 1 and 2 don't. You'll need your patient ZIP code counts to show this. Provide your patient data in the application. This page does not check Pathway 3.
Current rurality methods don't reach every patient
Census-tract codes like RUCA classify geography, not people. A clinic on the "wrong" side of a tract line, a new road that changed drive times, or a practice type no registry enumerates can all leave a genuinely rural patient outside the definition.
RHTLA's work is to expand the reach of these methods — layering drive time, service availability, and enumeration coverage on top of the federal codes — with the patient at the center of the determination, not the tract.
Terms used on this page
- RUCA
- Rural-Urban Commuting Area. A federal code from 1 to 10, based on where people in an area commute for work. Codes 4 through 10 count as rural.
- FORHP
- The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, which maintains the federal list of rural areas.
- Partially Rural
- A ZIP code containing both rural and non-rural areas. It passes Pathway 1.
- Transitional At-Risk
- A flag on locations close to the rural cut-off. It warns that the classification could change as population or commuting patterns shift. It doesn't change your result today.
- Source date
- When the record you matched was last updated.
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Need indicators
Indicators were selected when they were statewide, reproducible, relevant to rural health decisions, and maintained by a named public steward. They are grouped into vetted domains below. Bars show this parish (navy) vs. state (hairline).
Services on file
One record per location, counted from the same facility registry the Atlas map uses. This is a count of what's on file, not a measure of how complete that registry is against the real number of facilities — a zero means "none on file," not "none exists."
RHTP in this parish
Ask Atlas AI about this parish
Plain-language questions, answered from the Atlas data with sources shown. Any answer can be exported to PDF for planning notes or an application.
Next steps
Understanding rural patient needs, by domain
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What RHTP plans to fund, and how progress will be tracked
Louisiana committed specific Year 1–5 outcomes to CMS. This page shows projects identified for funding and every committed target against its baseline — in one place, on the record.
Committed outcomes: establishing baseline
As of: {{ asOf }}The four headline targets from the state's application to CMS. Progress bars run baseline → Year-5 target.
(All committed outcomes are reported to CMS)
Projects identified for funding
Identified projects are grouped by organization type and priority region. Selections are not awards, and funding amounts are not shown until awards are made.
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Every figure has a source, a source date, and a method
RHTLA is built to be checked. This page lists what the platform holds, how complete it is, and how the rural accessibility index is computed — so a determination can be reproduced by anyone.
Selected source inventory
Highlights the primary sources used across the public Atlas. This is not the complete field-level data dictionary; expanded source documentation is planned with the full methodology package.
Facilities on file by type
Counts show records currently carried in the Atlas. They describe the registry, not a verified census of every operating facility.
Rural accessibility index
A 0–100 composite of need and access, computed per ZIP and rolled up to parish:
The three-state model
No silent blanks. Every lookup returns verified rural, verified not rural, or not enumerated — and a "not enumerated" result is a statement about the registry, never about the place.
Reporting a problem with a figure
If a count, indicator, facility record, or rurality result looks wrong, report it from the page where you saw it. The form captures the parish, ZIP, facility, or indicator in question so the RHTLA team can trace the record to its source. Each report receives a reference number.
If a count, indicator, facility record, or rurality result looks wrong, tell us through the LDH contact form. Please include the parish, ZIP, facility, or indicator in question and the page where you saw it so the RHTLA team can trace the record to its source.
For researchers
Full methodology documentation, a REST API specification, and bulk extracts are planned but are not yet published. The rural eligibility methodology below is available now.
Read the methodology (PDF) →Closing the gap between data and decisions for Rural Health
Louisiana's rural communities face uneven health needs, limited access to care, workforce shortages, transportation and broadband barriers. Yet the data needed to understand these challenges is spread across multiple agencies, datasets, and systems, often using different measures and definitions of rural areas, making it difficult to see the full picture of need and determine where resources should go.
RHTLA brings that data together in one public place. Search your parish or ZIP code to see local needs and services, check whether your organization qualifies as rural before applying for funding, or track what the state's Rural Health Transformation Program is funding and achieving. Every figure on this site carries its source and date.
Who this is for
Built with academic rigor
RHTLA is built by the UL Lafayette Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence, in partnership with the NSF Accessible Healthcare through AI-Augmented Decisions Center and the Louisiana Center for Health Innovation. The AI assistant is grounded in named Atlas sources and always shows its evidence, and the tool is tested regularly with rural providers, patients, and researchers to keep it accurate and clear.
Want the details — data sources, index methodology, or how we evaluate the assistant? See Data & methods →
How to use the Atlas
Choose a parish or ZIP, turn facility layers on and off, inspect a source-labeled indicator, or ask the assistant a question.
- Search for your parish or ZIP code to see local facilities, health indicators, and program activity.
- Turn facility layers on and off — hospitals, FQHCs, rural health clinics, dental, and pharmacies — to see what's nearby.
- Click any indicator to see its source and how current it is.
- Ask RHIA, the AI assistant, a question about broadband, workforce, or access to care in plain language.
If a facility count reads zero, check the source and registry notes next to it — it usually means the record isn't on file yet, not that nothing exists there.
Open the Atlas →
