This August, U.S. News and World Report published a study ranking the health of nearly 3,000 counties across the country on a scale of 1 to 100. In a troubling trend, none of Arizona’s 15 counties featured among the top 500 and only two ranked ahead of the national average. 

The need for additional healthcare providers to serve Arizona’s increasing population has been the focus of much conversation in my time as president of Creighton University. In response, we expanded our presence in Phoenix by opening the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust Health Sciences Building in 2021. Three years later, the interdisciplinary clinical training facility sits at the heart of the Phoenix Medical Quarter and is educating more than 850 aspiring healthcare leaders. 

However, filling a clinical staffing shortage is not enough on its own. According to U.S. News & World Report’s study, Maricopa County, with a population of roughly 4.4 million according to the 2020 U.S. Census, ranked highest among Arizona’s counties with a score of 55 out of 100 while Apache County, with a population of just over 66,000, was 5 out of 100. These are disparities that must also be addressed. 

Among the many variables used by U.S. News and World Report in their rankings was population health, which focuses on the health outcomes of specific groups, often those on the margins of society. Compared to public health, which looks at a community at large, population health looks at those separated by factors such as economic mobility, environment, race, refugee status, and many others. 

These social determinants of health, as noted by the Arizona Alliance for Community Health Centers, can set the stage for substance abuse, mental health issues, unreported domestic violence, and more. In such cases, even if the appropriate number of providers were available, only the symptoms would be treated, not the root causes.

The challenge of building capacity for population health in Arizona and beyond aligns with our core mission as educators—to ensure the next generation of healthcare leaders is equipped to care for the whole patient at every stage of their healing. It is why our university launched the Institute for Population Health last October and have engaged in efforts such as a recent symposium on population health held on our Phoenix campus that brought in experts from across the country to discuss innovative solutions to this complex problem.

It is also why our School of Medicine and College of Professional and Continuing Education have joined with the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Foundation to launch a Healthcare Leadership Academy, which will see its first graduating class in November. Offering virtual and self-paced learning modules for clinicians and administrators, programs like this foster life-long learning and continual growth so that even as we add more providers, we are doing so on a foundation that supports everyone at all stages of their healthcare journey. 

Public-private partnerships like these are key to navigating the challenges of a fast-growing state. Creighton University is dedicated to advancing healthcare education and improving access to care, but this effort requires collective action. Simply put, caring for an expanding population and addressing its inequalities requires all of us.  

By focusing on healthcare education, population health initiatives, and professional development, we believe Arizona is uniquely positioned to make a lasting impact—not just by filling job vacancies, but by cultivating healthcare leaders ready to innovate and improve the overall well-being of the state.   

Together, we can shape a healthier, more equitable future. 

The Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, Ph.D., is the 25th president of Creighton University, one of the largest Catholic health professions educators in the U.S. with nearly 8,500 students across campuses in Phoenix, Omaha and Dominican Republic.