Rosemont, Ill. – September 28, 2026 -- More than 75 million people in the United States live in a county without a vascular surgeon, according to new county-level data released by the American College of Surgeons (ACS), exposing a care gap as the population most vulnerable to vascular disease grows sharply toward 2030, when all baby boomers will be at least 65.
New mapping tool counts just 4,685 vascular surgeons across 3,144 U.S. counties
The ACS Surgical Workforce Mapping Tool, built with the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), found an average of 1.4 vascular surgeons per 100,000 people nationwide. While 290 hospital referral regions contain at least one vascular surgeon, 2,320 counties within those same regions have none, showing that regional averages mask local access failures.
Peripheral artery disease drives 150,000 preventable amputations annually
Peripheral artery disease (PAD) affects up to 12 million Americans and causes nearly 150,000 lower-leg amputations each year, many of which timely specialist care could prevent. Alabama, Louisiana and Texas, states with the highest amputation risk, all report below-average vascular surgeon supply, and 93% of rural counties have no vascular surgeon at all.
Duke surgeon says rural communities face highest disease burden with fewest specialists
"Rural and underserved communities face both a higher burden of vascular disease and fewer resources to support the specialists who treat it,