Max Mello
Director of Physician & APP Recruitment
Healthcare Recruiting · Rhode Island
Physician, PA & NP recruiting in Rhode Island, grounded in the market's real numbers.
We track Rhode Island's provider workforce from federal data that updates every month, the same numbers we use when we take a search. Here is the current picture, and what it means if you are hiring.
Provider supply
Who practices in Rhode Island today
Individual providers with an active Rhode Island practice address, from the federal NPI registry (June 2026).
5,200
Physicians
1,728
Nurse practitioners
822
Physician assistants
Over the last 12 months, Rhode Island added 81 newly enrolled nurse practitioners, 48 physicians, and 50 physician assistants to the registry. New NP enrollments outpaced new physicians: the advanced-practice workforce is growing faster than the physician base, and hiring plans that ignore that mix are competing for the scarcer pool.
Source: CMS NPPES registry, June 2026.
Demand
Employment is growing on both sides of the market
Federal quarterly employment data for Rhode Island healthcare employers.
Hospitals
24,049 employed, down 1.5% year over year. Average wages up 5.5% over the same period.
Ambulatory care
30,604 employed across 2,506 sites, and the site count itself is up 3.1% year over year: more locations competing for the same clinicians.
Source: BLS QCEW, statewide, private ownership, Q4 2024 vs Q4 2025.
Compensation
What Rhode Island pays
Mean annual wages from the federal occupational employment survey. Offers below these lines explain their own vacancy.
| Role | Employed in Rhode Island | Mean annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Family medicine physicians | 210 | $365,960 |
| Nurse practitioners | 1,180 | $143,150 |
| Physician assistants | 810 | $146,630 |
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025 estimates.
Shortage pressure
6 federally designated primary care shortage areas in Rhode Island.
0 of them score in the high-need range. If your facility sits in or near one, you are not imagining it: the supply math is against you, and every open req is competing with 6 other designated areas for the same clinicians. That is the search we run every day.
Source: HRSA HPSA primary care detail file.
Tell us about the opening
Hiring in Rhode Island?
Tell us about the role. We'll give you an honest read on the market for it: who's movable, what they expect, and a realistic timeline.