Virginia's Roanoke Times (11/24, Jones) reports that, in southwestern Virginia, "both the Roanoke and New River valleys are below the state rate of psychiatrists per 10,000 people." For example, just "17 doctors identify themselves as licensed psychiatrists in the New River Valley, according to medical license data maintained by the Virginia Department of Health Professions," which "equates to a rate of less than one psychiatrist per 10,000 people. By comparison, the state average is nearly 2.9 psychiatrists per 10,000 people." In the Roanoke Valley, "there are 100 psychiatrists listed as practicing," equating to "a rate of 2.7 per 10,000 people." Rizwan Ali, M.D., past president of the Southwest Virginia Psychiatric Society and an officer of the Psychiatric Society of Virginia, said that the psychiatrist shortage "ultimately affects the number of inpatient beds a facility is able to staff. When outpatient care is limited, the likelihood that someone will go untreated increases, and their conditions could worsen."