Behavioral Health Feasibility Study in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area

Baltimore's behavioral health weight is 4.01x

The location quotient is 4.01x: behavioral health and addiction treatment carry about four times their national share of Baltimore-area lending. The metro stands 5 of 218 in the national ranking by this class, yet it sits 10 of 39 on the local list. SBA lists 39 loans totaling $17.4 million. The median of $150,000 is 0.50x the national figure, with quartile edges of $50,000 and $260,000.

Two topics, one code

Behavioral health sits under two codes, and each also takes in addiction treatment, so the two topics cannot be told apart, and these 39 loans mix mental health practices with treatment programs. Loan Analytics withholds the 7(a) count, the 504 count and the franchise share for this cell. Baltimore County, MD carries 16 loans, Baltimore city, MD 11 and Howard County, MD 7.

One bank with half the loans

On 20 loans worth $1.4 million, Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company is the holder of record, which is about half the loan count but a small slice of the dollars. That is an SBA holder tally and not a portrait of the bank. FY2018 and FY2019 each printed 0 loans and $0, FY2024 printed 8 and $2.4 million, FY2025 printed 14 and $3.4 million, and FY2026 printed 5 and $4.4 million. FY2017 and FY2020 through FY2023 are withheld by Loan Analytics' small-count rule.

What stays blank

Baltimore's 39 behavioral health loans show no printed cancellation rate beside no charge-off rate, and neither blank means zero. The cancellation rate is not printed because its cohort is under 30 loans, and a lender reading these 39 loans should treat the missing losses as unknown. Baltimore city and its neighboring counties are placed in the metro by name against the 2023 list.

What a Baltimore behavioral health study must test

Because the code mixes outpatient counseling with addiction treatment, the study must define the service line first: outpatient practice, intensive program, or residential. It should test licensing, payer mix, referral sources and clinician supply, and recognize that regulatory timelines can delay opening. Run coverage at $150,000 and near $260,000, and let the appraiser separate leasehold improvements, equipment and the going concern. Insurance reimbursement timelines should also be reflected in working capital.