Behavioral Health Feasibility Study in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area

Behavioral health: first nationally, with very large loans

Behavioral health and addiction treatment lending in the Los Angeles area ranks 1 of 218 areas. SBA approved 94 loans in the cell over FY2017 to FY2026, for $109.3 million. Inside the local mix the class is only 20 of 39, and the location quotient is 1.55x. The median loan is $752,000, 2.51x the national class median, within quartiles of $358,500 and $1.6 million. No loan is flagged franchised, recorded as 0.00%, so no franchised share shows in the cell.

A shared code, and what it means

Behavioral health and addiction treatment share the same codes in SBA's data, so the two cannot be separated and the figures blend mental health practices with substance-use treatment. A study must define which service line, which licence and which payers are involved. Of the 94 loans, 76 are 7(a) and 18 are 504, so about one loan in five uses the fixed-asset program. Business Finance Capital is the only name on the 504 side, which leaves most of the 504 loans with holders too small to list.

Few named holders, many unpublished values

Only three holders reach the publication threshold: Business Finance Capital with 5 504 loans worth $4.6 million, and The Huntington National Bank and U.S. Bank, National Association with 5 7(a) loans each, worth $3.1 million and $2.7 million. This is SBA's attribution of loans, not a guide to who will lend. The cancellation percentage and the charge-off rate are both withheld by Loan Analytics for this cell, as are the yearly counts for FY2018, FY2019 and FY2020; each rests on a handful of loans, and none stands for zero. Printed years run from 6 loans in FY2023 to 15 loans in FY2024.

Geography and the study

Los Angeles County has 62 loans and Orange County 32. Because outcome rates are not printed, a study should document the sponsor's licensing record, clinical leadership and the payer contracts in place. A study of a behavioral health facility here has to test the demand for beds or program slots against licensed capacity nearby, reimbursement rates and payer mix, the licensing and certification timetable, build-out or purchase cost for a regulated space, the operator's experience, and debt service coverage from realistic ramp-up census. The metro line is drawn by county: a loan is counted only where its project county's name can be located on the 2023 list of metro areas.