Imaging Center Feasibility Study in Texas

Texas imaging: a top-three state

Among 42 states Texas holds third place for imaging center lending, written 3 of 42, and shows a location quotient of 1.68x, yet imaging holds just 29 of 39 on the Texas list, so imaging is a small piece of a very large lending base. SBA approved 40 loans across FY2017 to FY2026 worth $32.5 million. The $309,450 median is 0.88x the nationwide figure and the central half runs from $150,000 to $963,250. Nothing clears the distinctness margin, so this cell can be read against its parents.

Harris County has 13 loans, far ahead of Lubbock with 4, and Bexar, El Paso and Fort Bend with 3 each. That is a metro concentration around Houston with a handful of regional centers. Of the 40 loans, 38 used 7(a) and 2 used 504, and franchising is 0.00%. The one lender named is Huntington National Bank, at 5 loans and $2.0 million.

Cancellations and the year pattern

Cancellation caught at least 18.8% of the Texas imaging approvals dated through FY2024, and the ceiling is equal. Counts were 7 in FY2017, 0 in FY2018, 6 in FY2021 and again in FY2024, and the largest dollar year was FY2021 at $8.2 million. Texas imaging carries no published charge-off rate; the disbursed group is under the 30-loan threshold, so the gap tells a lender nothing about repayment either way.

What a Texas imaging study has to test

The central question is referral volume: the ordering physicians in the catchment, the hospital outpatient departments that already capture scans, and the payer contracts available to a new center. Texas is large, so the study must define a realistic trade area and not rely on state averages. Cost is dominated by equipment such as magnetic resonance and computed tomography units, and by shielding and installation. Coverage should be tested at a scan volume the center can actually reach in year one. The appraisal should separate equipment, which loses value quickly, from the real estate, and recognize that the cancellation floor means approvals are far from certain closings. Lenders should also ask who owns the referral relationships, because a center whose physician-owners leave can lose volume overnight, and a study should check that the sponsor's own ordering base is documented and permitted.