Medical Office Feasibility Study in South Carolina

South Carolina medical offices: cancellations lead

Cancellation is the outcome figure to read first for South Carolina medical offices. Of approvals made through FY2024, at least 20.0% were lost to cancellation, and the ceiling, which adds loans still undisbursed, is 22.9%. The cell holds 46 approvals worth $37.7 million for FY2017 to FY2026. South Carolina stands 34 of 53 among states for physician offices, which hold 14 of 39 on the state list; the location quotient reads 0.57x. The $377,900 median sits at 1.10x the usual nationwide ticket.

A lender booking South Carolina medical office approvals should plan for real pipeline loss. Recruiting a physician, securing a lease and agreeing on a build-out budget all take time, and any one can slip past the commitment period. A sponsor should treat approval as the beginning of conditions and not the end of them. A good study shows the lender which conditions are already satisfied: a signed physician agreement, a lease or purchase contract, contractor bids, and the equity in hand. That evidence is what separates the projects that close from those that do not.

Operators and banks

Only 2 of the 46 loans went through 504, with 44 under 7(a), so the file leans heavily on the 7(a) program. The middle half of loans stretches from $87,500 up to $1.2 million, wide enough to hold a small practice and a multi-physician build-out. Of the loans in this cell, 6 worth $3.4 million sit with The Huntington National Bank, and 6 more are held by Wells Fargo Bank National Association, worth only $1.1 million, as SBA records the holders, so their books look very different. Franchising is 0.00%.

Charleston County has 8 loans, Beaufort and Greenville 7 apiece, and Richland and Spartanburg 4. FY2020 had 1 loan and FY2021 had 2, while FY2024 produced 11 loans worth $5.8 million, the busiest year. FY2026, a complete fiscal year, shows 4 loans worth $4.1 million. South Carolina's charge-off rate is held back since Loan Analytics prints no rate when the group is under 30 loans and the disbursed group is smaller.

Testing a South Carolina practice

A study must start with the physician arrangement and what happens if the doctor leaves. It must count patients and referral sources in the catchment, and then test payer mix and reimbursement. Cost covers shell, exam rooms and equipment, and the debt service model should rely on collections after a ramp, not on billings. An appraiser should value the building for other medical users so the lender can see the downside. The study should also say plainly what has to happen before a South Carolina closing can go ahead on schedule.