Physical Therapy Clinic Feasibility Study in Idaho

A specialty that Idaho favours

Idaho finances rehabilitation and therapy clinics far more readily than the country as a whole. Across FY2017 to FY2026 the state logged 76 therapy clinic approvals totalling $18.2 million. A location quotient of 2.12x is the headline: clinics make up a much bigger part of the state's SBA portfolio than they do of the national one. The class ranks 16 of 54 among states and 10 of 39 among classes within Idaho. Loan size is typical, though. The median loan of $143,000 is 0.95x the national median, and half of all loans fall between $60,000 and $290,200. So this cell is distinct for how often Idaho finances therapy practices, not for what any single practice borrows.

Programs and lenders

SBA 7(a) carried 53 of the loans and SBA 504 carried 23, a larger 504 share than many service classes show, suggesting a number of clinics buy or build their own space. No franchise share appears, at 0.00%. Capital Matrix, Inc. leads the 504 table with 11 loans worth $4.1 million. On the 7(a) side the field is local and regional: Glacier Bank has 8 loans worth $1.1 million, Idaho Central CU has 7 worth $1.5 million, D. L. Evans Bank has 6 worth $393,600, and Wells Fargo Bank National Association closes out the table at $523,000 over its 5 loans. Ada County leads with 21 loans, Kootenai follows with 17, then Bannock and Canyon with 7 each.

Steady, not surging

Approvals have held between 6 and 10 loans in every year, with the high of 10 in FY2020 and again in FY2025, which brought $3.3 million. The lowest dollar year was FY2023 at $313,900. That steadiness is useful to a lender, because it suggests a repeat-customer market rather than one dependent on a few large projects.

Cancellations and charge-offs

Withdrawals before funding hit at least 6.7% of approvals dated FY2017 through FY2024, and 8.3% if unfunded loans are treated as dropped. The 36 therapy loans that reached disbursement between FY2017 and FY2021 have so far produced no charged-off balance at all, in the full period or inside five years. These are floors for a cohort still seasoning, but they are clean.

What the study must test

Because Idaho already lends often to this class, a study for a new clinic cannot assume an open field. It has to count existing clinics and their referral sources, test whether physicians, surgeons and employers in the catchment send enough patients, and examine how payer mix affects revenue per visit. Cost should be tested against a ticket near the median: build-out, treatment equipment and staffing before opening. Debt service coverage depends on how fast visit volume ramps and on therapist hiring in a tight labour market. If the owner takes title to a building, the appraiser must value the property for general commercial use, not only the practice's income.