SBA 7(a) Imaging Center Feasibility Study in California

California leads the country in 7(a) diagnostic imaging lending, at rank 1 among states on loans counted, yet imaging is only 27th of 39 among California's own classes. That contrast defines the cell: the state's total volume is so large that even a minor class tops the national table. Fifty-four is the number of loans, and $46.2 million the total, for FY2017 to FY2026. A $427,750 median is 1.22x the national 7(a) imaging figure, and its middle band stretches from $150,000 to $1.3 million. Not one loan was franchised.

Lender record

Only JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association is listed, with 7 loans and $1.4 million, an average well below the cell median. SBA's records of notes held do not reveal where the larger loans sit. Los Angeles County has 22 loans, San Diego 6, Orange 5, Riverside and San Bernardino 4, and Nevada, Sacramento, San Joaquin and Ventura 2, with Alameda 1. Los Angeles accounts for a large share, and Nevada County adds a small-town project.

Annual counts

FY2017 had 7 loans and $2.9 million, FY2018 5, FY2019 4 at $7.0 million, and FY2020 5. FY2021 had 3 loans worth only $300,500. FY2022 had 5, FY2023 a single loan of $4.6 million, FY2024 11 loans and $5.9 million, FY2025 9 and $4.9 million, and FY2026 4 and $5.9 million. The recent run of 11 and 9 loans is the strongest of the period.

Cancellation and loss data

California's cancellation floor is a low 4.9%, rising to a ceiling of 7.3% once loans still undisbursed are treated as cancelled. No charge-off percentage is printed because the funded cohort is small; that gap is not a zero.

What a California imaging study must test

Imaging equipment is costly and obsolete quickly, so the study should list the modalities, such as MRI, CT or X-ray, with purchase or lease cost and expected life. Demand depends on referrals from physician groups and on payer contracts, so signed or documented referral sources matter more than population. Check licensure and any radiation shielding in the space, the technologist labour supply, and reimbursement trends. Coverage should be tested on a slow ramp and a contract loss. Where the loan includes property, the appraisal should divide building from equipment and show other uses for the space.