SBA 7(a) Medical Office Feasibility Study in Illinois

An ordinary-sized loan with real volume

Physician offices in Illinois show 140 SBA 7(a) loans and $69.2 million in gross dollars for FY2017 to FY2026, 12th among states for the pairing. Inside Illinois the class sits 13 of 39. Its profile is notable for being typical: a median of $250,000 equals the national figure at 1.00x, and the middle half runs from $103,750 to $535,750. Franchising is absent, with a share of 0.00%. The state is a volume story here, not a pricing story, and a borrower should expect lenders to see nothing unusual in a request near the median.

The Huntington National Bank holds 20 loans, JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association 15, Village Bank and Trust, National Association 7, U.S. Bank, National Association 7 and Live Oak Banking Company 6. Those figures report holders in SBA's file and describe no bank's credit standards. Cook County alone has 80 loans, DuPage 16, Lake 14, Will 7, McHenry 5 and Kane 4, so the Chicago region dominates, with Madison, Sangamon and Saint Clair appearing only in single digits. Approvals peaked at 20 loans and $12.0 million in FY2021 and held at 14 in each of FY2023, FY2025 and FY2026.

What the floors show

Physician-office cancellation claimed at least 10.7% of approvals across FY2017 to FY2024, or 11.6% if loans yet to disburse are included. Among the 61 loans that funded between FY2017 and FY2021, 3.3% are charged off to date and 1.6% were gone inside five years. All are floors that can rise. None stood apart from Illinois overall or the class nationally, so a lender can treat them as typical for physician offices. The cancellation floor is still useful: a meaningful share of approved plans, often tied to space or licensing, never fund.

What an Illinois physician-office study must prove

Referral and payer dynamics lead the test list: the panel a practice builds or inherits, its payer mix, reimbursement trends for the specialty, and how soon a new provider reaches productive volume. Space should be modelled as lease against purchase, set beside a ticket that tracks the national norm. Debt service needs a startup ramp or, for a purchase, a transition case in which some patients leave. Because an appraiser weighs real estate and practice income differently, the study should keep them apart.