SBA 7(a) Medical Office Feasibility Study in Ohio

Small tickets for physician practices

Ohio's SBA 7(a) lending to physician offices is defined by how small the loans are. SBA approved 161 of them between FY2017 and FY2026, worth $45.9 million, and the typical loan is just $100,000, or 0.40x the national 7(a) median for medical offices. The interquartile band runs $50,000 up to $350,000. That places Ohio ninth among states for the number of 7(a) loans in this class, even though medical office ranks only 12 of 39 among Ohio's own asset classes. In other words Ohio ranks high by loan count here even though the physician practice is not among its top borrower classes. Franchising is almost absent at 1.2%, which points to independent practices rather than branded units.

A market with one dominant holder

One holder accounts for a large share of the loans. The Huntington National Bank holds 65 of the loans, worth $13.0 million, far more than any other holder in the table: U.S. Bank, National Association holds 9, Fifth Third Bank 8 worth $3.0 million, KeyBank National Association 7 and First Commonwealth Bank 6. Each count follows the holder SBA lists today, so the table shows where the loans sit now. By county, Franklin leads at 30 loans, Cuyahoga at 21 and Hamilton at 17, then Summit at 12.

Cancellations and charge-offs

Ohio physician-practice cancellations carry a floor of 11.9% over FY2017 through FY2024, and a ceiling of 14.2% should every still-undisbursed loan end the same way. Ohio's funded physician loans show 3.0% charged off to date across a cohort of 67 from FY2017 to FY2021 and the identical 3.0% within five years. Open loans can still deteriorate, so both numbers are minimums. Annual volume was 22 loans in FY2025 and 5 loans in FY2026.

Testing a physician practice in Ohio

A study for a medical office financed under this program should treat the small median as a signal about structure: many of these loans may not involve real estate at all. The first test is therefore which component is being financed, equipment and working capital, an owner-occupied suite, or a purchased practice, since each is valued differently. Demand work should rest on provider capacity, payer mix and referral patterns inside the specific service area, not on county population. Cost and income projections should show how long a new physician takes to reach full panel size, and debt service coverage should be shown with that ramp included. An appraisal of any real estate must rely on a market rent for medical space, which differs from general office rent. A sponsor asking for much more than the middle-half band should document why.