Skilled Nursing Feasibility Study in Ohio

Ohio ranks 7 of 48 states for skilled nursing loans in SBA's record, with 27 approvals between FY2017 and FY2026 worth $29.2 million. The location quotient is 0.73x and the class stands only 25 of 39 among Ohio's asset classes, so nursing homes are a modest part of the state's overall SBA lending even though the state is high in the national order. What distinguishes Ohio is how small the notes are: a $300,000 median sits at 0.45x the nationwide class figure, while half of the loans run from $200,000 to $1.9 million. The file does not say what each borrower financed, so a study should not assume a purpose from the loan size alone.

A single dominant holder

SBA 7(a) carries 26 of the 27 loans and SBA 504 just 1, and no loan carries a franchise flag, the share being 0.00%. On the 7(a) side one name leads by a wide margin: The Huntington National Bank, 15 loans worth $8.6 million. Counties follow: Lake County has 6, Columbiana County 4, Marion County 3, and Clermont, Jefferson and Richland counties 2 each, while Cuyahoga, Franklin, Knox and Lawrence counties have 1. Cuyahoga and Franklin counties show 1 loan each in this file.

Front-loaded history

FY2017 alone produced 7 loans worth $15.1 million, more than half of the dollars in the period. FY2018 followed with 5 loans and $2.1 million, then FY2021 and FY2022 shrank to 1 loan each. FY2024 had 2 loans worth $5.2 million, FY2025 2 loans worth $3.0 million, and the full year FY2026 none. Ohio nursing homes show no cancellation or charge-off floor on this page, as the sample is thin; a missing number is not evidence of no losses, and it is not a rate of zero.

Class definition and testing a project

Skilled nursing shares an industry code with inpatient hospice and with assisted living that has nursing care, so the Ohio loans may include these neighbors and a project should be read against them. A feasibility study for an Ohio facility has to test occupancy and payer mix, because the mix of payers sets the revenue a facility can count on. It should check how many licensed beds the market has relative to the older population, and whether regulatory approvals for new beds are required. Staffing cost is the main operating risk, and the study needs a conservative wage case. With a median this small, debt service coverage should be tested on realistic, not aspirational, census levels, and the appraisal should price the going concern and the bricks and land on separate lines.