Indiana micro-market
Healthcare practice financing in East Chicago, Indiana
Direct answer
25,768 residents, 204 enumerated clinicians, 79.2 per 10,000, 48 percent of them in behavioral and mental health group practices: that is the East Chicago market a funder prices. Lake County adds 4 healthcare approvals worth $961,100 and 18 miles of distance to Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN.
A location page indicates that Practition Finance is taking clients in that market. It does not represent a physical office, storefront, or licensed presence in that city or state. All services are delivered remotely by our US-based team. How a referral works in Indiana, and how many partners see it, is set out on the Indiana page.
- Population: 25,768 residents (25K-50K band)1
- Healthcare providers registered here: 204 across 23 fields2
- Median household income: $41,0713
- Largest provider field: Behavioral and mental health group practices: 97 registered providers2
- Medicare-certified providers in town: 2 across 1 categories4
- Nearest metro: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, 18 miles1
What NPPES records at East Chicago addresses
Counted at the town's own addresses: 204 providers, 23 fields, 79.2 clinicians per 10,000 of the 25,768 residents here
| Field | Providers | Per 10,000 residents | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Behavioral and mental health group practices | 97 | 37.6 | NPPES [2] |
| Physical, occupational, and speech therapy | 16 | 6.2 | NPPES [2] |
| Specialty physician groups | 15 | 5.8 | NPPES [2] |
| Primary care and family medicine | 13 | 5.0 | NPPES [2] |
| Ketamine, TMS, and interventional psychiatry | 12 | 4.7 | NPPES [2] |
| DME and HME suppliers | 6 | 2.3 | NPPES [2] |
| Home health | 6 | 2.3 | NPPES [2] |
| General dentistry | 6 | 2.3 | NPPES [2] |
| Audiology and hearing centers | 5 | 1.9 | NPPES [2] |
| Non-medical home care | 4 | 1.6 | NPPES [2] |
| Telehealth and virtual clinics | 4 | 1.6 | NPPES [2] |
| ABA and autism therapy | 3 | 1.2 | NPPES [2] |
| Dialysis and infusion centers | 3 | 1.2 | NPPES [2] |
| Chiropractic | 2 | 0.8 | NPPES [2] |
| Independent pharmacy | 2 | 0.8 | NPPES [2] |
| Optometry and ophthalmology | 2 | 0.8 | NPPES [2] |
| Occupational health and drug testing | 2 | 0.8 | NPPES [2] |
| Podiatry | 1 | 0.4 | NPPES [2] |
| ASCs and OBLs | 1 | 0.4 | NPPES [2] |
| SUD treatment and residential | 1 | 0.4 | NPPES [2] |
| Med spa and aesthetics | 1 | 0.4 | NPPES [2] |
| Hormone, TRT, and men's health clinics | 1 | 0.4 | NPPES [2] |
| Skilled nursing, assisted living, and memory care | 1 | 0.4 | NPPES [2] |
| Dialysis facilities | 2 | CMS [4] | |
| Medical equipment suppliers | 1 | CMS [4] |
A single East Chicago practice can hold more than one of these numbers. 48 percent sit in behavioral and mental health group practices, counted as clinicians rather than as owners.
What lenders have already approved in Lake County
With 4 healthcare approvals recorded, Lake County gives a valuation almost nothing local to lean on
| Line | Amount | Reading and source |
|---|---|---|
| Approvals on record | 4 | Counted for the fiscal year the SBA publishes [5] |
| Total approved capital | $961,100 | Everything approved to healthcare borrowers, added up [5] |
| Mean deal size | $240,275 | The dollar column over the approval column [5] |
| Lenders sited in the county | 242 | Places that write credit locally, NAICS 522 [6] |
How this data lands in an underwriting decision
Density of 79.2 per 10,000 sets the patient draw a projection can claim without an argument. A short county record of 4 approvals usually means more documentation and a lower advance against the same collateral. With $41,071 as the median household income, the payer mix in a projection has to match what East Chicago households actually spend.
Programs the East Chicago mix reaches for
- Working capital term loan
- Practice acquisition
- Business line of credit
- Expansion, relocation, and build-out
- Equipment financing and leasing
The order comes from East Chicago's own provider mix, which behavioral and mental health group practices dominates at 48 percent. What a partner can actually place in Indiana is a separate question.
What a funder reads first in East Chicago
behavioral and mental health group practices, physical, occupational, and speech therapy, specialty physician groups account for most of what is enumerated in East Chicago, so those are the files funders see from this town
| Practice type | The pages that decide it | Typical capital event |
|---|---|---|
| Behavioral and mental health group practices (97) | Clinician retention and productivity, Payer mix and Medicaid concentration, Re-authorization and session limit exposure | Working capital through the credentialing lag |
| Physical, occupational, and speech therapy (16) | Visits per case, Referral source concentration, Payer mix and authorization rules | Startup or expansion clinic |
| Specialty physician groups (15) | Ancillary revenue contribution, Provider productivity, Payer contracts | Ancillary build-out |
Local counts come from NPPES. What a file turns on is drawn from how the field is generally reviewed, not from any decision about your practice.
Density beside the neighboring Indiana towns
Density is the number that moves an appraisal: 79.2 per 10,000 here
| Town | Residents | Providers | Per 10,000 | Miles away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Chicago (current) | 25,768 | 204 | 79.2 | |
| Hammond | 76,030 | 232 | 30.5 | 3 |
| Gary | 67,555 | 252 | 37.3 | 7 |
| Munster | 23,634 | 638 | 270.0 | 7 |
| Highland | 23,497 | 270 | 114.9 | 7 |
| Griffith | 16,192 | 56 | 34.6 | 8 |
| Schererville | 29,780 | 242 | 81.3 | 11 |
What the geography does to a East Chicago projection
18 miles separate East Chicago from Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN. Lease pricing follows Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, while revenue stays capped by the 25,768 residents here. Households here carry $41,071 in median income, and that ceiling decides how much of a treatment plan gets started rather than deferred. Wages here are anchored by the Medicare-certified hospital in town, which is what a staffing line gets measured against.
Nearby Indiana towns
Questions from East Chicago
01How many providers practice in East Chicago, and in what?
NPPES lists 204 providers at a East Chicago practice address, 79.2 per 10,000 residents across 23 tracked fields. Behavioral and mental health group practices accounts for 97 of them, 48 percent of the total, with physical, occupational, and speech therapy next at 16. Read that as clinicians: 204 enumerations, not 204 owners.
02What does Lake County's shortage designation change?
The primary care, dental, mental health designation HRSA carries on Lake County is a recruiting instrument: it puts repayment incentives in front of candidates, which is how a hiring plan for 25,768 residents gets past the question of who would take the job.
03Why does Lake County show so little SBA activity?
Lake County shows 4 approvals in the SBA healthcare file, which means an appraiser reaches outside the county for comparables. Few sales, not weak credit, is the usual reason. 242 lending establishments operate locally.
04Is East Chicago underwritten as part of Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN?
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN sits 18 miles away, close enough that appraisers reach into that market for rent and resale comparables while your patient draw stays local. The comparables read Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN; the 25,768 residents set the ceiling a projection can defend.
05Is there local lending capacity in Lake County?
County Business Patterns records 242 credit intermediation establishments in Lake County. That is the local origination bench, and it decides whether a file gets underwritten by somebody who has seen East Chicago rents and resale before or by somebody working from a screen.
06How does the hospital in East Chicago affect a practice file?
A Medicare-certified hospital operates in the town, which gives referral flow, a call schedule, and a clinical labor pool a funder can verify. 2 Medicare-certified providers are located here in total. It also sets the wage floor behind every hire in a 79.2 per 10,000 market.
Sources
- 1U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates, vintage 2024
- 2CMS NPPES, monthly full replacement file
- 3U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year 2023, table B19013
- 4CMS Care Compare provider datasets
- 5U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 approvals
- 6U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022
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