Indiana micro-market
Healthcare practice financing in Portage, Indiana
Direct answer
A Portage file is read against 205 local clinicians, 53.1 for every 10,000 of its 38,576 residents, 28 percent of them in physical, occupational, and speech therapy, plus the 2 SBA healthcare approvals worth $480,400 already recorded in Porter County, 18 miles from Michigan City-La Porte, 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: 38,576 residents (25K-50K band)1
- Healthcare providers registered here: 205 across 24 fields2
- Median household income: $72,8333
- Largest provider field: Physical, occupational, and speech therapy: 58 registered providers2
- Medicare-certified providers in town: 4 across 2 categories4
- Nearest metro: Michigan City-La Porte, IN, 18 miles1
Portage clinicians, by field
205 providers across 24 fields, 53.1 per 10,000 residents, counted at Portage addresses in the NPPES monthly file
| Specialty | Enumerated clinicians | Density per 10,000 | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physical, occupational, and speech therapy | 58 | 15.0 | NPPES [2] |
| Primary care and family medicine | 26 | 6.7 | NPPES [2] |
| General dentistry | 21 | 5.4 | NPPES [2] |
| Optometry and ophthalmology | 17 | 4.4 | NPPES [2] |
| Specialty physician groups | 12 | 3.1 | NPPES [2] |
| Chiropractic | 9 | 2.3 | NPPES [2] |
| Home health | 8 | 2.1 | NPPES [2] |
| Non-medical home care | 7 | 1.8 | NPPES [2] |
| Dental specialties | 6 | 1.6 | NPPES [2] |
| Skilled nursing, assisted living, and memory care | 6 | 1.6 | NPPES [2] |
| DME and HME suppliers | 5 | 1.3 | NPPES [2] |
| ABA and autism therapy | 5 | 1.3 | NPPES [2] |
| Independent pharmacy | 4 | 1.0 | NPPES [2] |
| Dialysis and infusion centers | 4 | 1.0 | NPPES [2] |
| Dermatology | 3 | 0.8 | NPPES [2] |
| Behavioral and mental health group practices | 3 | 0.8 | NPPES [2] |
| Urgent care | 2 | 0.5 | NPPES [2] |
| Med spa and aesthetics | 2 | 0.5 | NPPES [2] |
| Clinical and toxicology labs | 2 | 0.5 | NPPES [2] |
| Podiatry | 1 | 0.3 | NPPES [2] |
| Pain management and interventional | 1 | 0.3 | NPPES [2] |
| NEMT and ambulance | 1 | 0.3 | NPPES [2] |
| Hospice and palliative | 1 | 0.3 | NPPES [2] |
| Telehealth and virtual clinics | 1 | 0.3 | NPPES [2] |
| Medical equipment suppliers | 6 | CMS [4] | |
| Dialysis facilities | 3 | CMS [4] | |
| Home health agencies | 1 | CMS [4] |
Physical, occupational, and speech therapy carries 58 of the 205 enumerated providers here, and several of them can sit inside one practice. Read the column as clinicians, not owners.
The lending record behind Portage
The county file holds 2 healthcare approvals, which is a thin comparable set for anyone pricing collateral
| What it measures | Value | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| SBA healthcare approvals | 2 | Counted for the fiscal year the SBA publishes [5] |
| Approved dollars | $480,400 | Everything approved to healthcare borrowers, added up [5] |
| Average approval | $240,200 | The dollar column over the approval column [5] |
| Lending establishments in the county | 84 | Places that write credit locally, NAICS 522 [6] |
What the two tables above change about a file
The ratio that matters up front is 53.1 per 10,000, which decides whether a ramp schedule reads as conservative. Porter County has 2 approvals to compare against, so plan for extra appraisal time and a conservative valuation. Household income of $72,833 in Portage is the number a lender uses to sanity check the self-pay share of a revenue projection.
The programs this provider mix points at
- Practice acquisition
- Startup and de novo
- Expansion, relocation, and build-out
- Working capital term loan
- Equipment financing and leasing
Weighted by how often each of the 24 local fields reaches for a program, not by what is easiest to refer. Indiana rules and the partner decide availability.
The first pages of a Portage file
What a funder opens first depends on the field. In Portage that means physical, occupational, and speech therapy, primary care and family medicine, general dentistry.
| Practice type | The pages that decide it | Typical capital event |
|---|---|---|
| Physical, occupational, and speech therapy (58) | Visits per case, Referral source concentration, Payer mix and authorization rules | Startup or expansion clinic |
| Primary care and family medicine (26) | Panel size, Value-based contract exposure, Provider productivity | Acquisition |
| General dentistry (21) | Three years of collections history, Hygiene as a share of collections, Overhead ratio and owner add-backs | Acquisition of an established practice |
The first column is Portage's own NPPES count. The rest is how the field is generally underwritten, whether the address is Portage or anywhere else.
Portage against nearby Indiana markets
The neighboring markets below are the ones a valuation borrows from when Portage has too few sales of its own
| Market | Population | Clinicians | Density per 10,000 | Distance in miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portage (current) | 38,576 | 205 | 53.1 | |
| Lake Station | 13,033 | 21 | 16.1 | 4 |
| Chesterton | 14,655 | 284 | 193.8 | 6 |
| Hobart | 29,418 | 123 | 41.8 | 7 |
| Gary | 67,555 | 252 | 37.3 | 9 |
| Valparaiso | 35,065 | 564 | 160.8 | 10 |
| Merrillville | 36,989 | 826 | 223.3 | 11 |
How Portage sits against the nearest metro
Distance to Michigan City-La Porte, IN is 18 miles. Appraisers borrow Michigan City-La Porte, IN rents, and the 38,576 residents set the ceiling on collections. At $72,833 median household income, the elective and cash-pay share of a projection is the line that gets tested first. With no hospital in town, a projection has to name where referrals and coverage come from.
Nearby Indiana towns
- Lake Station 13,033 residents
- Chesterton 14,655 residents
- Hobart 29,418 residents
- Gary 67,555 residents
- Valparaiso 35,065 residents
- Merrillville 36,989 residents
Portage owners, answered
01How many providers practice in Portage, and in what?
Across 24 fields, Portage carries 205 enumerated clinicians, 53.1 per 10,000 of the 38,576 people living here. The concentration is in physical, occupational, and speech therapy, 58 of the total, then primary care and family medicine at 26. Count practices from that only with care.
02What does Porter County's shortage designation change?
The primary care, dental, mental health designation HRSA carries on Porter County is a recruiting instrument: it puts repayment incentives in front of candidates, which is how a hiring plan for 38,576 residents gets past the question of who would take the job.
03Why does Porter County show so little SBA activity?
Porter County shows 2 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. 84 lending establishments operate locally.
04Is Portage underwritten as part of Michigan City-La Porte, IN?
Comparables and demand split at 18 miles. An appraiser prices the lease and the equipment off Michigan City-La Porte, IN; the revenue line has to hold up against 38,576 local residents.
05Is there local lending capacity in Porter County?
County Business Patterns records 84 credit intermediation establishments in Porter County. That is the local origination bench, and it decides whether a file gets underwritten by somebody who has seen Portage rents and resale before or by somebody working from a screen.
06What does the underserved designation in Porter County support?
Porter County carries a medically underserved designation. It evidences unmet demand behind a capacity build, and it opens recruitment programs that make a staffing line in a projection easier to defend than local wage data alone would.
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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