Iowa micro-market
Healthcare practice financing in Fort Dodge, Iowa
Direct answer
A Fort Dodge file is read against 228 local clinicians, 91.6 for every 10,000 of its 24,886 residents, 15 percent of them in behavioral and mental health group practices, plus the 0 SBA healthcare approvals worth $0 already recorded in Webster County, 44 miles from Ames, IA.
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 Iowa, and how many partners see it, is set out on the Iowa page.
- Population: 24,886 residents (10K-25K band)1
- Healthcare providers registered here: 228 across 28 fields2
- Median household income: $61,7693
- Largest provider field: Behavioral and mental health group practices: 34 registered providers2
- Medicare-certified providers in town: 4 across 3 categories4
- Nearest metro: Ames, IA, 44 miles1
Fort Dodge clinicians, by field
91.6 providers per 10,000 residents is what 228 enumerations across 28 fields works out to in a town of 24,886
| Field | Providers | Per 10,000 residents | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Behavioral and mental health group practices | 34 | 13.7 | NPPES [2] |
| Physical, occupational, and speech therapy | 24 | 9.6 | NPPES [2] |
| Chiropractic | 23 | 9.2 | NPPES [2] |
| Primary care and family medicine | 23 | 9.2 | NPPES [2] |
| General dentistry | 18 | 7.2 | NPPES [2] |
| Optometry and ophthalmology | 16 | 6.4 | NPPES [2] |
| DME and HME suppliers | 15 | 6.0 | NPPES [2] |
| Dental specialties | 8 | 3.2 | NPPES [2] |
| Specialty physician groups | 8 | 3.2 | NPPES [2] |
| Skilled nursing, assisted living, and memory care | 8 | 3.2 | NPPES [2] |
| Podiatry | 6 | 2.4 | NPPES [2] |
| Independent pharmacy | 5 | 2.0 | NPPES [2] |
| Dermatology | 4 | 1.6 | NPPES [2] |
| Home health | 4 | 1.6 | NPPES [2] |
| Ketamine, TMS, and interventional psychiatry | 4 | 1.6 | NPPES [2] |
| Clinical and toxicology labs | 4 | 1.6 | NPPES [2] |
| SUD treatment and residential | 3 | 1.2 | NPPES [2] |
| NEMT and ambulance | 3 | 1.2 | NPPES [2] |
| Audiology and hearing centers | 3 | 1.2 | NPPES [2] |
| Dialysis and infusion centers | 3 | 1.2 | NPPES [2] |
| Imaging centers | 2 | 0.8 | NPPES [2] |
| ABA and autism therapy | 2 | 0.8 | NPPES [2] |
| Hospice and palliative | 2 | 0.8 | NPPES [2] |
| Med spa and aesthetics | 2 | 0.8 | NPPES [2] |
| Urgent care | 1 | 0.4 | NPPES [2] |
| IDD services | 1 | 0.4 | NPPES [2] |
| Non-medical home care | 1 | 0.4 | NPPES [2] |
| Telehealth and virtual clinics | 1 | 0.4 | NPPES [2] |
| Medical equipment suppliers | 15 | CMS [4] | |
| Home health agencies | 2 | CMS [4] | |
| Hospice providers | 1 | CMS [4] | |
| Dialysis facilities | 1 | CMS [4] |
Behavioral and mental health group practices carries 34 of the 228 enumerated providers here, and several of them can sit inside one practice. Read the column as clinicians, not owners.
What lenders have already approved in Webster County
The county file holds 0 healthcare approvals, which is a thin comparable set for anyone pricing collateral
| What it measures | Value | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare files approved | 0 | Fiscal year published in the SBA file [5] |
| Dollars behind them | $0 | Sum of approvals to healthcare borrowers [5] |
| Typical approval size | No approvals recorded | Dollars divided by approvals [5] |
| Credit offices operating locally | 22 | Credit intermediation establishments, NAICS 522 [6] |
Reading Fort Dodge the way a credit committee does
Density of 91.6 per 10,000 sets the patient draw a projection can claim without an argument. Webster County has 0 approvals to compare against, so plan for extra appraisal time and a conservative valuation. Household income of $61,769 in Fort Dodge is the number a lender uses to sanity check the self-pay share of a revenue projection.
Where a file from this town usually lands
- Practice acquisition
- Startup and de novo
- Working capital term loan
- Expansion, relocation, and build-out
- Equipment financing and leasing
The order comes from Fort Dodge's own provider mix, which behavioral and mental health group practices dominates at 15 percent. What a partner can actually place in Iowa is a separate question.
The first pages of a Fort Dodge file
behavioral and mental health group practices, physical, occupational, and speech therapy, chiropractic account for most of what is enumerated in Fort Dodge, so those are the files funders see from this town
| Field | What the file turns on | The capital event behind most requests |
|---|---|---|
| Behavioral and mental health group practices (34) | 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 (24) | Visits per case, Referral source concentration, Payer mix and authorization rules | Startup or expansion clinic |
| Chiropractic (23) | Cash plan revenue, Personal injury receivable age, Visit volume | Startup or acquisition |
The first column is Fort Dodge's own NPPES count. The rest is how the field is generally underwritten, whether the address is Fort Dodge or anywhere else.
Fort Dodge against nearby Iowa markets
Comparables travel. These are the Iowa towns whose density, at 91.6 per 10,000 here, gets weighed beside this one.
| Market | Population | Clinicians | Density per 10,000 | Distance in miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Dodge (current) | 24,886 | 228 | 91.6 | |
| Boone | 12,461 | 77 | 61.8 | 35 |
| Ames | 69,026 | 473 | 68.5 | 44 |
| Carroll | 10,125 | 132 | 130.4 | 46 |
| Storm Lake | 11,627 | 111 | 95.5 | 53 |
| Grimes | 17,266 | 91 | 52.7 | 60 |
| Ankeny | 76,727 | 622 | 81.1 | 61 |
Distance, income, and the wage floor around Fort Dodge
Ames, IA lies 44 miles from Fort Dodge, close enough for rent comparables to travel and far enough that patient draw does not. At $61,769 median household income, the elective and cash-pay share of a projection is the line that gets tested first. A Medicare-certified hospital operates here, so referral flow is verifiable and the clinical wage floor is already set. Higher education here explains why summer looks unlike the rest of the year. Fort Dodge is the Webster County seat, so county employment steadies the payer mix.
Other Iowa markets
What owners in Fort Dodge ask
01How many providers practice in Fort Dodge, and in what?
NPPES lists 228 providers at a Fort Dodge practice address, 91.6 per 10,000 residents across 28 tracked fields. Behavioral and mental health group practices accounts for 34 of them, 15 percent of the total, with physical, occupational, and speech therapy next at 24. Read that as clinicians: 228 enumerations, not 228 owners.
02What does Webster County's shortage designation change?
Designated for primary care, dental, mental health, Webster County qualifies its clinicians for federal repayment support. On a file that turns on adding staff, that is the difference between a hiring assumption and a hiring plan.
03Why does Webster County show so little SBA activity?
Only 0 healthcare approvals appear for Webster County in the published 7(a) and 504 file. Thin volume in Webster County is a transaction count, not a verdict on borrowers here. The county still holds 22 credit intermediation establishments.
04How does the hospital in Fort Dodge affect a practice file?
Referral flow, coverage, and the local pay scale all trace back to it. The town carries 4 Medicare-certified providers in total. A Fort Dodge projection that names the call arrangement reads better than one that assumes it.
05Which fields carry the volume in Fort Dodge?
The 28 enumerated fields are led by behavioral and mental health group practices at 34, with physical, occupational, and speech therapy at 24 behind it. Those two counts double as the competition you are entering and the bench you would hire from.
06Is Fort Dodge underwritten as part of Ames, IA?
Ames, IA sits 44 miles away, close enough that appraisers reach into that market for rent and resale comparables while your patient draw stays local. The comparables read Ames, IA; the 24,886 residents set the ceiling a projection can defend.
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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