What we finance, and who funds it
Imaging files go to Canadian banks and to leasing institutions that underwrite healthcare assets as a specialty, because a modality is priced on utilisation rather than on a generic asset table. Digital radiography and fluoroscopy, ultrasound and echocardiography systems, CT, MRI and nuclear medicine, mammography and bone densitometry, and the PACS, workstations and reading room infrastructure that make the images usable all qualify. New and certified refurbished systems both work, and refurbished is a mainstream choice in imaging rather than a compromise: a major vendor's certified programme carries warranty and service coverage comparable to new, at a materially lower capital cost, which is why a large share of private diagnostic capacity in Canada runs on it.
The install is a project, not a delivery
An imaging suite involves room preparation, shielding, structural work, power and HVAC, vendor commissioning and acceptance testing before the first patient is scanned. Financing can be staged across that timeline so the site works and vendor progress payments are covered while the room is being built, with the full schedule starting when the system is accepted and billing. Treating the install as a delivery date is how imaging projects run into cash trouble.
Service contracts belong in the conversation
Imaging equipment carries a service agreement whose annual cost is substantial and non-optional, since an uncovered system is an unavailable system. Where it makes sense, the service agreement can be structured alongside the equipment so the clinic is budgeting one predictable figure rather than a payment plus an unpredictable maintenance exposure. We flag that at the outset rather than after the asset is placed.
Referral volume is the real underwriting question
Lenders look past the machine to the referral base behind it: the practice, the specialists, the catchment and the billing arrangements that determine utilisation. A clinic with documented referral volume supports a different structure than a greenfield suite. Applications above $250,000 require financial statements, which covers essentially all of this equipment. Describe the modality and the practice it serves, and terms come back sized to study volume.
