The specs
Bankers Healthcare Group (BHG)Newtek Business Services (Newtek Bank)
Product typeTermMulti-product
Amount range$20K – $500K (professional loans); up to $200K credit cards$50K – $15M (SBA 7(a) + 504 + conventional); $10K – $250K business LOC
Cost (factor / APR)APR 9 – 25% (term loans); business credit cards separateSBA 7(a) Prime + 2.25 – 2.75% (variable); conventional + LOC APR varies
Speed to fund3 – 7 business days after document reviewSBA: 30 – 60 days; LOC + working capital: 5 – 10 business days
Min time in business24 months24 months
Min monthly revenuePractice / professional income basis — not monthly revenue$20,000+/mo typical for SBA approval
Min credit score700+660+ (SBA); 640+ (LOC)
Products
- Professional term loans
- Practice acquisition loans
- Business credit cards
- Patient financing
- SBA 7(a) loans
- SBA 504 loans
- Conventional term loans
- Business lines of credit
- Equipment financing
- Payment processing
- Payroll + benefits
- Insurance + web services
Verdicts by use case
- Licensed healthcare professional (physician, dentist, vet, optometrist) wanting fastest professional-loan funding — Winner: Bankers Healthcare Group (BHG). Bankers Healthcare Group (BHG) is a specialist lender for licensed professionals — funds against professional license + income + credit rather than against business revenue or DSO. APR 9 – 25% with 3 – 7 day funding after document review. Funded $17B+ to licensed professionals since 2001. For a solo or 2 – 5 provider practice wanting working capital, equipment financing, or short-term expansion capital BHG's professional-loan structure beats SBA timelines (30 – 60 days) and matches the lender's underwriting to the actual cash flow pattern of a licensed practice.
- Healthcare practice wanting full SBA 7(a) at competitive bank rates — Winner: Newtek Business Services (Newtek Bank). Newtek Business Services (Newtek Bank) is a top-5 non-bank SBA 7(a) originator in the U.S. by volume for 10+ consecutive years. SBA 7(a) at Prime + 2.25 – 2.75% materially undercuts BHG's 9 – 25% APR on professional loans. For practice acquisitions, real-estate-backed expansions, or long-amortization debt (10 – 25 years) the SBA 7(a) path via Newtek is the cheapest cost of capital available. Trade-off is timeline (30 – 60 days SBA underwriting) and documentation (3 years tax returns, business plan, projections, collateral, personal guarantees).
- Multi-vertical SMB platform (lending + payments + payroll + insurance + web services) — Winner: Newtek Business Services (Newtek Bank). Newtek (NASDAQ: NEWT) bundles SBA + conventional lending + payment processing + payroll + insurance + web services + benefits under one platform. For healthcare practices wanting a single financial-services vendor across lending and ops Newtek's product depth is unmatched. BHG is specifically a lender — doesn't bundle payments, payroll, or insurance under its own platform.
- Specialist healthcare underwriting depth for non-traditional licensed practices — Winner: Bankers Healthcare Group (BHG). BHG's underwriting team has 25+ years of specialist healthcare lending experience — funds physicians, dentists, vets, optometrists, podiatrists, chiropractors, and adjacent licensed professionals (attorneys, CPAs). Newtek's SBA team is solid but generalist — slower on healthcare-specific underwriting than BHG on professional-loan products. For practices wanting healthcare-vertical underwriting expertise BHG is the structural fit.
- Lowest all-in cost on $250K+ practice acquisition — Winner: Newtek Business Services (Newtek Bank). Newtek SBA 7(a) at Prime + 2.25 – 2.75% on $250K – $2M practice acquisition with 10 – 25 year amortization is materially cheaper than BHG's APR 9 – 25% on the same dollar amount. For 7 – 10 year practice loans the total interest cost differential commonly exceeds $50K – $200K. SBA wins decisively on acquisition financing where the longer amortization and lower rate are structurally available.
The honest takeaway
Bankers Healthcare Group (BHG) and Newtek Business Services (Newtek Bank) solve overlapping but distinct problems. The right choice depends on three things you already know about your business: how fast you need the money, how long you've been operating, and whether the capital need is one-time or recurring.
Frequently asked questions
- Should a dental practice acquisition use BHG or Newtek SBA in 2026?
- Newtek SBA 7(a) is the cheapest option for the loan itself but depends on timeline and complexity tolerance. Newtek SBA 7(a) at Prime + 2.25 – 2.75% on a $500K – $1.5M dental acquisition with 10 – 25 year amortization typically lands $4K – $10K/mo on a 10-year term — materially cheaper than BHG professional loan at APR 12 – 18% on the same dollar amount and timeline. Trade-off is SBA timeline (30 – 60 days minimum, sometimes 90+ on complex deals) plus documentation (3 years tax returns from buyer and seller, practice valuation, business plan, projections, real estate appraisal if real estate is included, environmental review for real estate, personal financial statements, personal guarantees from buyer). BHG can fund the same acquisition in 5 – 15 business days with simpler documentation but at 2 – 4× the interest cost over 10 years. The 2026-06-28 dental acquisition playbook: for acquisitions $250K+ with 60+ days of timeline tolerance and clean buyer/seller documentation, Newtek SBA 7(a) is the structural fit. For acquisitions under $250K, time-pressured deals (closing in 30 days), or weaker buyer documentation BHG is the path. Also evaluate Live Oak Bank (#1 SBA 7(a) originator with dental-specialist underwriting team) and Lendeavor/Provide (healthcare-only digital lender, acquired by Fifth Third Bank, dental-acquisition specialty).
- Does BHG fund veterinarian practices and at what rates as of 2026?
- Yes — BHG funds vets as a core specialist vertical alongside physicians, dentists, and optometrists. Vet practice loans at BHG typically land at APR 10 – 18% on 3 – 10 year terms depending on practice cash flow, vet's personal credit (700+ FICO floor), and loan purpose (working capital, equipment, expansion, acquisition). Vets specifically benefit from BHG's specialist underwriting because vet practice cash flow profiles (high equipment costs, mixed companion vs livestock vs equine practice economics, seasonal variation in companion animal practices) are nuanced and generalist bank underwriters often misprice or decline. The 2026-06-28 vet practice lender comparison: BHG for fast professional loans (3 – 7 days) at higher APR; Newtek SBA 7(a) for cheapest 10 – 25 year amortization at SBA Prime + 2.25 – 2.75%; Live Oak Bank for SBA 7(a) specifically (Live Oak has dedicated vet-practice underwriting team and is the #1 SBA 7(a) originator); Lendeavor/Provide for healthcare-tech-platform digital lending experience post-Fifth Third acquisition. For working capital under $250K with tight timeline BHG wins; for acquisition or expansion above $250K with 60+ days tolerance SBA via Live Oak or Newtek wins.
- Can I get both a BHG professional loan and Newtek SBA at the same time?
- Possible but operationally and credit-wise complicated. Both lenders pull personal credit (BHG hard pull, Newtek hard pull for SBA submission) which dings personal FICO 5 – 10 points each. Both require personal guarantee. Both will appear on personal credit report and will affect the other lender's underwriting — Newtek SBA will see the BHG loan as existing debt and adjust DSCR (debt service coverage ratio) calculation accordingly, potentially reducing approved SBA amount or denying entirely if DSCR drops below 1.15. The 2026-06-28 stacked-lender playbook for healthcare practices: (1) Decide which lender fits the primary capital need (acquisition / equipment / working capital). (2) Take the larger structural loan first (SBA via Newtek or Live Oak for $250K+ acquisitions). (3) Wait 6 – 12 months after first loan funds and the SBA debt is performing on schedule before pursuing BHG for supplementary working capital. (4) Don't apply to both within 90 days — the dual hard pulls plus pending applications visible to each lender will cause one or both to decline. Sequential is structurally better than simultaneous.