RadNet expands into new state with hospital joint venture, acquisition of 8 imaging centers

Industry giant RadNet announced Monday that it’s expanding into the state of Arizona with two new deals.

Those include the Los Angeles-based provider’s third hospital joint venture and the acquisition of AZ Tech MRI & Radiology, which operates eight imaging centers in Arizona.

The new partnership is with CommonSpirit Health—a 142-hospital giant, formed through the merger of Dignity and Catholic Health Initiatives. Under the deal, the partners will develop a network of outpatient centers, expanding beyond the eight through a blend of additional purchases and new build-outs.

Dignity Health and RadNet first teamed up in California in 2016 and will look to further spread their successful partnership east under the brand “Arizona Diagnostic Radiology Group.”

“RadNet’s strategy continues to be one that leverages geographic concentration and densely clustered facilities where we can benefit from scale, operating efficiencies, organic expansion and accretive acquisitions,” CEO Howard Berger, MD, said in a statement. “The platform which we now have established in Phoenix exemplifies all these characteristics and is further enhanced by the involvement and support of our joint venture partner, Dignity Health. We are committed to the greater Phoenix marketplace and have already identified opportunities to expand our capacity and footprint.”

All told, the hospital system operates six acute care hospitals and roughly 40 joint ventures in Arizona’s largest metropolitan area that includes nearly 5 million residents. “Dignity Health’s commitment to the Phoenix healthcare marketplace is exemplified by our enthusiasm to grow diagnostic imaging to serve our valued patients and physicians,” Jeff O’Malley, CommonSpirit Health’s system VP of strategic growth and governance, added in the statement.

RadNet bills itself as the “leading” national provider of freestanding, fixed-site diagnostic imaging based on locations and revenue. Its network includes 332 centers, operating in California, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and New York.

Marty Stempniak

Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic. 

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