US Radiology Specialists to construct 12 ‘de novo’ outpatient imaging centers in 2025
US Radiology Specialists announced Monday it will construct 12 new freestanding centers in 2025 as it seeks to expand access to outpatient imaging.
Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, US Radiology recently opened its latest location in the central Texas community of Waco. It marks the company’s eighth “de novo,” newly built outpost since October and fourth so far this year.
“By executing on our de novo strategy in areas that are currently underserved by freestanding outpatient imaging centers, we … bring our services closer to those who need them most,” Caitlin Zulla, MPH—who joined the organization as CEO earlier this year—said in a statement April 30. “We're excited to be on track to meet our 2025 expansion goals and see significant opportunity for continued de novo growth in years ahead.”
Of the dozen new centers built this year, five are through hospital joint venture partnerships, US Radiology said, adding to its total of 183 centers in 13 states. The organization bills itself as “one of the country's largest providers of outpatient medical imaging,” with 5,000 team members conducting over 4 million outpatient imaging exams annually. US Radiology Specialists was formed in 2018 as a partnership between Charlotte Radiology and New York private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe.
RadNet also building new centers
Others such as RadNet Inc. also have pursued construction of de novo (Latin for “anew”) centers in recent years. In 2022, the Los Angeles-based company labeled this as a pivot in a challenging real estate market. At the time, leaders said they typically buy existing imaging centers for about 3 to 6 times their earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. But many of their acquisition targets have asked for multiples much higher than that.
Coupled with a dwindling number of available centers on the market, RadNet said building anew seemed like a “more prudent use of our capital resources.”
“For us, and I think it's unique to our business model and strategy, it becomes substantially more opportunistic to build at this time rather than buy,” CEO Howard Berger stated in 2022.
In January, RadNet leaders said they’ll look to “aggressively expand” through construction, with 15 projects in the pipeline for 2025 and eight already built last year.
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.