Radiology practice reportedly shutters after cyberattack, selling its property to local hospital system
A radiology practice recently shuttered months after suffering a cyberattack and is now selling its property to the local hospital system.
Reports first surfaced in February that Pinehurst Radiology Associates had experienced a data breach, which forced the physician group to close “for the foreseeable future.” Five months later, the North Carolina imaging group is apparently closed for good, The Pilot Newspaper reported Monday.
FirstHealth of the Carolinas, its primary partner organization, has now purchased the 3.28-acre parcel for $5.75 million from Pinehurst Medical Plaza LLC, according to Moore County property records. The limited liability corporation’s membership is made up of physicians who worked at the practice, according to The Pilot.
“FirstHealth is renovating the building, and we will reopen it for imaging services in the near future,” Gretchen Kelly, administrative director of government and public relations at FirstHealth, told the newspaper. The recent sale reportedly did not include the radiology practice, and the North Carolina Secretary of State’s Office is currently processing the registration of a corporation under the PineHurst Radiology name. In the meantime, FirstHealth lists 10 PRA physicians on its website.
Radiologist Daniel Clark, MD, founded the practice at Moore Regional Hospital in 1977. Six years later, the Pinehurst Radiology Center opened in 1983 and has provided mammography, ultrasound and X-ray services to the surrounding community since. The practice employed 13 radiologists and two physician assistants, according to its website, servicing FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital, FirstHealth Montgomery Memorial, FirstHealth Hoke, the Pinehurst Medical Clinic and Pinehurst Surgical. FirstHealth, meanwhile is based in the same south-central North Carolina community, employing nearly 940 medical staff members working across four hospitals with 546 licensed beds.
The Pilot said the land sale coincided with Pinehurst Radiology Associates sending a letter to former patients. It stated that the practice had closed as of June 1, with customers urged to select a different provider for continued services, suggesting FirstHealth as an option. Pinehurst also said it is transferring its medical archives to New Hampshire-based Morgan Records Management. Representatives from the practice did not respond to The Pilot’s request for comment.
The radiology group first experienced the cyberattack in January. Following the incident, Pinehurst Radiology Associates launched an investigation and hired legal counsel and security specialists to help with the recovery. In an updated notice shared May 22, PRA said the exposed information may have included names, addresses, dates of birth, medical diagnoses, health insurance info and (in a “very limited set of circumstances”) Social Security numbers.
“PRA is committed to ensuring the security and privacy of all personal information in its control,” the notice reads.
Plaintiff attorneys in May announced they were investigating the incident and exploring a class-action lawsuit. According to Law.com, they have now filed the complaint against Pinehurst Radiology on behalf of plaintiff Ruby Wall on June 24. They claim the practice failed to implement adequate data security measures, resulting in a breach that compromised the sensitive information of over 8,600 individuals.
Despite the reported closure, Pinehurst Radiology Associates still had a job listing posted on IndependentRadiology.com as of Monday. The March 2025 notice says Pinehurst was seeking someone to work a four-day work week, with a two-year partnership track and six weeks of paid time off in the first year. It also touts the practice’s location in Pinehurst, home of the U.S. Open in the “beautiful sandhills region of North Carolina,” about one hour from the Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include a link to the letter sent to Pinehurst Radiology patients.
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.