US Radiology Specialists affiliate expands into new market

An affiliate of private equity-backed US Radiology Specialists is expanding into a new market, the practice announced Friday. 

American Health Imaging is opening two new multimodality imaging centers in Huntsville, Alabama’s most populous city, along with the nearby community of Madison. Atlanta-based AHI has already operated in parts of the state and wanted to grow further in the Heart of Dixie. 

"Having spent more than 20 years serving the Birmingham healthcare community, we are excited to expand our presence in Alabama to include the greater Huntsville area and to offer access to cutting-edge imaging services," Dan Balentine, president of American Health Imaging, said in a statement.  

Such services will include a new Siemens Healthineers 64-slice CT scanner and a 1.5T wide-bore MRI machine. AHI plans to offer competitive pricing along with same- and next-day appointments. 

American Health Imaging was founded in 1998 and in 2019 joined Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe-supported US Radiology Specialists, which is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. AHI now operates over 40 diagnostic imaging centers across Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and Texas, according to its website

The practice was in the news earlier this month after agreeing to pay $5.25 million to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act. 

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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