Lumexa Imaging is expanding into Illinois for the first time, striking a new joint venture with Advocate Health that builds on an existing relationship between the two companies. The publicly traded radiology provider, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, announced the agreement on Thursday, framing it as a milestone in its push into new healthcare markets.
Advocate Health is the largest hospital system in Illinois, and the two organizations already had a partnership in place before this latest deal, according to Lumexa Imaging. The company said the new arrangement builds on that existing partnership and marks its entry into Illinois. Lumexa Imaging framed the move as part of its broader strategy to expand its presence in attractive healthcare markets and bring convenient care closer to patients and referring providers.
A Milestone for the Company's Health System Strategy
Caitlin Zulla, who made the statement on the day of the announcement, called expanding the relationship with Advocate Health into Illinois an important milestone for the company. She also said Lumexa's track record of success partnering with health systems sets it apart as those systems push to expand outpatient imaging and shift more care toward lower-cost settings, according to the same release.
With this agreement, Lumexa Imaging now counts 10 joint ventures across nine health systems nationwide, up from the partnerships it held before Thursday's announcement. The company says it has more than 5,000 team members and roughly 190 outpatient imaging centers across its network, per the GlobeNewswire release.
Third-Quarter Numbers Point to Steady Growth
The Illinois deal comes just two days after Lumexa Imaging announced its third-quarter 2026 earnings on Tuesday. As of Sept. 30, the company reported 190 total centers, split between 87 joint-venture locations and 103 consolidated ones, the same release shows. Lumexa said its team handled approximately 4 million outpatient procedures system-wide in 2025.
For the quarter, Lumexa Imaging posted consolidated revenue of $272.0 million, up from $258.9 million a year earlier — a 5.0% increase on a consolidated basis and 7.7% system-wide, according to the earnings release. The company also reported advanced outpatient volume growth of 8.1% system-wide compared with the same quarter last year. Lumexa reiterated its full-year 2026 consolidated revenue guidance of $1.045 billion to $1.097 billion and said it was actively opening three new de novo centers, putting it on pace to hit its goal of 8 to 10 new center openings this year.
Part of a Broader National Expansion Pattern
Thursday's Illinois announcement follows a pattern Lumexa has repeated elsewhere in 2026. In May, the company said it had added four new centers in Spartanburg, South Carolina; Concord, North Carolina; Wexford, Pennsylvania; and Niceville, Florida, according to a company release. Two of those additions came through acquisitions tied to joint venture partners Advocate Health and UPMC; Advocate Health is the partner in the Illinois venture.
According to Radiology Business, that spring expansion included an imaging center acquired in Wexford, Pennsylvania, through a new joint venture with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, alongside a second center acquired in Concord, North Carolina, through a separate joint venture with Advocate Health. Lumexa has pointed to long-term industry tailwinds behind this growth strategy, citing an aging population, the expansion of imaging-driven treatment pathways, rising preventive screening rates and a sustained shift from hospital-based to outpatient imaging.
Lumexa Imaging, formerly known as US Radiology Specialists, has steadily built out its national footprint through this kind of health-system partnership model. As Radiology Business notes, the company's entry into Illinois adds another state to a network that now spans roughly 190 centers, with no further detail yet available on which specific sites the new Advocate Health joint venture will include or when services there might begin.
