MemorialCare has formed a joint venture with RadNet, Inc. that will include 34 outpatient medical imaging centers spanning Long Beach, South Bay, Southern Los Angeles County and Orange County, making it Southern California’s largest imaging network, it was announced Monday.

Operations will begin January 1, 2018 as part of the venture, with RadNet expected to contribute 24 existing outpatient imaging centers in Long Beach, South Bay, Orange County and other Southern LA County cities. It will also manage day-to-day operations of the facilities and provide administration and back-office support functions. MemorialCare will contribute 10 outpatient imaging facilities in many of those markets, according to a release from MemorialCare.

The partnership is meant to allow for significant operating system efficiencies and improved patient access and care. It will also adopt RadNet’s eRAD Radiology Information System at all locations and integration and coordination of the radiologist professional component, officials stated.

“This is a significant advancement in MemorialCare and RadNet’s shared commitment to value-based health care—offering consumers high-quality, competitively priced care,” said MemorialCare President and CEO Barry Arbuckle in a statement.

“We are excited to be working with the referring physicians located throughout the communities in Long Beach, the South Bay and Southern Los Angeles County and Orange County to ensure their patients have access to convenient, cost-effective care,” said RadNet Chairman and CEO Dr. Howard Berger in a statement. “We also look forward to expanding our managed care offering, a patient-centered contracting model that has been built and refined over a period of more than 20 years.”

As part of the venture, MemorialCare will also purchase RadNet’s five breast imaging centers in Orange County and Long Beach to expand access to breast screening and diagnostic services, adding to the five MemorialCare breast centers in MemorialCare hospital and local communities.