MEDICAL imaging provider Image Plus Consultants Limited is betting on the return of its nuclear medicine unit to help reverse a downward trend in revenue. The company confirmed that a new scanner will be installed by June, restoring a service that contributed over $83 million to its revenue in 2024 before it was taken offline in September. The downtime in the unit is estimated to have cost the company at least $70 million in lost income for the year.

“By June we will be back up and running, offering nuclear medicine studies,” said CEO Kisha Anderson in a recent earnings call.

Image Plus had previously operated with planar nuclear medicine imaging, but the company opted to upgrade to a SPECT-capable system, which provides advanced diagnostic capabilities similar to those available at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI).

“There have been periods since we have been down in September that UHWI was also down. I can tell you it’s a significant need,” Anderson added.

Kisha Anderson, CEO of Image Plus Consultants, shares the company’s outlook during an earnings call hosted by Investor Curated.

The new unit is a Siemens Symbia Evo SPECT model, capable of performing whole-body and general SPECT procedures, including optimised cardiac and oncology imaging. It will be installed at the company’s 129 Pro location. Image Plus had been considering acquiring an additional CT scanner but has opted to delay that investment, pending a reassessment of scan volumes in the new financial year. Nuclear medicine, which uses small amounts of radioactive materials to assess organ function and detect disease, is particularly useful in oncology and renal care. It is also known for its low radiation exposure relative to other modalities. The company has faced pressure from a decline in overall case volumes, which dropped to 53,458 for the nine months ending February 2025, down from 59,000 a year earlier. The reduction reflects a mixed case profile, including a notable fall-off in CT and nuclear medicine procedures. Ultrasound volumes, however, remain stable. Anderson says the company is working through short-term constraints between its third and fourth quarters but remains optimistic that the restored service, paired with continued demand, will boost revenue in the coming fiscal year.

“Come June, when that [the new nuclear medicine unit] goes up, that will actually put a significant addition of at least 10 million more to our revenue, which will also make a difference in growing the revenue,” she said.

In addition to the revenue hit from its nuclear medicine unit being offline, Image Plus Consultants is also contending with cash flow challenges linked to delayed payments under the Ministry of Health and Wellness’s (MOHW) diagnostic programme. To ease financial strain, the company disclosed that it sold some of its receivables last quarter, given that its contracts under the MOHW programme had expired in March. While Image Plus received a one-month extension from the Southern Regional Health Authority, that too expired in April. However, Anderson revealed that the company has been assured that the ministry is working to settle outstanding balances before new debts are incurred. Since the close of 2024, Image Plus says a significant portion of the outstanding payments has been received, and it has obtained a formal commitment indicating what will be paid in May and June. Afterward, under the programme’s decentralised structure, regional authorities are expected to directly engage Image Plus to determine which diagnostic services they will require going forward.

“I do suspect that where we see an increase or a larger amount of diagnostic equipment functional, we will see reduced referrals from those locations, but we anticipate the referral numbers will continue and pick back up,” said Anderson.

She noted that in the North Eastern Regional Health Authority, access to CT scans and MRIs remains limited, and challenges persist in the Southern region as well. However, in Kingston — where more diagnostic infrastructure exists — Image Plus expects a moderate to reduced level of referrals. Image Plus is also pursuing an inorganic growth strategy as it seeks to expand its footprint and strengthen its position in Jamaica’s diagnostic imaging market. With an eye on the country’s ageing population and growing demand for medical imaging, the company is in active discussions with two potential acquisition targets. Anderson says the goal is to identify facilities with overlapping services that can drive revenue growth and improve operational efficiency.

“We’re narrowing down where we want to expand, and we’re in dialogue with two entities,” she said. “I’m hoping that by the time we get to the AGM, we’ll have something we can share by way of a market release.”

She noted that the right acquisition could give the company a strategic leap forward by leveraging existing redundancies in those businesses to boost earnings.