A Look at the history of Radiology Ltd.
Current
2026
Radiology Ltd. continued to enhance access to high-quality imaging across Southern Arizona through ongoing investment in advanced technology. Recent upgrades include new MRI, ultrasound, CT, DEXA, and mammography equipment at multiple centers, along with the addition of a second PET imaging location to better serve patients throughout the region.
2023
Radiology Ltd. celebrated 90 years of service in Southern Arizona. Highlighting nine decades of innovation, growth, and a continued commitment to providing exceptional imaging and patient care to the community.
2022
Radiology Ltd. added MRI to the Rincon Imaging Center and opened Radiology Ltd. Alvernon in Central Tucson with a new, advanced interventional radiology suite. Online scheduling capabilities, including a mobile platform, added convenience to the patient’s experience.
2021
A second location in Green Valley opened with the addition of Radiology Ltd. Casa Verde, and expansion continued to west Tucson with the addition of Radiology Ltd. St. Mary’s Medical Plaza.
2020
Radiology Ltd. began providing exclusive radiology services to Benson Hospital and Northern Cochise Community Hospital, offering a greater degree of sub-specialized care to Southern Arizonans.
2019
Radiology Ltd. Continental opened in Green Valley, expanding the Southern Arizona footprint.
2016
Radiology Ltd. was proud to offer Tucson patients the newest 3T open-bore MRI in our community.
2010s
2014
In 2014, the addition of 3D mammography, or tomosynthesis, was brought to the Wilmot and La Cholla sites. This offers women another tool in the detection of breast cancer. We also became the first practice in southern Arizona to offer NeuroQuant® Brain MRI, a quantitative brain image analysis tool.
2009
We opened Midvale Imaging Center, bringing advanced imaging to southwest Tucson.
2008
Radiology Ltd. – Carondelet opened on the St. Joseph’s Hospital campus.
2000s
2000
The 2000s brought expansion to Radiology Ltd. In 2003, our Rancho Vistoso center opened in Oro Valley. We also began to offer full-field digital mammography to Tucson. In 2004, the Wilmot office opened as the nation’s largest fully digital imaging center, and we also opened the doors to our La Cholla center. In 2006, our Camp Lowell Imaging Center opened and offered CT/PET services.
1999
Radiology Ltd. became the first practice in Tucson to provide interventional neuroradiology services.
St. Joseph’s Imaging Center (SJIC) opened and brought MRI to St. Joseph’s Hospital.
1990s
In 1990, Northwest Diagnostic Imaging (NWDI) brought MRI to Northwest Hospital. St. Joseph’s Imaging Center opened and brought MRI to St. Joseph’s Hospital. In 1999, Tucson Imaging Associates expanded and added Tucson’s first open MRI. NWDI began to offer breast MRI. Radiology Ltd. became a progressive technology leader in the community by being the first practice in Tucson to implement PACS, a picture archiving and communication system.
1980s
By the 1980s, MRI was the next advancement in radiology, and Radiology Ltd. helped bring it to Tucson. TMC acquired the first MRI machine in southern Arizona in the 1980s, and those scans were again read exclusively in Tucson by Radiology Ltd. physicians.
1976
In 1976, the practice began to perform diagnostic ultrasound. Once again, Radiology Ltd.’s doctors were on the cutting edge of medical technology advancement; something that holds to this very day. Despite the advances in medical imaging, on-call doctors who traveled between St. Mary’s, TMC, and St. Joseph’s Hospitals had only a pager and a pocketful of quarters for pay phones to keep in touch.
Evelyn Nash, R.T. (1974)
1975
TMC acquired the first CT scanner in southern Arizona – exams read exclusively by Radiology Ltd.
Dr. Donald Jeck (1975)
1970s
At the dawn of the 1970s, developments in radiological technology were in full swing. During this time, the group officially became known as Radiology Ltd. and continued to expand to keep pace with the community, also servicing El Dorado Hospital. In 1971, Drs. Jean-Paul Bierny and Ed Roth joined the group; Dr. Jim Stewart came in 1973, Dr. Robert Schweizer joined in 1974, and Drs. Steven Strober and Donald Jeck were added in 1975.
1960s
In the early 1960s, with the construction of the new St. Joseph’s Hospital, the group further expanded its service to the Tucson medical community. As the 1960’s progressed, the specialty of radiology was rapidly expanding beyond mere X-rays, and it was necessary for the group to recruit younger physicians who had been trained in what were then referred to as “special procedures,” now known as Interventional Radiology. The partnership, then called the Hayden-Present Group, continued to grow throughout the decade, adding Drs. Robert Johnson, Robert Broome, Lee Taylor, Newell Richardson, and Norman Komar.
1946
As Dr. Hayden’s practice grew, he expanded, and Dr. Arthur Present joined the practice.
Dr. Herbert D. Welsh (1948)
1933
Dr. Edward Hayden began his own radiology practice.
The Beginning
Dr. Edward Hayden was a 1925 graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School and completed postgraduate work in diagnostic X-ray at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and at Stanford University. He was primarily responsible for the X-ray department at the Desert Sanatorium (now known as Tucson Medical Center). He entered private practice in 1933, but remained contracted with the Desert Sanatorium to interpret X-rays. By 1939, Dr. Hayden occupied shared office space at 115 South Stone Avenue, where he had an active X-ray, radium, and pathology practice.
In 1946, Dr. Arthur Present joined Dr. Hayden’s burgeoning radiology practice. As Tucson’s medical needs grew, so did their radiology group. By 1959, they had moved to a new location at 1603 North Tucson Boulevard and had grown to eight radiologists, including Drs. Herbert David (Dave) Welsh, Walter T. Hileman, John A. Wilson, Frank Goodrich, André Bruwer, and James Nauman. Their partnership had contracts with St. Mary’s Hospital, Tucson Medical Center, and the Southern Pacific Hospital. In addition, the group’s radiologists worked part-time at the Pima County Hospital. The radiologists also consulted periodically at the Veterans’ Hospital and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Dr. Nauman recalls his daily walks through town from the office to the hospital wearing the red adaptation goggles that prepared his eyes for fluoroscopy exams—something that must have presented quite a spectacle in Tucson! Other doctors were known to wear these red fluoroscopy goggles during their drive to the hospital.