How a McDonald's made its mark in U.S. outpatient imaging
An old McDonald's-turned-MRI center doesn't sound all that important, but for pathologist Robert Kagan, it was a unique location to start practicing medical imaging in one of the first outpatient centers in the U.S.
According to an article published April 16 by Forbes, Kagan, now 71, set out from Holy Cross Hospital in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, in 1983 looking to establish a new—and at that time unheard of—outpatient medical imaging business. It would be a year later, in 1984, that the FDA approved MRIs, with Medicare agreeing to cover costs in 1985.
"We didn’t know what [MRI] would be used for, necessarily, at that time," Kagan told Forbes. "I said this is what I want to do. I just knew it would revolutionize medicine.”
With the help of 40 doctors each investing $25,000 to Kagan's business plan, his new outpatient MRI center became a reality. The location? The only certified freestanding building near Holy Cross Hospital in an old McDonald's building owned by the company's CEO, Ray Kroc.
Although his first three years in business were not profitable, Kagan built his "NMR Scan Center" into a business producingmore than $5 million in revenue a year, according to Forbes. By 2000, he sold three mobile facilities and three imaging centers.
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A recent graduate from Dominican University (IL) with a bachelor’s in journalism, Melissa joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering all aspects of health imaging. She’s a fan of singing and playing guitar, elephants, a good cup of tea, and her golden retriever Cooper.