TRAVERSE CITY -- The late Dr. Harry Weitz was Traverse City's lone radiologist -- and the first north of Grand Rapids -- when he arrived in the late 1930s.
At the time, only one pediatrician worked at what was then James Decker Munson Hospital, along with a handful of surgeons and other general practitioners, said his son, Dr. Charles Weitz, also a local radiologist.
Today, multiple radiologists specialize in neurology, pediatrics and breast imaging, a trend that can be stretched across nearly every department.
"The technology and the equipment evolved as the hospital grew," said the younger Weitz, who works at the Munson-affiliated Smith Family Breast Health Center. "The computer has driven a lot of the change."
One thing has stayed constant for nearly a century: The Munson name.
Munson Healthcare today is a regional system with a flagship hospital in downtown Traverse City and affiliated hospitals in six surrounding counties, as well as ambulance, home care and hospice services.
But it began with a cottage on the corner of 11th and Elmwood streets in Traverse City.
Dr. James Decker Munson, who in 1885 was named superintendent of the Northern Michigan Asylum, offered a small building in 1915 to serve as a community hospital.
He fought for funding to expand the hospital, and then-Gov. Alexander Groesbeck awarded $78,000 to build at the present site, near Sixth Street. Munson's namesake hospital opened 55 beds in 1925, and initially operated as an arm of the Traverse City State Hospital.
The Record-Eagle reported in July 1927 that 1,055 patients had been treated at the new hospital in the year beginning July 1, 1926.
That number grew to roughly 3,900 in 1946, according to Munson records. Decades of expansion followed. It eventually severed ties with the state hospital and added beds and services.
A 1960 addition totaled $1.1 million. The hospital had 259 beds in 1972 after two floors were added and two others were renovated. New intensive care units opened that year.
James Decker Munson Hospital became Munson Medical Center in 1964, setting the stage for the present-day corporation's creation.
Hospital administrators signed an agreement with Kalkaska Memorial Health Center in 1976 that allowed Munson to assume operating responsibilities.
The emergence of Munson Healthcare in 1985 led to the acquisition of a number of properties, including Frankfort's Paul Oliver Memorial Hospital in 1986 and the Traverse City Community Hospital -- now known as the Munson Community Health Center, on Munson Avenue -- in 1993.
The latter merged with Munson Medical Center in 1995.
From 1998 to 2006, hospital executives formed partnerships with hospitals in Cadillac, Grayling, Manistee and Gaylord.
Much of the growth occurred in the past 25 years, said Weitz, who returned to Traverse City in the early 1980s to work in family medicine.
Technology that Weitz and other radiologists use routinely, such as CT scans or ultrasounds, were unfathomable when his father began his career.
And medical specialists today communicate digitally with other departments and hospitals, while the elder Weitz traveled alone to outlying communities.
If merging with Spectrum Health is the future, it's too early to tell what the effects will be, Weitz said. But Munson's efforts to treat people in a wider geography have provided services that otherwise might be hard to access.
"It would hopefully improve their lives," he said. "It's amazing to see the evolution."
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