If you ask former Inland Imaging CEO Steve Duvoisin how he got his start with the company in 1984, he will give you a humble answer.

“We got along really well,” Duvoisin says of Inland Imaging’s founding radiologists.

After briefly working as their CPA while at McDirmid, Mikkelsen & Secrest PS and then as its CFO for just a few short months, Duvoisin told the radiologists he would like to be CEO and promised to work “really hard." They agreed, congratulated him on being their new CEO, and that’s “how I worked my way up,” Duvoisin says.

But Dr. Jacob Meighan, one of the original radiologists at Inland Imaging, gives a slightly different account.

“I stole him away from Chris (Mikkelson),” Meighan says. “We needed Steve more than Chris did.”

Duvoisin was officially hired as CFO in December of 1984 and began his 37-year career as CEO in the spring of 1985. 

Tom Simpson, who nominated Duvoisin for the Icon award, says it’s his leadership skills and personality that make him an icon.

“He built (Inland Imaging) into one of the largest and leading radiology practices in the nation, and he’s just a good guy, always has the biggest smile,” Simpson, who has known Duvoisin since attending high school with his brothers in the 1980s, says. 

Simpson compares Duvoisin's leadership style to nationally recognized figures.

"I think of leaders like Jamie Dimon at JPMorgan or Bob Iger at Disney," he says. "People with a lot of character … and leaders that people respect and have built great businesses.”

Simpson says Duvoisin’s exceptional leadership qualities include his deep commitment to collaboration.

“He’s super collaborative,” says Simpson. “He reaches out for consensus to everybody he works with when he goes to make a decision. He listens and he respects opinions, and he takes input and then, like all good leaders, he stirs it in a bowl and makes a decision that is led by collaboration and consensus and listening and dialogue.”

Meighan says Duvoisin was instrumental to the success of Inland Imaging.

“He was loyal. He was smart; he was really smart," Meighan says. "And just a leader in the true sense. We would not have made it without him. We were very blessed.”

Meighan says outpatient imaging was just a thought when the group hired Duvoisin. Before outpatient imaging clinics became common, most medical imaging was performed in hospital radiology departments.

“When we got Steve, we only had the idea (of outpatient imaging) and the leadership with Steve, but no capital,” he says.

Meighan recalls visiting every banker in Spokane with Duvoisin and Dr. Robert Fulton to pitch their outpatient imaging business, only to face repeated rejections due to lack of history. Eventually, they secured a 14% interest loan from a Seattle bank. 

“We weren’t businesspeople,” says Meighan, noting that Duvoisin had to explain the terms. 

They used the money to purchase devices for magnetic-resonance imaging, computed tomography, nuclear medical, and mammography equipment and opened their first clinic on the St. Luke's Rehabilitation Hospital campus on the South Hill, which is still operational, at 525 S. Cowley.

Under Duvoisin’s leadership, Inland Imaging grew from a small outpatient imaging center with six radiologists and 30 staff members to one of the largest radiology practices in the Western states, with currently over 125 radiologists and 1,000 staff members. Of that number, 860 of the radiologists and employees work in the Spokane area, Duvoisin says.

Duvoisin’s tenure was marked by a number of clinic expansions and a series of mergers and acquisitions, including multiple transactions in the Tri-Cities.

After Inland Imaging opened its first outpatient clinic on the South Hill, it expanded to the North Side, in 1986, and Spokane Valley, in 1988.

“Back then, there were only half a dozen (outpatient imaging centers) in the country,” he says.

Inland Imaging and Providence, which includes Sacred Heart Medical Center and Holy Family Hospital, formed a partnership in 1998.

In 2011, Inland Imaging formed an IT company called Nuvodia, which provides IT solutions to organizations across the US in health care, business, utilities, education, and other sectors.

The company branched out of state to Montana in 2017, merging with Missoula Montana Radiology Group.

Inland Imaging merged with Columbia Basin Imaging in 2019 and Tri-City Radiology in 2020.

Born in Atlanta, Duvoisin, 70, spent his early childhood living in Italy, Germany, and Rochester, Minnesota, before moving to Spokane in 1969, where he attended school at Ferris High School. His dad, George, was a cardiac surgeon and his mom, Fiorenza, was a volunteer and stayed home with Duvoisin and his three brothers.

“She was the heart of our family growing up,” he says.

Although initially drawn to architecture, Duvoisin ultimately pursued a degree in fine arts from Washington State University. After graduating with his bachelor’s degree, his interest in business led him to Gonzaga University where he earned an MBA and accounting degree.

While working as a CPA, Duvoisin purchased a $6,000 personal computer and a spreadsheet program called VisiCalc.

“My wife thought I was crazy,” recalls Duvoisin.

Duvoisin says he used the knowledge he gained from the spreadsheet program to handle the pension account for Inland Imaging.

Since his retirement in April of 2022, Duvoisin and his wife, Deb, travel and split their time between Spokane and Portland, spending time with their four daughters, nine grandchildren, and friends.

Spokane, he says, remains a special place to him and his family.

Early in his career, Duvoisin recalls visiting Swedish Hospital in Seattle and setting a goal to become CEO of its radiology group one day.

In 1999, he received the call he had once hoped for from the hospital, but he declined their offer.

“One of my goals was to be your CEO,” he recalls telling them. “But the thing about Spokane is I’m very happy here. It’s nice of you to (invite) me over, but I don’t want to waste your time.”

He compares his story to Mark Few.

“He could have left (Spokane) three or four times for the money,” he says. “Too many people reach for the brass ring, and it’s not always what it’s cracked up to be.”

Duvoisin gives most of the credit to his coworkers and employees.

“It’s been a ride,” Duvoisin says. “Hard work is hard work. I always had people great at what they did.”