Leading The Way In Diagnostic Care
North County Radiology

For nearly 50 years, North County Radiology Medical Group (NCR) has provided state-of-the-art imaging and interventional radiology services to patients throughout North County San Diego and in particular, as the radiology service provider for Tri-City Medical Center. This extensive experience and expertise, combined with an unmatched commitment to patient care, makes North County Radiology a truly valuable asset in our North County community. The physicians at North County Radiology would like to thank Tri-City Medical Center for partnering with us for nearly half a century to care for the residents of the North County.

Left to right: Dr. Steven Epner, Dr. Donald Ponec, Dr. Bruce Biederman, Dr. Justin Gooding, Dr. Richard Saxon,
Dr. Raymond Hong, Dr. Kathleen Flores

North County Radiology (NCR) is committed to providing the highest-quality diagnostic and interventional radiology services in a comfortable, patient-centered environment. Each physician at NCR maintains specialty certification and offers the full spectrum of interventional therapies and diagnostic testing, including musculoskeletal MRI, women’s imaging, and the first in San Diego to offer PET imaging. Their diagnostic radiologists are dedicated, trained physicians who are focused on providing the most advanced imaging technology for their patients. For example the new 64-slice CT scanner recently installed at Tri-City Medical Center and available at the adjacent outpatient facility allows the radiology team to image diseases of the heart in ways that were not possible a few years ago. Dr. Bruce Biederman, who recently joined NCR and is an expert in the use of this diagnostic tool explains, “We can use these high-speed scanners to image the heart and look at the arteries responsible for heart attacks using a technique called Coronary CTA. This is a great non-invasive way to look at coronary heart disease. It is breakthrough technology that allows us to document how much plaque is in the arteries, as well as what the plaque is made of. Ultimately, it will help determine the patient’s risk for a future cardiac event.”

Dr. Donald Ponec, Dr. Richard Saxon, and Dr. Justin Gooding are the “interventionalists” at North County Radiology. “We provide minimally invasive alternatives to surgical procedures using imaging guidance that can improve patient outcomes and obviate the need for more major surgeries,” says Dr. Ponec. “These include the treatment of vascular disease such as blockages of arteries in the legs (PAD), diseases of all organ systems, reversing stroke, and treatments on the cutting edge of image-guided therapy.” These therapies also include procedures for the treatment for uterine fibroids, varicose veins, spinal compression fractures, and aneurysm repair.

San Diego Cardiac & Vascular Institute (SDCVI) is a Research Institute run by the North County Radiology physicians that provide new services at Tri-City Medical Center. It is an internationally recognized research facility that is dedicated to providing the latest technologies available to enhance patient care. Dr. Ponec is the Medical Director of SDCVI and was recently voted “Top Doc” by the San Diego County Medical Society. Dr Saxon is the Director of Research and a national leader in the treatment of Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD). In collaboration with Tri-City Medical Center pioneering techniques have been developed such as the use of graft covered stents that helped to improve the care of patients with PAD. Currently, their ongoing trials for the use of drug coated stents and bioactive graft-covered stents that allow patients to be treated with these novel techniques that are only available through SDCVI and no where else in Southern California.

The Interventionists and Diagnostic Radiologists at North County Radiology are experts in the diagnosis, work-up and treatment of diseases that affect all parts of the body and are always available for consultation, office visits, and emergency treatment 24 hours a day.

To learn more about North County Radiology and the San Diego Cardiac & Vascular Institute at Tri-City Medical Center, please visit the website—www.northcountyrad.com or call 760-940-7166.