Mayo Clinic Arizona was the second Mayo practice to be established outside of Rochester, Minn. The clinic opened in 1987 on 180 acres in northeast Scottsdale, Ariz.

The dedication of the new five-story structure was held on June 12, 1987. Paul Volker, then chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and member of Mayo Foundation Board of Trustees, delivered the keynote address; Scottsdale Mayor Herb Drinkwater also participated; along with Eugene Mayberry, M.D., then Mayo Foundation President and CEO; Trustees Chair Samuel C. Johnson; and Richard Hill, M.D., chair of the Board of Governors of Mayo Clinic Scottsdale.

The clinic opened with 47 physicians and 225 support personnel. More than 1,800 patients had registered for appointments before opening day, June 29, 1987. In its first year, Mayo Clinic Scottsdale provided medical care to about 16,600 patients from 48 states and 11 countries.

In February 1989, a Phase II expansion plan was announced. The 146,000 square-foot addition to the clinic opened in early 1992. By its fifth anniversary in 1992, the number of patients had increased by about 70 percent and the staff had grown to include 120 physicians and 800 support staff. The medical staff represented 34 medical and surgical specialties. Of the 115,000 patients registered in the first five years, 56 percent were new to Mayo. About 54 percent came from Scottsdale and the immediate area; 22 percent from the rest of Arizona, 23 percent from the other 49 states, and 1 percent from other countries.

Since opening in Arizona in 1987, Mayo Clinic has evolved into an integrated multicampus system that includes Mayo Clinic, the Samuel C. Johnson Research Building and the Mayo Clinic Collaborative Research Building in Scottsdale, Mayo Clinic Hospital in northeast Phoenix and three outpatient sites. Today, the staff in Arizona includes more than 300 physicians and a support staff of nearly 4,000 serving more than 100,000 patients per year.