Gretchen is an ABC-Certified Orthotist and Group Practice Manager for Hanger Clinic in Anchorage and Wasilla, Alaska. 

As a member of the CARE (Cranial Asymmetry Remolding Experts) Network and as a Hanger Clinic Pediatric Specialist, Gretchen specializes on infants and children in her clinical practice, but works with patients of all ages for a variety of diagnoses, including, but not limited to, plagiocephaly, craniosynostosis, pectus carinatum, scoliosis, cerebral palsy, Kuskokwim Syndrome, CMT, other neurologic and orthopedic conditions (traumatic and non-traumatic). Gretchen spent the first four years of her career working for Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics in Phoenix, Arizona, where she specialized in pediatric orthotics and collaborated closely with Phoenix Children’s Hospital. During this time, she also co-founded Phoenix Rising for Haiti, a medical non-profit providing multidisciplinary care to people in need in northern Haiti. She returned to her home state of Alaska in 2012 and joined locally owned Northern Orthopedics, Inc., which became part of Hanger Clinic in 2021. 

Gretchen’s preference for the multidisciplinary team approach to medical care dates to her work in Haiti and continues through shared patient consultations with therapists and physicians, bringing other health professionals into the clinic for trainings, and regular collaborative gait rounds at a local rehabilitation hospital. In her role as both clinic and group practice manager, she aims to remove obstacles, support and lift up her team however possible so they can provide the best care and facilitate exceptional outcomes for patients spread across the largest and most unique state in the country.

Outside of work, Gretchen spends her free time with her partner and their two dogs along with family and friends, leaning into the development of a more self-sustainable community and local social safety net. She enjoys learning new hands-on skills, fishing on the Kenai River, exploring more of Alaska, and playing with plants in the dirt.

Education

• Bachelor of Science in Prosthetics and Orthotics, University of Washington, 2008