Bringing better healthcare to rural America.

After practicing ophthalmology in Fairbanks, Alaska for over 12 years, I understood first-hand the frustration of living and working without the needed specialty care for my patients. My diabetics were going blind and we had no endocrinologist to manage an insulin pump. I would diagnose multiple sclerosis in my patient with optic neuritis and couldn't get them into a neurologist for 6 months. The nearest rheumatologist was 400 miles away and had an 8 month wait list. Or my patients could fly 4 hours each way to Seattle for the care they needed.

This was my reality until COVID changed everything. One silver lining of the pandemic was the widespread adoption of telehealth. Suddenly, I could bring the specialists to me, in my community, using the resources that I already had. But, I didn't need a one-time consult, I needed a fractional long-term doctor. But, it was December, 2020 and my staff had no bandwidth for anything beyond surviving the worst of the pandemic. And, so I tabled the idea…until 3 weeks later when a beloved patient came into see me. I had been caring for him for a decade with uveitis, glaucoma, diabetes, and macular edema. His psoriatic arthritis was raging out of control. His rheumatologist moved out of state. He had a treatment reaction and no one to manage his medications. His primary care doctor was doing her best, but this was just too complicated.

He could barely walk across my office and he used to climb mountains. I walked out of his exam room in tears and looked at my clinical manager, Stefanie, who said, “We're starting that company, aren't we?”

Later that day, I asked my team what we should call this new project. Laura, my oldest and dearest teammate, said, “Let's name it after Troy. He's why we have to make this happen.” And, so, Troy Medical was born. For Troy. And for all of the people like Troy, who matter and need us. We're coming…keep hanging in there!