April 23, 2020
AUSTIN, Texas – April 23, 2020 – Hanger Clinic teams treat one million patients annually, including many who work in healthcare as doctors, nurses, and other frontline care providers. For these patients, access to the best orthotic and prosthetic care is critical now more than ever, as custom-fit devices allow them to stay mobile and active in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
One patient serving in the U.S. epicenter of the pandemic is 33-year-old emergency room nurse Alayna DeLeon, who answered a call earlier this month to travel from Fort Mohave, Arizona to New York City, where she’s treating coronavirus patients at the Bronx’s Lincoln Medical Center. Alayna uses a below-knee prosthetic leg fit by her clinician of 14 years, Area Clinic Manager Jason Leal, CPO, at Hanger Clinic in Bullhead City, Arizona.
A group of healthcare workers and first responders across the country is united by the ExoSym, a specialized hybrid leg brace each of them travels to Gig Harbor, Washington to be fit with by National ExoSym Program Director Ryan Blanck, LCPO. Many of Ryan’s patients thought they would never walk again due to conditions like partial-foot amputations and paralysis, but thanks to their dedication and ExoSym devices, they are independently mobile and serving as medics, surgeons, 911 dispatchers and more.
Finally, five years after a heart condition caused the loss of both Nicole Grehn’s legs above-the-knee, she is a registered nurse serving in the orthopedic trauma unit at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, the same hospital where medical professionals saved her life. Nicole is also a full-time prosthetics user, walking on two microprocessor-controlled prosthetic legs thanks to hard work, determination, and care from her Hanger Clinic team, including Milwaukee-based clinic manager Tom Current, CPO.
We are deeply grateful to our patients and all others on the front lines of healthcare at this time, including the dedicated clinicians and Hanger Clinic team members who are ensuring these patients stay in the fight, and that all our patients have access to the essential care they need now.
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| Nicole Grehn uses two microprocessor-controlled prosthetic legs to serve as a nurse in Milwaukee, WI. |
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| Sarah Metcalf Richardson wears her ExoSym device while working as a radiology technician in Poplar Bluff, MO. |
About Hanger Clinic – Hanger Clinic provides comprehensive, outcomes-based orthotic and prosthetic solutions at more than 925 patient care locations nationwide, and is part of the Hanger, Inc. ecosystem of diversified companies. Rooted in clinical research, excellence and innovation, its 1,700 board-certified clinicians provide customized solutions for all ages designed to increase the mobility and function of each person they have the honor of serving. For more information on Hanger Clinic, visit HangerClinic.com.
Contact:
Annie Myers
External Relations Manager
(210) 440-7380 or [email protected]