KatherineElizabethJohnsonMDFACS

Summary

• Educated at Harvard University and University of California-San Diego Medical School, trained at the world-renowned Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Dr. Kara Hartl (previously Johnson) was well-equipped to create a world-class medical center in an underserved community and bring the best medicine in the world to the people of Alaska. Her entrepreneurial spirit grew a multi-specialty medical center from the ground up and has created the most technologically advanced medical and surgical center in the state, rivaling anywhere in the country. Dr. Hartl has developed high-level systems for virtually every aspect of her business, from designing an ophthalmic technician training program to defining the hospital protocols. She has raised the standards of ophthalmic medicine in Alaska to the highest levels in the country.
  
  During the pandemic, Dr. Hartl recognized the power of telehealth and its ability to bring high-quality medical care to remote areas like never before. A silver lining of the COVID pandemic has been the widespread growth of telemedicine. After 14 years of living in rural Alaska, Dr. Hartl is extremely aware of the limitations geography can have on access to medical care. She has watched her patients suffer needlesslessly because of limited access to crucial medical care. Her own experiences with her patients inspired Dr. Hartl to start a novel telehealth company, Troy Medical, that offers long-term specialty medical care to remote areas via telehealth. By partnering with clinics on the ground, Troy Medical is providing exceptional medicine through a hybrid model using "on-the-ground" clinical infrastructure and specialty care via telehealth to areas with little or no access. Yet again, she is raising the bar of medicine and Troy Medical is creating the new gold standard for telemedicine in rural America.