The first pediatric ophthalmologist in Alaska was Jim Patterson, who had a solo practice at 3500 Latouche until 1990. In 1972, the first two orthoptists, M Diane Armitage and Karen Lowe, RN drove a Kharman Ghia north from Pittsburgh to found the glaucoma practice of Ken Richardson. Marvin Grendahl left his Mayo Clinic residency to open his cataract / refractive surgery practice at 3500 Latouche in 1977. Dan Karr, MD left his U of Washington pediatric eye practice to join Ron Zamber in Fairbanks for several years before departing for Montana and eventually Oregon Health Sciences Center.
Robert Arnold came to Alaska in 1976 to commercial fish and attend UAF. He did his pediatric eye fellowship at Indiana before joining Ophthalmic Associates in 1989. Robin Grendahl was trained at the University of Washington before a pediatric ophthalmology fellowship at the prestigious Will Eye Institute in Philadelphia. She then joined Grendahl Eye Associates at 3500 Latouche through 2013. Kevin Winkle came to Alaska Native medical Center as an Army general ophthalmologist and then he did a Duke fellowship in pediatric ophthalmlogy. He then served the Army in Hawaii, Colorado and Iraq before returning to Alaska as a Colonel with JBER, then ANMC and eventually ACES in 2014.
Physicians and staff from Alaska Children’s EYE & Strabismus have volunteered to bring eye care to other parts of the world. Dr. Winkle has served many locations but currently is providing optical, medical and surgical care and education at the Children’s Surgical Centre in Cambodia. Dr. Arnold has done remote Alaskan Village vision screening and eye care. He and his family have an ongoing outreach to people from oppressed regions in Burma from the Thai-Burma border. Dr. Grendahl traveled to Cameroon in West Africa with her son to provide expert eye care and education.
