Pictured: Emily Eliasen

Meet Emily!

MRH Physical Therapist Emily Eliasen works one-on-one with patients to help them regain mobility, lessen pain, and return to doing the things they enjoy.

“I like it when people realize they’re getting better,” Emily said. “Sometimes patients start physical therapy doubting they’ll improve, but after a few PT sessions and doing their home exercises in between, they often have a lightbulb moment when they can feel they are getting better. It’s great to see people have hope.”

A Meeker native who was born at the Memorial Hospital at Craig, Emily has been a physical therapist for two years. She works with teenagers and adults, mostly for outpatient therapy, and she has a special affinity for seniors. “I enjoy my older patients,” she said. “I may be helping them after a stroke or if they have Parkinson’s or decreased mobility for other reasons. I also have become the foot and ankle specialist on our team.”

Speaking of teams, Emily loves being part of the MRH Physical Therapy Department, which includes three staff PTs, one staff pediatric PT, three travelers (PTs and OTs), and one physical therapy assistant. She hosts staff get-togethers at her home most weeks as a fun way to bond outside of work and to help the traveling staff feel connected. “We do movie nights or snacks sitting around the firepit,” Emily said. “I try to make my home a place where everybody can feel at home.”

The colleague who nominated Emily as an Unsung Hero said, “Emily has been flexible with her schedule, based on the demands of the clinic, and helping out coworkers when needed. She provides excellent patient care, and her patients enjoy coming to see her.”

That team spirit came into play when Emily took family leave time to help care for her father, who recently died of cancer. During her absence, the MRH PT staff covered her patients and also helped her ease back into her schedule when she returned to work. “My work family has just surrounded me,” she said. “And when I got to see my patients again, I was reminded how much I love my job. Working with people is something important to me.”

In her free time, Emily enjoys hanging out with her two dogs and taking them on hikes. She’s not a skier, but she camps and paddleboards, and indoors, she loves reading fantasy novels, crocheting, and knitting. She also takes tap classes at Studio V. “I’m quite tall,” she said, “so people are surprised to find out I’m a tap dancer. But it’s something I’ve done my whole life.”

Emily, we’re so happy to have you as part of the MRH team. Your patients love you, and so do your colleagues. Thank you for helping make MRH the excellent, caring place it is.