About Gretchen
Hometown Values
I married my husband Jonathan in the Central United Methodist Church. We were both Webb City grads, our children are 6th generation Webb Citians, and Jonathan is currently serving on the Webb City Council. I attended Medical School at the University of Missouri, Columbia, an Internal Medicine Residency and Fellowship of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at the University of Kansas. I returned to Southwest Missouri to serve my community.
I have been an endocrinologist, physician, and doctor at Mercy Joplin for over twelve years now and the Vice President of Diabetes Care for Mercy’s entire ministry for three years. I am CEO and president of Contego Research, Inc., a ballistics research lab, and in 2020 I was inducted into the Webb City Hall of Fame. I have dedicated my working career to bettering our community’s health.
I look forward to using my experience to help the students, faculty, and staff of our Webb City School district with my fresh perspective.
Healthcare Perspective
I have learned there are social determinants of health. My background, especially in chronic disease management and diabetes, focuses on removing or working around barriers that keep patients from access to medications and food and resources. There are similar barriers for many of our children in learning or simply getting to school and concentrating on it.
Government bureaucracy exists in both education and health. I spend my days navigating state and federal government regulations.
My daily mantra is to celebrate and support individualization while managing a population with similar backgrounds. We must move forward while learning from the past.