Since Meagan McEwen Gerein and Kurtis Gerein opened Yukon Biomechanics in Whitehorse, in 2020, Yukon orthotic users and their families no longer need to travel south for custom orthotics and bracing services. They can also rely on the clinic to provide ongoing orthotic care, including device adjustments, which may have taken months to access before.
“We make custom bracing and orthotics from head to toe, for pediatric patients all the way up to elders,” Meagan explained. “A lot of people don’t know what orthotics or bracing is, or if you hear that, a lot of people think of inserts for your shoe. They think of foot orthotics. But orthotics is any support that changes your alignment or function that’s applied to the outside of your body.”
This might involve lower extremity issues, which are addressed with foot orthotics, specialized footwear, knee bracing or ankle-foot orthotics. Or it might be spinal bracing and bracing for upper limbs such as wrists and fingers.
Meagan is a certified orthotist and a certified pedorthist. The latter focuses on the ankle down, whereas the orthotist’s scope includes the whole body, overlapping onto the foot. Meagan was naturally drawn to the profession, which combines her natural affinities for health care and science and working with people.
“I always wanted to work in some kind of direct patient-care role,” she said. “I like talking to people, I like hearing their stories, I like working with someone on a long-term basis. So a lot of our patients we see many times through the year and then year after year, as their needs change—especially our pediatric patients.”
As well, Meagan’s innate craftiness contributes to her ability to design orthotic devices.
“I’ve always been really crafty,” she added. “I like to do things with my hands—sewing—just doing all types of crafts. So I was drawn to this profession because I get to blend both; I get to blend the science and medical and health knowledge and that patient-care side of things, with creativity and using your spatial senses and being able to see and visualize things in 3D.”
Kurtis was born and raised in the Yukon. He is a registered orthotic technician who takes Meagan’s designs and makes the actual orthotic device.
“His training and expertise are all on the fabrication side,” Meagan explained. “He is very well-versed in making all the types of orthotic devices that we provide here, different properties of materials, and really that attention to detail to fabricate and make something that’s going to be just perfect for somebody.”
For Kurtis, making orthotic and prosthetic services more accessible to Yukoners fulfills a long-time dream.
“We met in school for prosthetics and orthotics and he had a very strong connection to the field, being a prosthetic and orthotic user himself,” Meagan said. “So, he always had a dream of bringing that service back home to the Yukon, because he knows, first-hand, the importance of having access to that service that previously didn’t exist in the Yukon.”
Visiting the Yukon Biomechanics website and Facebook page, I’m struck by the variety of patterns, or “transfers,” found on the orthotic device—from colourful butterflies, bees and rocket ships, to monochromatic skulls. Similarly, knee braces come in many colours so that folks can choose what they like—something that represents a person’s favourite sports team, Meagan suggests, or that matches their skidoo.
“Being a necessary piece of medical equipment, we try to make it look as fun as we can,” Meagan said.
“For a lot of people, this is what makes them get out of the house every day; it’s an essential piece of their mobility equipment that lets them do the things they need to do,” she added. “It becomes so special to them; it becomes like a friend. It is something that’s very necessary, but it gives them so much benefit that they feel obviously very attached to their brace, for sure.”
Meagan’s certifications do not qualify her to make medical diagnoses, so except for foot orthotics, folks need a referral from their doctor or nurse practitioner to access Yukon Biomechanics’ services. In addition, Meagan and Kurtis like to work with an individual’s entire health-care team to ensure that orthotic devices are designed around the patient’s needs.
“We try to ensure that we’re as connected as we can be because everything works so much better when those lines of communication are open and we can all be working towards the same goals.”
Building relationships has been crucial for Meagan and Kurtis in their effort to provide a service that’s never been available in the Yukon before.
“Bringing it up here for the first time was really creating something from scratch and we did not have a blueprint to follow, so we did a lot of talking and a lot of listening and trying to figure out what was going to be something that worked,” Meagan said. “And I think that we developed some really wonderful, collaborative relationships through that process of trying to figure out how it’s going to work up here in the Yukon.”
There’s been some hurdles in navigating new territory without a road map; however, the couple’s efforts are rewarded by the positive response from their Yukon patients. People who once had to travel to Vancouver for orthotic treatment, often many times a year, “are so happy to be able to get that care close to home.”
“To make that whole continuity of care is absolutely why we’re here, to make sure people get that follow-up that you really need,” Meagan said. “Because this is a custom-made device, it needs to be fit to you and continually adjusted and serviced and modified to keep up with people’s lives.”
Meagan and Kurtis are committed to responding to their patients’ needs and are constantly looking for ways to increase access to services and to improve the lives of orthotic users from all Yukon communities.
“It is a personal commitment from us,” Meagan said. “Because we know [from] that experience within our family, of how important that is.”
For more information on Yukon Biomechanics and the services they offer, visit their website: yukonbiomechanics.com.
