Dustin Davidson: PT, DPT

Dustin Davidson never planned on starting his own practice after he earned his Doctor of Physical Therapy from the University of Nebraska, but quickly after he began his career, he realized that the Casper community deserved more. Dustin uses functional mobility assessments and focuses largely on manual therapy. He uses each patient’s goal to design his treatment plan. This hands-on approach means that Dustin never begins an appointment with a definitive treatment plan; instead, he learns how the patient is feeling by assessing their current pain levels and functional activity restrictions. Using this information, each appointment serves as one step closer to achieving the patient’s goal.

Erik Hiipakka: PT, DPT

Erik’s first exposure to Physical Therapy began in high school while receiving treatment for knee injuries sustained during football. Erik decided that he would like to provide others in the community with this type of care. Erik dedicated the next seven years, following high school, to earning his Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT) from Touro University. Erik was determined to return to a smaller community, much like Casper, WY in order to be an active participant in the healthcare community. Erik is focused on orthopedic physical therapy, he offers the most current evidence based interventions and treatments. Erik maintains a high level of competency through personal research and continuing education courses. Erik has experience in various manual labor positions and has a passion for different hobbies including: hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, and recreational sports; this helps him relate to his patients and provide them with the most personalized care possible. Erik has a comprehensive understanding from his patient’s vantage point, because he has also been on the receiving end of Physical Therapy treatments. Erik is compassionately dedicated and recognizes that his patient’s expectation is to improve functional abilities and decrease pain as soon as possible, and he strives to achieve this from day one. Following your initial evaluation through your entire care episode Erik strives to continue building upon these improvements and provide education on how to prevent future pain or injury at the affected area.

Elyse Johnson: M.S., CCC-SLP, CBIS

Elyse is a nationally certified and state licensed Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP). In addition, she is a Certified Brain Injury Specialist (CBIS). A native New Yorker (Go Yankees!), Elyse was thrilled to be able to return to Wyoming with her family after completing her “tour” as an Army wife.

Elyse graduated with her Bachelor of Arts Degree from the State University of New York at Albany with a double major in archaeology & anthropology & worked across the country as an archaeologist which originally brought her to the great state of Wyoming. After 10 years of playing Indiana Jones, she returned to college and graduated with her Master of Science degree in communication disorders from the University of Wyoming (Go Cowboys!).

Following her husband’s Army career allowed Elyse to work in a variety of settings and with a variety of populations from pediatric through geriatric which provided her with a wealth of experience and diverse training. As a speech-language pathologist, I see children and adults with a variety of communication disorders, including those with cognitive-linguistic, aphasia, motor speech (dysarthria, apraxia), dysphagia (swallowing), voice, articulation and phonology disorders (speech sound problems), delayed or disordered language development, alternative-augmentative communication (AAC), and stuttering. Elyse has worked with a variety of populations including TBI, concussion, stroke, Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, dementia, congenital conditions including autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, fetal alcohol syndrome, Down Syndrome, learning disabilities, and cleft lip/palate, among others.

Elyse has a passion for working with those individuals with traumatic brain injury and is the only SLP/CBIS in the state of Wyoming. In addition, to working as an SLP, she has lectured at universities and taught courses on TBI rehabilitation at hospitals across the country with a focus on cognitive rehabilitation. She prides herself on designing patient-specific plans of care with proven results and evidence-based therapies.

Nathan Stack: President of Operations

As the President of Operations Nathan Stack is responsible for running all facets of the business. Prior to joining Optimal, Nathan spent time in college focusing on Physical & Life Sciences, Computer Science, and Business. Having a diverse interest in many fields lead to various work experiences in everything from construction to IT, leading Nathan to a perfect fit to utilize all his skill sets at Optimal. He earned his BS degree from the University of Wyoming. He is dedicated to the successful growth of Optimal while focusing on exceptional patient centered service and maintaining a positive enjoyable culture amongst all his colleagues.