Biography

Dr. Gratton was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. He graduated from St. Louis University School of Medicine in 1979 and completed a transitional internship at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland in 1980. He completed his emergency medicine residency at Truman Medical Center in 1983 and has been board certified since 1984.
After completing several years of active duty service in the Navy, Dr Gratton returned to Truman where he focused on Emergency Medical Services (EMS.) From 1989 – 1993 he was the Medical Director for MAST, the Kansas City, Missouri public utility model ambulance service and from 1999 – 2004 and again from 2006 – 2007 was the EMS Medical Director for Kansas City, Missouri. During this tenure the KCMO EMS System was comprised of MAST (about 300 paramedics and EMTs) and the KCMO Fire Department (about 1,000 EMTs and First Responders).

Dr. Gratton was a member of the US Navy Reserve from 1976 through 2007 and served in several overseas locations. He had four recalls to active duty, including deployments to Bahrain in Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005. He retired from the Navy in the fall of 2007 as a Captain. Military awards include: Combat Action Ribbon, Navy Commendation Medal, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit and Fleet Marine Force Warfare Officer Device.

Dr. Gratton was Chair from 2007 through 2019. He is presently the Associate Chief Medical Officer for TMC Health Sciences District. He is the Vice President for Laboratory and Medical Imaging Services. He has published numerous abstracts and articles on EMS related and other topics. He stepped down as an oral examiner for the American Board of Emergency Medicine. Honors include: Staff Physician of the Year 1989, Mid-America Regional Council Emergency Physician of the Year 1992, Elmer Pierson Teaching Award (UMKC School of Medicine) 1993, Frank Mitchell EMS Physician of the Year (Missouri EMS Association) 2000, Ralph Ringo Coffee Award (Truman Medical Centers) 2017 and the MOCEP Lifetime Achievement Award 2018 and numerous KCMO City Council Resolutions. Dr Gratton is a Past President of the TMC Medical Dental Staff and a former Chair of Board of Directors of University Physician Associates.