Margie Gauthier, PT

About Me

Margie Gauthier heads the team responsible for making sure everyone who arrives at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab receives a warm welcome and assistance in finding their way in the hospital.

As Director of Outpatient and Visitor Access, Margie oversees the outward-facing, customer service and patient experience staff, including Outpatient Access and the Sky Lobby Navigator team. After serving the organization for many years in both clinical and leadership roles, Margie realized how important the patient experience is to our patients and families. As a result, preparatory to the move into the new hospital in 2017, Margie was instrumental in developing the unique Navigator role.

Margie came to Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago at the time) more than 20 years ago as a physical therapist. After working as a PT with patients in the brain injury, general rehabilitation and pediatric programs, she moved into a leadership role in which she was responsible for managing inpatient and outpatient pediatric programs and a general rehabilitation adult inpatient floor.

She then moved into director roles for both DayRehab™ and Outpatient levels of care. Because of her extensive organizational expertise, she was tapped to work with clinical teams to develop new processes that would support both the new facility and the organization’s mission and vision.

Margie earned her MBA in Healthcare Management, Marketing and Organizational Change from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and her Master of Physical Therapy from Washington University in Saint Louis, Mo. 

She is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association and the American College of Healthcare Executives. She also serves on the board of the Kellogg Executive Women’s Network.