Dr. Loreta Garretson

Dr. Loreta Garretson’s appreciation for modern medicine springs from years of going without. She grew up in Lithuania, through the early years of post-Soviet independence where medicine lagged behind. “When my grandmother developed cancer, she could not get the level of care that had been standard in the U.S. for years. We had no estrogen and progesterone receptor testing, for example. We struggled to do simple things. I know what it means to lack access,” she explains. That experience shaped her philosophy and her future, inspiring her towards lifting barriers to care. That drive brought her to rural Kentucky, in tobacco country where cancer is a real problem. She built a hematology/oncology program at Murray Calloway County Hospital. It grew from no patients to over 3,000 inside two years. Before, area residents had to drive a long distance for cancer care and many did without. In southern New Jersey, she finds the same level of challenge and satisfaction. “We are providing local care to communities in need. In AtlantiCare, I found similar values, a philosophy very close to my heart,” she says. Dr. Garretson is board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology by the American Board of Internal Medicine. She is fluent in Lithuanian, Russian and Polish. She completed her M.D. and internship in Lithuania. A foreign exchange summer program brought her to Columbia University, New York, then to St. Michael’s Hospital Medical Center in Newark, where she did her residency in internal medicine. At St. Michaels, she also completed a fellowship in hematology/oncology and was named chief third year fellow. Philosophy of Care I am successful when I match resources with patient needs. We focus on what we can do, not on what we cannot. I listen and engage them in conversation and they know we are working for them, behind the scenes. We celebrate every small victory to make life happier for each patient. This encourages me and my staff, every day.

Dr. Garretson is highly rated in 31 conditions, according to our data. Her clinical expertise encompasses Pleuropulmonary Blastoma, Paget Disease of the Breast, Breast Cancer, and Familial Colorectal Cancer.

Dr. Garretson is board certified in American Board Of Internal Medicine, 2012 and American Board Of Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology, 2016. Dr. Garretson is currently accepting new patients.