Not currently accepting patients

Alena Guggenheim, N.D.

Not currently accepting patients

  • Naturopath
  • Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, School of Medicine

Specialty

  • Anesthesiology

Clinical focus

  • Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine

Locations and contact

I see patients at
Tall building with the ariel tram to its left
Center for Health & Healing, Building 1
503-494-8311
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About me

Dr. Guggenheim specializes in the care of children and adults with chronic pain and joint hypermobility disorders. She enjoys working with patients with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and associated complex symptoms. She likes to help patients navigate health care options and empowering them to make informed decisions.

When not seeing patients Dr. Guggenheim enjoys spending time in nature with her family and riding horses.

Languages spoken

  • English

Education and training

  • Degrees

    • B.A., 2001, Reed College
    • N.D., 2007, National College of Natural Medicine

  • Residency

    • Naturopathic Primary Care, National University of Natural Medicine, 2009

Memberships and associations:

  • Academy of Integrative Pain Management
  • Oregon Association of Naturopathic Physicians
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Insurance

Before scheduling an appointment

  1. Check your network. If you have health insurance,  call your company to find out if the OHSU Health location or provider you plan to visit is part of your network.
  2. Ask what you will pay. Your insurance company can tell you what your costs are likely to be.

If you schedule an appointment and your health insurance does not include OHSU Health, you may have to pay more than if you go to a provider in your insurance network. 

Visit our billing and insurance page for more information.

Ratings and reviews

Overall: 4.9 out of 5 (111 Ratings, 69 Reviews)

The patient ratings score is an average of all responses to the question "How likely would you be to recommend this provider to your family and friends (on a scale of 0 to 10)" on our nationally-recognized NRC patient surveys.

  1. I shudder to imagine what state I would be in without Dr G's care over the years. After years debilitated and reliant on tons of meds to survive, I am regaining so much energy and ability and able to taper down some of my medication doses. I can actually have friends, pursue my interests and learn new skills. I wish everyone could have a Dr this excellent.

  2. Dr Guggenheim is a gem - so grateful for almost a decade now of the most exceptional care and kindness from this profoundly skilled and knowledgeable provider!

  3. She is my best medical provider by far. She understands my complex medical conditions, listens, is extremely knowledgeable, is personable, always up to date on current research, and always has suggestions or solutions for my medical needs. She's also the only provider I have who starts her appointments with a review of our last appointment and follows up on decisions we made then to check on my progress and see what difficulties I may have had following our plan.

  4. Dr. Guggenheim is amazing! She is very supportive and has gone out of her way to help me. She has helped me to get to the bottom of my epigastric pain; she is helping with pain management as I wait for surgery; and she is addressing the things I can do now (e.g., nutrition) that will help with recovery post surgery.

  5. I felt like I was heard and got good care.

  6. I felt heard and cared for.

  7. Dr Guggenheim is an amazing doctor! I am thankful that I can be one of her patients.

  8. She is absolutely an amazing doctor and human. She is skilled in so many connected rare conditions among individuals and families with genetic characteristics. Thank God for Alena Guggenheim.

  9. Dr. Guggenheim provides excellent care every single time. She is consistent and does not miss a beat. I love her compassion and understanding for my care. I feel confident in her professionalism and expertise.

  10. I have many providers and I feel most connected,heard and understood by her

  11. Dr. G is easily one of my favorite providers. She understands medically complex patients and our challenges. Her ability to think outside the box is incredible and a huge asset.

  12. Dr. Guggenheim is wonderful. Very personable and respectful of my child. She has helped heal some of my teens medical trauma from other institutions.

  13. I know she has a waitlist to get an appointment with her. Glad I'm a patient.

  14. She quickly pinpointed the issues I was having and made medication changes that have really improved my quality of life and energy levels.

  15. Dr Guggenheim listens, asks pertinent questions, listens to answers & creates treatment plan. A true collaboration

  16. Dr. Guggenheim is a godsend. I feel like she is the only one who understands what I am going through. She doesn't dismiss symptoms and is willing to try things to see if it would help me.

  17. Dr. Guggenheim is the best doctor I've ever had and this is coming from a super complex patient with close to 30 chronic illnesses. She goes above and beyond to make sure I get the best care possible and helps coordinate with my other doctors often. I wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for her. I wish she had more support staff and a fellow doctor to help lighten her load of waitlist patients because it's extremely needed right now and everyone deserves a doctor like her who have the same conditions I do.

  18. Dr. Guggenheim continues to be an extreemly valuable part of my career team. Her knowledge is top of the charts, but in addition, her ability to use questions, descriptions and redirection allows us to continue to paint a broad picture of issues, and still stay on task, while honing in on specifics, while constructing a plan. Her note taking makes it easy to go back over notes and use them in other discussions.

  19. Dr. Guggenheim is simply amazing. She is literally the best clinician I've ever seen. I feel very lucky to have her on my care team. Thank you!!

  20. She is excellent! I'm very grateful to have her as of my doctors. I Only wish I had more time with her during an appointment.

  21. Dr. Guugenheim has been incredibly helpful, catching things missed by other doctors. Her knowledge of Ehlers -Danlos Syndrome is invaluable to patients like me. She has given me hope that one day I might not be as disabled as I am now.

  22. Dr. Guggenheim is my favorite provider! She is so thoughtful in her care and ideas to help me feel as best as I can. She always helps to make sure I am getting my medications and treatments. Can not express enough how thankful I am to have her as my specialist :) She actually listens to me and has never dismissed my concerns or questions. Soo appreciate that. Thanks Dr. Guggenheim!

  23. Alena Guggenheim is a treasure to the EDS community. She is the sharpest provider I've ever had.

  24. Can pinpoint diagnosis and treatment that helps for health issues that doctors my whole life have not been able to diagnose or help with. And she listens to me to get to next step in care. And asks good questions.

  25. Dr G is the best. She's so knowledgeable and listens to my concerns without judgement. I love that she lets me participate in my care.

  26. Dr G is great!

  27. Cannot say enough good things about Dr. Guggenheim! She is knowledgeable, thoughtful, thouorgh, listens and is happy to help problem solve.

  28. Dr. Guggenheim is a skilled compassionate and knowledgeable healthcare practitioner. I feel very lucky to be her patient at the pain center.

  29. Dr. Guggenheim is the best!

  30. THIS clinician IS THE BEST I have EVER experienced. I am EXTREMELY MAD that OHSU won't hire another EDS knowledgable DR, to help Dr Guggeheims caseloads. THIS DR IS INVALUABLE to OHSU and the ENTIRE EDS population that she cannot possibly help us all, because there are TOO MANY EDS patients. Dr Guggehiem NEEDS help from OHSU to HIRE more drs to treat EDS patients and it's MULTITUDE OF EDS co-morbid conditions. OHSU needs more Dr's like Dr Guggenhiem.