Pines Health Services’ Eckerstorfer
named 2011 outstanding professional
By Barbara Scott
Staff Writer
The Downeast Association of Physician Assistants (DEAPA) recently recognized Lori Eckerstorfer, PA-C, as the Outstanding Health Care Professional of 2011.
The statewide award was presented to Eckerstorfer at the DEAPA annual membership meeting held at the Maine Medical Association offices in Manchester, April 9. She was accompanied by her husband, Alan Weissman; Pines Health Services Jim Davis, CEO; and Lisa Caron, COO.
Contributed photo
LORI ECKERSTORFER, PA-C, recently received the Downeast Association of Physician Assistants Outstanding Health Care Professional award for 2011. With Eckerstorfer is Jim Davis, CEO of Pines Health Services.
The DEAPA award honors Eckerstorfer’s long professional career dedicated to improving the health of her patients and the community. For nearly 20 years she has been providing general pediatric services to children ages 0-18 at the Pines Women’s and Children’s Health Center in Caribou. In addition to maintaining a busy practice, she is the program director of Fit Kids, a program developed by Pines to combat childhood obesity. Eckerstorfer also works with the Mainely Girls program to address eating disorders in young females and further that organization’s mission of “focusing on girls needs in a positive, preventative and proactive manner” and bringing about “positive change for girls.”
Eckerstorfer’s patients and their families think highly of the care she provides. One mother of a patient stated, “Lori has been our daughter’s pediatric provider for four years. As a mom, one thing that is very important to me is Lori’s ‘bed side manner,’ and that couldn’t be better. She talks to my daughter instead of to me about my daughter. She knows and understands kids and that comes through in everything she does. It is a great comfort to have Lori Eckerstorfer as our daughter’s pediatric provider.”
Another parent reflected, “I was lucky as a child to have Lori Eckerstorfer as my pediatric provider. Now, 20 years later, I am blessed to have her as my daughter’s provider. She remembers not only my history, but my brother’s and my cousins’ as well. It’s an experience few people will have. Lori is a great listener and is always willing to share her wisdom with a new mom.”
For many years Eckerstorfer has been a member of American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) and of DEAPA and has been a director-at-large for DEAPA. Sharing her knowledge and expertise with future mid-level providers, she has long served as a mentor for students who are completing clinical rotations and for high school students who are interested in exploring the physician’s assistant field.
Earning her bachelor of science in medical microbiology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, she graduated with distinction in 1989 from the physician’s assistant graduate degree program at the College of Osteopathic Medicine, Des Moines University, IA. In 1993 Eckerstorfer received the Maine Hospital Association PA-C of the Year award. She is certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA).
In addition to the patient care services she provides at Pines, Eckerstorfer volunteers her time, resources, and energy to several local organizations. She volunteered in the classroom at her children’s elementary school and more recently participated in project graduation for the graduating class at Fort Fairfield High School. She also belongs to and supports her local Catholic Church.
She and her husband are the parents of two children, Billy and Emily.