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Several pictures of doctors who are featured on the Local Legends web site

MEET LOCAL LEGEND: Lorene Eckberg, M.D.

Picture of Lorene Eckberg

Lorene Eckberg, M.D.

“Being a doctor fulfills my dream of helping people; of making a difference in their lives.”

NOMINATING CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE

Dennis Hastert

“MOTHER OF FOUR, PEDIATRICIAN AND VOLUNTEER...”

BIOGRAPHY

Nominating Lorene Eckberg to be a Local Legend, Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert (R-IL-14) described the mother of four, experienced pediatrician and long-time church and community volunteer as a "strong, solid example of service and caring, and a role model of volunteerism and community outreach."

In 1988, shortly after completing her residency training, Eckberg joined the staff of Dreyer Medical Clinic, one of the largest multi-specialty group practices in Illinois, with multiple locations throughout the Fox Valley region and more than 125 physicians representing nearly thirty medical and surgical specialties.

At Dreyer, Eckberg is Chairman of the Pediatrics Department, providing administrative leadership for seventeen physicians and three nurse-practitioners who tend thousands of patients every year at Dreyer's eight different offices. During her tenure at the Clinic, she also has served on the Quality Assurance Committee, providing oversight and direction in the areas of clinical excellence and patient care.

"Above all," says Eckberg, "I believe good communication between patient and physician is mandatory for good health care." As the record shows, she practices what she preaches for in 1998 she came in first among a group of 100 physicians rated for patient-satisfaction. In addition to serving at Dreyer, she is affiliated with the area's three hospitals-Provena Mercy Center and Rush-Copley Medical Center, in Aurora, and Delnor-Community Hospital, in Geneva.

Like other involved mothers, for more than ten years Eckberg has also volunteered countless hours to area schools in a variety of capacities, including Grace McWayne and Alice Gustafson Schools, in Batavia, and Aurora's Rosary High School. As a pediatrician, however, she has brought another dimension to her work with students-the ability to speak naturally and comfortably with grade-school youth about the human body and healing, as well as exercise and healthy nutrition. To the delight and surprise of some in a discussion of anatomy, she is reputed once to have actually dissected parts of a cow!

As if this weren't enough, each day for many years before going to the Clinic, Eckberg donated her pediatric skills at the famed Mooseheart "Child City," a home and school founded in 1913 by the Loyal Order of Moose for the children of Moose member families in need and, as of 1994, for all qualifying children in need. It is a complete community for young people who have lost one or both parents, or whose parents have separated or divorced, or where there has been severe financial need, or other problems causing family instability. More than 11,000 children have been helped by Mooseheart.

At home (in Batavia), in addition to caring for her four children, ages 9, 13, 15 and 17, she and her husband, Dana, are loyal, long-term supporters of Aurora's Family Counseling Service, and contribute lots of "sweat equity" to the Fox Valley's largest annual "barn" sale, sponsored by the Batavia Holy Cross Church.

MILESTONES

1988

Completes Internship and Residency, Loyola University Hospital, Maywood

1988

Joins Dreyer Medical Clinic

BORN

1956

MEDICAL SCHOOL

Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine

SPECIALTY

Pediatrics

LOCATION

Illinois